TRICKY POLITRICKS

Humans, if they believe that they are under threat, will prefer giving up their liberties and freedoms in the hands of that one person who rose and said ‘I alone can fix it. Potential dictators understand this fact that when people are threatened, they look for strong authoritarian leadership and support a strongman. But before taking complete control of their state, they need to channel the anger, frustration and fear of the people in one direction that suits them. Generally, authoritarian leaders are not good when it comes to building a vibrant economy. A regime of corruption and a few yes men surrounding that one tyrant cannot sustain without sharing the prosperity of the country among the top brass. Such economic hardships make the citizens disenchanted and there is a fear that the strongman might lose his support base. Though an angry crowd is what a tyrant needs, the angry crowd can turn against you if not handled well. After all, even they deserve someone to blame for all the ha...

  For the last eight years, India has been experiencing high octane politics. Since 2014 the political discourse has been dominated by a single ideology of polarisation. While the ruling side has been unapologetic about its practices, the opposition has failed miserably to convince people of the consequences of the authoritarian practices. However, the issue arises with the silence of the majority despite the process of marginalisation not only being executed in open but rather showcased. As a citizen of democratic India, not many can stay without scratching their heads and questioning ‘where did we go wrong’? The answer, to the surprise of many, is nowhere. Every now and then, authoritarian right-wing strongmen, in other words, tyrants get support from their citizens, all thanks to the mistakes of their so-called liberal opposers. In this article, we will be looking at those mistakes, the sex appeal offered by strongmen and tyrants and the conditions that make people turn against ...