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Some quoted in this NYT piece saying that Putin's Russia is not “a properly run dictatorship”, that the big man doesn't control everything & that corruption, disobedience & disorder are rampant.
But isn't that true of most (or even all) dictatorships? nyti.ms/2Ykjm6g
But isn't that true of most (or even all) dictatorships? nyti.ms/2Ykjm6g
It's obvious why apologists for these regimes promote the illusion that dictatorships are somehow efficient & well-ordered, and overlook or downplay the regime's crimes, or even justify the crimes in the name of efficiency, as some do with Stalin. But it's not just the apologists
Even those who are no friends of the regime - as in this article - can be vulnerable to the widely held myth that dictatorships are somehow efficient, that, despite the suppression and destruction of talent, they somehow "get things done."
We saw this here in Brussels just a few days ago, with @EP_President framing fascism as a system known for "building roads, bridges, buildings." Is Tajani a fascist? Of course not. But the myth of efficiency in dictatorships is strong. Earlier thread here:
The truth is dictatorships are hugely inefficient. Their inevitable corruption & fear-based power structure destroys talent & ambition. Experts & innovators - those with ideas that create wealth and/or improve public good - are seen as a threat & end up dead, in jail or in exile.
When dictatorships fall, the evidence of their inefficiencies is often overwhelming... Documents and witnesses detail the absurd time & money spent on creating and maintaining the instruments & bureaucracy of repression that only ever really served to keep the dictator in power.
When dictatorships fall, we learn more than ever about the billions squirrelled away by corrupt officials in overseas bank accounts - money that was never used to build bridges or schools or hospitals back home - a total waste that guts the "efficiency of dictatorships" myth.
When dictatorships fall, we then learn about how those "glorious" public works projects in actual fact were hugely inefficient horrors. By being turned more or less into slaves, people have no incentive but try to do as little as possible & just survive each day.
The point is, as well as being morally repugnant, using fear as a way to organize society is hugely inefficient. The propaganda of dictatorships saying otherwise has been very powerful throughout the ages, but we should resist it and see it for the simplistic lie that it is.
And this is also why respect for human rights is not only a moral imperative but also a very practical one. Think, for example, of our right to free speech & press freedom. Corruption - that is, economic inefficiency - thrives without free media to expose politicians' thieving.
