Yes, dictatorships end
#251
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
There is a lot to learn from the hasty escape of Bashar al-Assad from his country in Syria last weekend.
One thing is particularly important for democracy movements worldwide: Dictatorships often appear more stable than they are.
We Germans know about this illusion. Thirty-five years ago, the wall came down. Practically nobody expected it at the time. Only a few weeks earlier, the GDR state had celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding with great fanfare. Uniformed crowds paraded past the powerful people standing on stages. A few days later, crowds again marched through the streets of the GDR, this time without uniforms. It was then that the facade of power collapsed.
Why do dictatorships build these facades of approval? Why do they need this pretence?
Facades protect the powerful. Because fewer people attack those who seem unassailable.
But appearances are usually deceptive. Dictatorships usually exist against the majority. That is why censorship, persecution and torture are necessary to keep the powerful in power.
Therefore, the impression of support for dictators is usually made up. Only when we allow ourselves to be blinded by facades will we be surprised when dictatorships collapse.
By the way, facades can have a thousand faces. The fact that Bashar al-Assad usually appeared in a smart suit was intended to give the world the impression that he was a serious statesman. Who wears such smart suits cannot be a mass murderer, was the message. But still he was.
✊ Bashar al-Assad is history. New facades will be built in Syria. New rulers (presumably, they will only be men) will announce that they will do everything for the good of the people. Whether they really do that will be seen by whether a society is now built in Syria where everyone has a say. Only such societies have a chance of lasting peace and freedom. I wonder how good the chances are that Syria can go along that path. I hope so with all my heart.
See you in Syria,
Johannes
Yes!
Let's wish well for the Syrian people.
For it is not a given that they will be able to actually turn this opportunity into a future in which they do have a say.
I firmly believe that this desire to have a say in your own future is deeply ingrained in human nature. It is the desire for freedom!
It is this desire for freedom that autocrats and dictators like Assad, Lukashenka, Putin, Kim or Xi have to keep a lid on to stay in power. Controlling the energy of freedom requires more energy. These styles of government need to expend more and more energy to stay in power. Secret police, prison systems and camps, torture, control of the press, faking a reality etc.
Yet at some point a weak point will give. In the case of Syria it was triggered by the assault of Israel at the powers holding the frail Assad regime in power.
The energy of freedom surpassed the available energy to control it.
Sadly, as much as this prozess is uncontrolable it is not linear. It can be cyclical, leading from suppression of freedom to new suppression by somebody else.
Yet I am sure: What we are witnessing in Syria gives hope to suppressed people globally and it puts the Putins of this world on notice.