Recipe for a Dictatorship

By: G. Bellamo and L. Lima

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First, separate your ingredients: You start with an oppressive ruling class, with power concentrated in very few aristocrats. Now for this to work, you need an overwhelming majority of the oppressed lower class; the proletariat. Note: This will not work if the ruling class is not completely dwarfed by the size of the working class. Another key ingredient is utter class disparity, more than 50% of the wealth has to be concentrated in a very small portion of society. Finally, the most important ingredient of all, a charismatic Leader to spearhead the movement, preferably a high ranking military officer of sorts. If you want to accelerate the process, add an incident or a moment of chaos were the current authority is indisposed or incapacitated. Once you have these few conditions, your nation is ready for a forcible takeover. This key stage is the Coup D’Etat.

The second step to achieve this pestilent concoction is vital, as the buildup is just as important as the climax. You must boil the water in the pressure pot. The extreme inequality has to continue, maybe even become more severe. As the workers undergo this torture, they have to be strained to their limits. Now, be careful on this step, for if they snap too early they will lack energy and ultimately fail; if they snap too late they will be too weak and frail to execute the plan correctly. However, the uprising has to be commanded by one, our charismatic Leader. He or She can be from any social background, except the aristocracy. They need to be cunning and charismatic, an ordinary citizen, with the same cares and issues as their followers. In short, the Leader has to be one of the oppressed; the mouthpiece for the faceless mob, a person the people will fall in love with, who will inspire them to fight beside them. If a leader is not overwhelmingly present in the uprising, if they lack leadership they will descend to anarchy and chaos, and ultimately will either fail or establish a democracy. If the revolution lacks hierarchy with one individual above all, a dictatorship will not be established.

Nevertheless, there is another recipe: One that requires less ingredients, but is only cooked to perfection with years of scalding pre-heating. This recipe does not share the need for an oppressed lower class, it instead uses a small, yet powerful element; the military. Now, for this method to work, the conditions are not too specific, however they need to be drastic: you need any form of  government apart from a military regime. Then, you add the most important factor to the mixture: the discontent of army officials. Once everything is inside the oven scalding with tension, the discontentment, very much like yeast, will activate the mixture and make it escalate uncontrollably, to the point the reaction is so chaotic, the military take over the entire dish. There is no need for any public support or aid in this case, as all is imposed by army force.

The conclusive step for us to finally reach this poisonous dish, for us to establish a dictatorship; the step that will decide if our nefarious Leader will long last. Whether it was a military intervention or a revolutionary leader, they will want to remain in power. This step is very complex, you will need to plate your dish in such a way that the dictatorship seems grand, powerful and respectful, yet still paint the image that they are doing the best for the public by taking power. This last part is the reason to why so many dictatorships come off wrong, the preparation was flawless, however, it all comes down to the presentation in terms of maintaining power.