the honest dictator

The dictator who hides behind supposed democratic process, the dictator who feigns the role of elected official, the dictator who denies he is a dictator: this is the dictator to despise. The honest dictator proudly announces his status; the honest dictator dictates simpliciter. With such an honest dictatorship comes responsibility, responsibility acknowledged and accepted. The covert dictator, the secret dictator, absolves himself of responsibility; he hides behind the pretense of popular support to implicate the people themselves in their own oppression. Better a dictator who accepts responsibility than one who cowers behind his subjects. Dictatorship requires strength, confidence, and honesty; only then can we judge a dictator, only then can we know his quality.