He was supposed to be limited to 2 terms as general secretary, the only person to break that tradition was Mao.
His anti-corruptiom prosecutions also happened to be anti-rival prosecutions.
He does have absolute power, sort of, there is just no direct path to remove or bypass him. It’s like we have no direct path to become president without winning an election, though we do have indirect paths that should never happen save for exceptional circumstances.
He’s more autocratic than recent Chinese leaders, but, at least looking from the outside, he doesn’t seem to be fostering the kind of generalized fear environment needed for total control, like Stalin or Hitler did. The level of public dissent that’s allowed at least still seems to be in line with the garden variety authoritarian dictatorship and not with a totalitarian one.
He hasn’t had a cultural revolution, totally agree.
But it’s also clear his path has been to ensure control of HK, TW and other “properties” of china to keep his domestic populace happy, while ensuring safe loyalty via all-encompassing electronic surveillance.
He’s smart enough that he doesn’t have to be hitler/Stalin, but you’re right he’s not them.
As Mel Brooks said, “Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”
This means that smart dictators can address most criticism by a mix of rhetoric and half truths, but handling mockery is much harder for them. So it’s not that surprising that a dictatorship might crack down on forms of humor that damage the image they want to build of its leaders even if they allow some level of opposition.
He was supposed to be limited to 2 terms as general secretary, the only person to break that tradition was Mao.
His anti-corruptiom prosecutions also happened to be anti-rival prosecutions.
He does have absolute power, sort of, there is just no direct path to remove or bypass him. It’s like we have no direct path to become president without winning an election, though we do have indirect paths that should never happen save for exceptional circumstances.
He’s more autocratic than recent Chinese leaders, but, at least looking from the outside, he doesn’t seem to be fostering the kind of generalized fear environment needed for total control, like Stalin or Hitler did. The level of public dissent that’s allowed at least still seems to be in line with the garden variety authoritarian dictatorship and not with a totalitarian one.
He hasn’t had a cultural revolution, totally agree.
But it’s also clear his path has been to ensure control of HK, TW and other “properties” of china to keep his domestic populace happy, while ensuring safe loyalty via all-encompassing electronic surveillance.
He’s smart enough that he doesn’t have to be hitler/Stalin, but you’re right he’s not them.
Make fun of him online and it’s straight to prison.
As Mel Brooks said, “Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”
This means that smart dictators can address most criticism by a mix of rhetoric and half truths, but handling mockery is much harder for them. So it’s not that surprising that a dictatorship might crack down on forms of humor that damage the image they want to build of its leaders even if they allow some level of opposition.
People literally won’t talk about Tienanmen in public because of the consequences. That’s real fear.