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A book report.
The Dictator's Handbook
By Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494824113&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=The+didtators+handbook
I found an interesting book.
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita has written an excellent report on what drives
politicians to seek power and how they get into leadership positions and how
they stay there.
The book gives many examples of leaders like King Louie 14, and Robert Mugabe
and others to demonstrate the ideas he is proposing but the basic proposition
is this
Leaders crave power to control others and make themselves rich. They get
elected or seize power by force and seize control of the sources of money in
the country. They get a group of supporters who will take bribes/ payoffs to
support this new leader and keep him in power. These supporters are the
leaders of the army, the owners of industry, the farmers, union leaders, church
leaders. The particulars change with each country but the supporters who get
paid to support the new leader are those who control money or votes or guns.
The new leader stays in power as long as he can continue to collect money to
pay his supporters. He is at risk of losing support if he is dying due to age
or illness, or if he threatens to depose some supporters but does not say who,
or the source of money drys up.
All leaders whether democrat or dictator operate on these same principles. The
difference between dictators and democrats is that dictators have only a few
people to pay to stay in power where democrats have to keep enough voters happy
so he can get re-elected. Democratic leaders then must provide general
benefits like roads, hospitals, schools, free speech and protect property
rights of the citizens. The dictator can ignore the citizens and just pay off
the army generals or police and judges to keep the citizens in line.
An excellent book.
Sincerely
Pete Mclaughlin
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
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