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A Good Dictator

Has there ever been a time in history where having a dictatorship was a positive influence on a people?

Dictator Good A

Yes actually, there have been a surprising number of them. The most recent one that comes to mind would be Charles De Gaulle, the man who led France through WWII.

A dictatorship isn't by default evil. It is by default dangerous. Let's say you have a visionary that honestly has the best interests of the people at heart, is intelligent and learned enough to actually have a good idea of what is best for the people, and is capable enough to get his vision across.

Said visionary would have a far easier time turning his country into a near utopia in a dictatorship than a republic, or indeed any non totalitarian government.

The problem is, such people are rare, and someone without such attributes can very quickly turn a country into a hellhole.

I've often actually wondered if modern countries shouldn't bring back the original function of a dictator in some form. Originally, in Roman times, the position of dictator was a temporary affair. In the event of an emergency, someone would be elected by the senate with broad discretionary powers to deal with said emergency.

Edited: daishain on 23rd Jan, 2018 - 1:47am