You! Yes, you. Smart. Attractive. And, in fact, a real people person (1). But only the right kind of people.<\/strong><\/p>\n Successful by any standard measure but at the same time opportunistic. But in a good way, you tell yourself.\u00a0 Truth be told, over the course of your life you have bent many, many others to your will (but not nearly enough to satisfy your cravings).\u00a0 To be truly satisfied you need to have more.\u00a0 Much more.\u00a0 But you just can’t get there.\u00a0 In other words\u2026you have the desire but you lack something.\u00a0 What you want is complete hegemony.\u00a0 What you want…what you really aspire to…is to become a dictator.\u00a0 You want to be Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon. \u00a0You know\u2026a person and a name people remember after you\u2019ve gone from this life.\u00a0 \u00a0But darn it!\u00a0 You don\u2019t have the mechanisms to otherwise force your will upon the masses. What does becoming a dictator mean exactly? It means being able to manipulate people.\u00a0 A lot of people.\u00a0 It means taking advantage of their emotions.\u00a0 And in the case of politicians and aspiring totalitarians<\/a> everywhere, it means creating loyalty. (2)\u00a0 But what\u2019s frustrating you is people that have come to know you, just don\u2019t like you much.\u00a0 Nevertheless you persist.\u00a0 What\u2019s on your Action Item List today would-be dictator?\u00a0 \u00a0To have complete control.\u00a0 Over all of humanity.\u00a0 Permanently.\u00a0 Let\u2019s review.\u00a0 To date:<\/p>\n You most definitively have:<\/strong><\/p>\n – hate and envy.\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 You have those.\u00a0 Misanthropy is built into every aspiring dictator<\/p>\n You think you have:<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0 control of the narrative (3)<\/p>\n You do not have:<\/strong><\/p>\n – a goose-stepping<\/a> paramilitary<\/a> (yet)
\n– a populace willing to rat-out one another over trivial matters (yet)
\n– a Secret Police (yet).
\n– a gulag archipelago;<\/a>\u00a0prisons to hold political dissidents (4)<\/p>\n