But what’s best of all, President Snow, is for your subjects to love and fear you in equal measure, as if you were an overbearing father who nonetheless occasionally doles out a few crumbs of love. They may cower from you when they’ve done something wrong, but when there are enemies at the gate, nonetheless they’ll run to you for protection.
This seems to be the trick the most successful dictators have in common. Isolate your people, demonize the Other, play on people's inherent tribalism, set yourself up as a stern but caring overlord. It's not unlike the tactics an abusive spouse uses. If you play your cards right, other countries will impose economic sanctions, increasing isolation and fueling further demonization. Time is your friend, here; the longer people see you as the only option, the more engrained and dysfunctional the pattern becomes - whole generations will know nothing other than life under your rule.
Naturally the real test of successful dictatorship is whether the people sob in the streets after the dictator's death. Do they feel like they've been cast adrift by the death of their terrifying yet twinkly-eyed father figure? Does life seem to have lost all meaning in his absence? Has he left a void that his lesser successors can never quite fill?
Actually, that might not be good for the longevity of the empire as a whole. I suppose dictators must at some point decide which is more important to them: the long future of the empire, or their own short term power and importance in the minds of the people.
"Things could always be worse--imagine if you lived in .... DISTRICT 13"
"If you don't eat the shriveled carrots that were the only thing available at the general store, Timmy, the bogeyman from DISTRICT 13 will come and carry you off!"
Yep. Get 'em fearing and hating District 13--that's the ticket!
If it weren't for District 13, the grocery store would have better carrots!
And in District 13, no one has any carrots at all. Think of the starving children in District 13, Timmy! Or their starving parents may come and kidnap you and put you in a stew...
District 13 would be such a good all-purpose bogeyman. Even the name is slightly sinister, with all the unlucky connotations of 13.
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This seems to be the trick the most successful dictators have in common. Isolate your people, demonize the Other, play on people's inherent tribalism, set yourself up as a stern but caring overlord. It's not unlike the tactics an abusive spouse uses. If you play your cards right, other countries will impose economic sanctions, increasing isolation and fueling further demonization. Time is your friend, here; the longer people see you as the only option, the more engrained and dysfunctional the pattern becomes - whole generations will know nothing other than life under your rule.
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Actually, that might not be good for the longevity of the empire as a whole. I suppose dictators must at some point decide which is more important to them: the long future of the empire, or their own short term power and importance in the minds of the people.
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"If you don't eat the shriveled carrots that were the only thing available at the general store, Timmy, the bogeyman from DISTRICT 13 will come and carry you off!"
Yep. Get 'em fearing and hating District 13--that's the ticket!
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And in District 13, no one has any carrots at all. Think of the starving children in District 13, Timmy! Or their starving parents may come and kidnap you and put you in a stew...
District 13 would be such a good all-purpose bogeyman. Even the name is slightly sinister, with all the unlucky connotations of 13.
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Well, probably not, but he totally could.
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