In Six Steps.. A Contemporary Tyrant's Guide to Loving People on the Street

You might think that people follow tyrants in different positions, whether the tyrant or the dictator is a head of state, a business manager, or the head of a family, out of fear of them or out of greed for the advantages that they may obtain by obeying them.

These are reasons, of course, but the reasons for following a tyrant or dictator are not limited to factors of fear and greed, but extend to other, more complex and complex causes.

First, let's agree on a specific definition of a tyrant or dictator.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group holds absolute power without effective constitutional restrictions. (1) As for the tyrant, the same encyclopedia defines him as a cruel and unjust ruler, who seized power in an unconstitutional way, or he may have inherited This power. (2)

Some dictators, then, may be charismatic and charming in some ways, but they usually display ruthlessness and do not care about the opinions of others.

These people tend to have a mixture of narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality traits, such as a lack of empathy, grandiosity, thirst for power and control, lying, deception, and indifference to laws, traditional rules, or morals. .

malignant narcissist

These disorders can manifest themselves in apparent traits such as arrogance, a need for power, recognition, and approval, and a tendency to use or exploit others for personal reasons.

Falling into the orbit of a malignant narcissist can lead to huge losses, and the greater the power that falls into the hands of this person, the greater the losses and the more affected. (3)

One of the main signs of a malignant narcissist as well is his long history of misusing the people around him and then getting rid of people who are no longer useful to him.

Also, malignant narcissists are often power-hungry and obsessed with taking various ways to get more of it, and they often compete for jobs that give them that power, because they lack the ability to find power within themselves, so they have an urgent need for positions that allow them more power to make them They feel entitled.

A malignant narcissist takes almost everything personally, and this makes the narcissist feel offended by simple and spontaneous actions such as disagreeing with his opinion, and when he feels this feeling, his revenge can be brutal.

People with this personality disorder tend to hold long grudges against anyone who has offended them in any way. Even disagreeing with them, giving them feedback, or questioning anything they have said can lead to quick and angry revenge.

Malignant narcissists can be cruel, sadistic, and seem to enjoy or be content with the suffering of others.

This means that they can be predators who manipulate, abuse and take advantage of others, sometimes for personal gain, sometimes just for fun.

When malignant narcissists want something, there may be nothing wrong with making it happen, armed with their own lack of empathy or sensitivity to the feelings and needs of others. (4)

In the world of politics, such tyrants have always used a great deal of violence to intimidate their opponents and consolidate their control, but in recent decades another form of control has emerged used by authoritarian governments, this form more suited to the globalized media and advanced technologies of the twenty-first century.

“New regimes” were launched that mimicked democracies, held sham elections to legitimize their survival in power, bribe and monitor the private press rather than abolish it, and eliminate any “reasonable” alternative that might compete with it tomorrow.

These regimes are particularly keen to show the extent to which the people support them. (5)

But peoples’ support for dictatorial regimes may not only be fictitious, but may be real and honest. There are reasons that may be understandable, such as fear of tyrants or greed for the advantages that they may provide to their followers, but other than these factors, there are other reasons that push people to follow tyrants well. A risk, perhaps, of true love and admiration.

Would you like to get to know her?

Perhaps one day you will want to become one of those so-called tyrants!

Be a father..sometimes

At the forefront of these reasons is the strong need for strong and idealistic fathers, one of the basic needs that attract many people to accept the idea of ​​a higher power or authority.

This starts from the early stages of childhood, when parents appear on the horizon as supervisors, protectors and bearers of full responsibility, perhaps responsible for the consequences of bad behaviors for the child himself, and continues with us even after maturity.

This desire to maintain a permanent version of the perfect strong father enables the tyrannical leader to easily gain complete control and control of his followers.

The tyrannical ruler is embodied in the guise of a father, and his citizens are transformed into children to some degree, tampering with their desire for the best results (stability - well-being) with little contribution.

Although the truth is that the tyrant will probably only achieve the worst results, he uses this psychological factor as a form of evasion and manipulation that gives him more power and control.

Be perfect in everything

Another reason for the love of tyrants is naive idealism. Sometimes goodwill and belief in human goodness are reasons that make some people vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.

Some assume that all people have at least a minimum level of mutual respect, generosity, empathy, and fairness, and this assumption makes them easily fall into the machinations of sociopaths who delude those around them of their idealism and sympathy, when in fact they do not care about others in any way.

Also, some may find permanent justifications for the mistakes of tyrants and tyrannical rulers. These justifications may reduce the impact of the atrocities committed by tyrants on some.

Naive idealism and ready-made justifications always facilitate exploitation by a tyrant, because you do not doubt or examine his statements or motives with a critical eye.

Show your strength in every picture

One of the reasons for the love of tyrants is also admiration for “strength” and “a strong person.” Many of us confuse arrogance and narcissism on the one hand, and strength on the other, and admire those who show strength, even if this “imagined” strength reaches the point of “predation” of others. .

The strange thing is that some people may suppress harmful thoughts and behaviors in themselves, but they like, to some degree, those who can break these “moral” constraints in order to achieve greater power.

In that case, the reason people admire tyrants is because they feel weak.

When people feel a lack of control over their lives, they turn to fictional characters as an escape to in order to regain a sense of power.

Sometimes people do not resort to fictional characters, but rather to prominent personalities in their lives, whether these prominent personalities are celebrities, wealthy people or politicians, these characters generally possess charisma and strength, and they also have something else that people need during their moments of weakness, this The thing is self-confidence, and this self-confidence is reassuring and contagious to those who feel unsettled or insecure in themselves.

Follow the traditions and the origins

One reason to follow tyrants so willingly is that very few are willing to tweet out the flock, but too many find great attraction in aligning themselves with others who "consent" what the tyrant does.

From elementary school onwards, peer pressure is enormous, a person puts in effort and endorses and approves of what he or she does not wish to endorse or approve of, just to not appear 'eccentric' or socially rejected or ostracized.

This, to some extent, does not change even in adult society. (6)

Don't worry.. some really don't care

Mental shortcuts may also be a reason for some people's love for tyrants, and what is meant by mental shortcuts is the illogical justification that we usually use so that we do not have to think and analyze.

We may use mental shortcuts to fool ourselves into thinking that a bad leader is "really okay."

This cognitive laziness allows bad leaders to remain in power by force or even reelection.

Feed them.. and make them feel safe

In addition, good economic performance, meeting citizens' economic perceptions, increasing perceived public safety, and demonstrating the ability of governments to defend the nation against external and internal threats are reasons for supporting tyrants.

The better the economic situation of the state and the more stable the security situation, the more the citizens will accept and perhaps love their ruler, even if he is a tyrant or a tyrant. (7)

A dictator exploits most people's well-known instinct to seek protection from a strong leader. “Our behavior is still affected by what happened thousands of years ago," says Alice Lucisero, a clinical psychologist and leadership researcher in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the association with strong leaders, if we know that in Darwinian evolution the people who were associated with the leader survived. This instinct has faded but its shadow is still embodied in the desire to associate with a strong leader.”(8)

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