See also: Techniques of Fascism
There are a number of equally important procedures, so these are not in order of importance. A tyrant has to work at all of them simultaneously if possible.
1) Creating fear is important. Unfortunately, this is not a trait which enables you to recognize tyranny. There are things to be frightened of which have to be dealt with as a society – the black death, fascism, take over of the state by the wealthy, war with people who really do threaten you, etc..
2) Creating a narrative that the tyrant can solve the problems, nobody else can, and that anyone who disagrees is a traitor. No policies are really needed except vague things like “make the country great again”, “free the workers”. Common narratives involve Nationalism (we are the best in the world just by being born here, we have the best culture, the best people, etc. we must fight outsiders who corrupt us), Militarism (we need to fight those who would fight us and we need discipline), hatred of some relatively powerless minority (they are evil) – all of these narratives give the ‘good’ members of society something to join with the tyrant in fighting.
3) Stirring anger. You are being oppressed by university professors, feminazis, Bill Gates, black racists, radio hosts, shopkeepers, etc… The f$%%n rude opposition never gives you a break they can’t listen to reason, they are stupid, weak, red neck slabberdicks… Shock people, numb them, crush empathy with the others….
4) Cultivating blame. The subhuman evil ones are to blame for everything bad; the Chinese, the Jews, BLM, Antifa, people with green eyes, etc…. it is always good to have an easy source to blame for everything that goes wrong.
5) Excluding people – foreigners, outsiders, gay people, women whatever…. that way you become superior, and closed off from other ideas. Make the categories between the “we group” and the “out group” as sharp as possible. There is to be no overlap which allows people to talk out of place, or which allows sympathy.
6) Constantly telling people how wonderful the tyrant is. What a genius he is (and its usually a he). How he knows everything. How the tyrant has mysterious sources of knowledge. How decisively he acts. How the tyrant is one with the people, even if he is a billionaire, or a monk….. How the tyrant is holy. How he is the tool of God, or of Providence etc. with the implication that anyone who objects to the tyrant is objecting to God’s choice. Have pictures of the tyrant everywhere.
7) Lying constantly. This helps set all the other points in motion. Lying constantly, and moving from crisis to crisis can cause excitement and involvement. If people have to show their loyalty by believing whatever they are told by their side, then they loose the ability to think critically and just go along with the mob and the party media. This is kind of the ‘Orwell point’.
To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy
Truth is what helps the tyrant and his party, but this truth is eternal, and everyone who cannot directly see this truth is to be condemned.
Being focused on the latest crisis (always caused by the other side), also distracts people from a coherent criticism of the tyrant.
8) Controlling some Media. Take control over, or alliance with, significant sections of the media, so that by repetition, people think that the lies are the truth, and the leader really is wise, interested in them, and being constantly attacked by the evil ones. Have wealthy allies set up ‘think-tanks’ which spout the tyrant’s truth. Partly this is about controlling and reinforcing the narrative. Aim to discredit oppositional media. Threaten oppositional media. All history leads to the Tyrant, and the rebellion against the old order. More Orwell:
And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
9) Instigating big social projects. It is a good idea to have some magnificent social projects which honour the tyrant and give people the sense that something good is happening that they can be involved in: making living space; building buildings that show the glory of the Nation; having mass political rallies or displays; building the economy; fighting for the revolution; preparing to defend the Nation. People get annoyed if they have to sit at home, and the economy goes downhill as well – much better they get out as a group…
10) Law is a matter of the Tyrant’s will. The tyrant should honour the law and the constitution in speech, but remember these are only effective as conventions and interpretations secondary to the Tyrant’s will. The law is whatever the tyrant says. If the tyrant obstructs justice, threatens election results, or threatens those who would hold them to account then, in the US for example, this can be excused as ‘free speech’. If no one prosecutes a crime, or they excuse the tyrant, then what is allowed to happen is the new interpretation and the new law, and the only people who object will be traitors. Repeat that the tyrant’s will expresses the true beliefs of those who wrote the laws and the constitution.
11) Violence is an old fashioned necessity for tyranny. Always say the other side used violence first. But hit enemies decisively. It does not matter who, just make examples. Sort them out later. This will also help people to stay loyal, because they know it goes from expulsion to violence quickly so they will follow their instructions and probably think the violence they participate in is simply revenge on their oppressors and gives them freedom from previous and superseded restrictions. They are free!
12) Manufacturing Enemies. This is implicit all the way through these overlapping points, and if I had to say which is the most important point it is this one.
If you persuade people that a particular group of people are the enemies of every true, patriotic person, then you have frightened them, got them angry and ready to use violence. They will refuse to listen to those others, blame them, approve the violation of conventions because of necessity, approve lying and so on. You have sharpened divisions between the ‘we-group’ and the ‘out group’, and applied it to every aspect of life. People become trapped in the language of war. Anything is fair, anything is acceptable to preserve their own lives and the lives of others of the right type. The enemies are out to get you. The enemies attacked you first, by definition. They cannot be trusted. They cannot be dealt with. You have to go along with the tyrant even if you don’t like him, too much is at stake not too. Criticism of the tyrant is evidence of siding with the enemies and betraying the lives of precious others… You are gone.
Tyrants require enemies.
Again the problem is that some level of enmity is always present in reality. This is why the lie appeals to people, it’s based in reality. But usually people inside your own nation are not deliberate enemies, however organized you are told they are, but potential tyranny is organized to prevent people realizing this.
13) [hidden] While being officially opposed to the ruling class (usually a fake ruling class that has no real power), it is a great advantage for the tyrant to side with the established ruling class, as they are usually the wealth elites and can provide money, contacts in the establishment, help bend the laws and constitution, and control at least some of the media to give the tyrant support, and cultivate the lies he needs. This is not always essential, sometimes the rulers can be purged. In either case, eventually the tyrant will establish a new ruling class alongside the wealth elites who are dependent on him and loyal to the project.
Conclusion
These are the processes of tyranny. However, the tyrant eventually has to produce order and predictability, and a sense of progress, so that people can organise their daily lives and hope for the future, or the things that undermine tyranny will come into play too destructively.
War helps postpone the Tyrant’s problems, and is a logical consequence of the process of constructing the tyranny. However, war rarely allows stability – especially war without compromise which is what tyranny encourages. Modern warfare in particular enables destruction, but seems to make it hard to hold gains. The expenses of holding onto gains, usually outweigh the gains being made.
I’d like to say, that while easy to start, a tyrannical state is eventually doomed, unless it can learn to leave people alone most of the time and live in peace. Hitler failed at the latter, the Romans and the Chinese Emperors largely succeeded. Mussolini was doomed the moment he allied with Hitler and joined World War II. The Russians succeeded for a while, and Putin succeeds most of the time.
Climate, technology and chaos Blog 
Leave a comment