ThoughtBite: Gadaffi and his ilk--can dictators sometimes be a good thing?

What happens after we topple Gadaffi? Could we end up with a civil war like in Iraq? The chaos of tribal warfare like Afghanistan? A democratically elected jihadist government that trains and sponsors al-Queda?

I hate dictators, and I love liberty. But when I take a hard, pragmatic look at what's happened after dictators have been toppled in post-colonial or post-WWII nations, it's not a pretty picture. In fact, it often seems even more ugly for the common man than it was under the brutal dictator, who usually provided more stability than the chaos and bloodshed after.

I don't like this conclusion at all. So please bend your mind to it, and help think it through. Roll this around in your brain, then leave thoughtful comments, questions, what-ifs, and counterexamples.

And forward this to others, so they can help poke holes in this disturbing idea that dictators can sometimes be better than the alternative.

www.gregcraven.org

Oh, and if you take issue with my spelling of Kadaffy Duck, see here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/09/how-many-different-ways-can-y...

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[koertje]

Man, you go life in Afganistan under the orderly Taliban.

Funny that many western people go for the romantic opression 

[endomorphosis]

Maybe a study of a decade pre and post regime change, and then study quality adjusted life years, coupled with the economic and environmental measurements.

[TheXmasProductions]

Thumbs up if you saw m-ilk--can in the title xD

[waterspindle]

US dictators can be a good thing.

If you like watching Libya turned to rubble, ethnic cleansing of africans in libya, depleted uranium in war, economy turned to shit, and Gaddahfi sodomized and lynched on youtube or public TV. Who or what constitutes a dick-tator? Who knows. But US/NATO puppets are the biggest fools since the SS. Fuck'em.

[RZMaslic]

@fz1844 not just that in order to have democracy you need education and vigilance. Without that democracy is useless as a viable system.

[fz1844]

A further comment: democracy is the rulership of the people. This is only possible if people have self-government first. But we are a nation of out-of-control people, who can't even govern our own weight and eating habits. Therefore, we are unfit to bring democracy to anyone else. We first need to topple our own dictators of greed and lust.

[fz1844]

When you read the Wikipedia article on Gadaffi, you find out that he actually did a lot of good for his people, and even other parts of Africa. Perhaps the west didn't like that he was the first to demand a larger percentage of profits from the oil taken from his country. It seems we don't like dictators who make us pay more, but we are happy with those (and even set them up) who cooperate with our idea of commerce. And the "no fly zone"? They can't fly, but we can fly planes to bomb them??

[TheSnackbomb]

Speaking more to this video, well, yeah that's a power vacuum for ya. I hate to say it's all in planning, but back when 'we' did it (USA!!), we had most of our ducks lined up before we threw off the oppressor; and we 'still' had a civil war. What will kill you faster? A gangrenous limb that you have to cut off, or a hemorrhagic gash you have when you decide to just chop it off and walk away, without cleaning the wound.

[TheSnackbomb]

Democracy's failure is its lack of direction, The reason that groups naturally develop leaders is because they are efficient, and faults in modern examples of dictatorships are actually, simply, faults in their leaders and the systems that let them lead. The problem is when a dictator is able to rule with such power that he can target people who would speak out against him. The only real check and balance system a government requires, is one that ensures the ruler is a servant of the people.

[wwickeddogg]

@1337ASM I disagree with your assumptions. Democracy gives everyone equal opportunity to express their view with the purpose of allowing others to hear and determine for themselves what value the view has.

The average person should be free to make their own decisions because that is the only way that a society can be functional. You start to take away my freedom and I become disfunctional. I protest instead of working, I stop cooperating, I intentionally cause harm to society, etc.