With my dictatorial powers … my first action would be to seize and outlaw extreme wealth. No one would be allowed to own more than $1 million.
All the money collected would be used for government and providing a Universal Basic Income for everyone.
And I’d get a designer to make me a big fancy hat.
That is increadibly hard to do.
- How do you define what goes into that 1 million of allowed wealth? If I buy a house worth 950000, would I only be allowed to save 50000.
- what about if the house increase in value so that it is worth 2 million, should I just accept that I loose 1 million? What about stocks?
- Inflation or Deflation, when/how will you update that limit?
I agree with your take on this. I think 1M is way too low. But 1 Billion… It’s a bit easier to imagine the “you can’t or the dictatorship will seize something” idea.
The reality is that the wealthiest people usually influence the most
This is a delight, and you are correct. That said, in the spirit of this silly thread, I provide solutions, below:
If I buy a house worth 950000, would I only be allowed to save 50000.
Yes. It will be time to get some roommates.
- what about if the house increase in value so that it is worth 2 million, should I just accept that I loose 1 million?
Yes. Or rather, exactly half of the house. Time to rent a storage unit, and put up some tarps to divide the entryway.
What about stocks?
Better sell some.
Inflation or Deflation, when/how will you update that limit?
Cost of living increases have long been understood and easy enough to calculate.
But - when I’m global leader, COLA for millionaires will only start after exactly as many years as the local minimum wage went without updates.
I would probably also include the wealth one owns and not just money (because thats useless, they would just use a different currency) and set it to like 40-50 houses in value. If they own a company that gets bigger the country gets shares
50 Houses might seem a lot in value (especially depending on what kind of building) but it already would distribute a lot of wealth + allowing the dream of being filthy rich with less consequences to the rest of the population
Because its just an idea i dont think about the specifics of the exact limit and such
I’d do the same but at 1b. And then execute anyone that steps over 1B. It’s incredibly easy to not be a billionaire.
If you’re almost a billionaire there a numerous ways of hiding your wealth.
If you’re a dictator, surely you don’t have to justify any of your actions and just do whatever you want, right?
You absolutely has to justify your actions, you will only be in power as long as your subordinates will follow your orders.
You can’t just do whatever you want, you need to have a strategy, now doing this dictator stuff right will give you insane levels of power, but you can’t just go crazy and boss everyone around from the get go, you need to reward your loyal subjects and create levels of privilege and harsh punishments for the people to enjoy and stay loyal.
The house is only worth what the market will pay for it, if you aren’t selling your $10m mansion then it’s worth nothing. Sadly if you do try to sell it you’d probably need to move to the barter system and agree with the buyer that $10m worth of arbitrary goods is actually worth $15.95, just like your house …
Remove housing from the commodity market - save your one mil in cash.
Stocks are outlawed.
One way would be to instead of putting a hard limit to put a tax to everything above that million or whatever number is decided. A tax on hoarding wealth.
The second point is the biggest issue because it could potentially make the place you live unaffordable by just being where it is.
That limit can be updated yearly following the inflation.
This.
Tax the crap out of wealth over value X, let the ghouls fight to earn slightly more, while the government gets plenty of tax incomme.
This is what I like about the social democratic ideology, it has high taxes to fund a safety net, yet retains a market economy to bring in higher earnings and thus taxes.
Ignore these naysayers. Tell us more about the hat.
The shortest dictatorship in history…
Fantabulous! Please remind me when election is so I can vote for you. 🫡
I am behind this 100%
Socialist doesnt know how the economy works
I’d be too much of a lazy dictator to do anything truly evil.
I’ll be happy to be your evil grand vizier, if you need one.
Underrated comment, power that sits unused will get preyed on.
I could BE a benevolent dictator, I could never BECOME a benevolent dictator. The process of getting there would exclude me, because I would reject the power structure needed to form the dictatorship in the first place.
Probably not.
I mean, I don’t think there’s a chance of doing some really fucked up shit, like genociding people; but I’d certainly be biased toward things that I want and not necessarily what the majority wants. I’d be a little bit corrupt, but I can’t even envision a path that would lead me to be evil.
I think there are many people out there who could.
To me, the problem isn’t being a benevolent dictator; it’s getting a benevolent person there in a benevolent way.
Yeah the problem is mostly that benevolent people don’t actually want to be dictators much less do what it takes to become one.
My Tropico track record says that I absolutely can.
I love Tropico, but it always bugged me just how easy it is to be a good guy.
how dare you question my benevolence. to the pits with you.
I wouldn’t be fucking kids and sending goon squads after minorities and into cities to harass my political opponents if that is what you are asking.
The ‘not evil’ bar is currently riding on the same high speed train the Republicans put their goalposts on.
We’re getting into paradox territory
I’d like to think so. When we read 1984 in high school, a friend and I were studying together. I remember saying (in my naïveté), “I loved the book and I get the history but why would you want to be in charge of a place that sucks?” She was like, “You’re just going to have to get used to the fact that a lot of people care about power more than beaches.”
Well, I still think those people are foolish. I’d rather be in charge of my own tiny slice of paradise than rule over some wack ass dictatorship where everyone else is miserable. Not wanting to be in charge is probably the basic pre-requisite for being a benevolent dictator. I like to cook for people and stuff. I’d use my power and wealth to do that.
That being said, I’m a dirtbag. I’d have a cool house somewhere with mountain and ocean views. Probably 3 or 4 beauty queens who also have Ms. Congeniality pageant sashes who are in charge of laughing at my jokes and charming me. No more than one or two rhythmic gymnastics teams that delight us all by throwing ribbons to each other with their feet. (Other apparatuses are cool too. Hula hoop. Clubs. Ball. Variety is the spice of life.)
I would instantly be assassinated for helping out people too much and handing too much power to workers syndicates
No because narcissistic psychopathic yes-men would flood my surroundings and I’d probably quickly become paranoid (with reasons to be that).
Except if it was in a Douglas Addams way.
I don’t think I could become dictator at all, no.
Seriously, though, power corrupts. I’m not immune. Nor am I immune to being manipulated by those more evil than I, which is another big problem with concentrating power.
Basically it is a structural problem that ensures corrupt behavior. A dictator has to direct resources to the people most relevant to their continued power to buy their loyalty, and away from everyone else whose support is irrelevant. Not being a scumbag in that position could get you killed.
It’s really difficult. Not because you will turn evil of your own free will, but because you will have to do terrible things to maintain stability and to keep yourself from being usurped by spies. If you became dictator of any country, you would immediately start to get attacked from many sides by both spies and also revolutionaries who think of themselves as the good guy. In order to do anything it takes time. This is the only way to win the people over. Becoming a dictator is no doubt going to lead to massive economic decline in the near term unless you become a right wing dictator who has favor with the business and merchant classes. If you try to actually become a benevolent dictator and actually free the people, most of the people you would think were your allies would also blame you for everything that is wrong and turn against you, the business class would fund propaganda against you. The internationalists would fund your opposition to gain back their foreign claims to your industry and minerals.
People will feel as if they have every right to criticize you in every way, if you don’t oppress them, but if you do, you will rightfully be called a tyrant. If you find your own propaganda you will be called a tyrant, but the people you think would be your allies, will not understand that there is propaganda on the other side.
It’s very difficult indeed. Within a few years of taking power you would immediately have to deal with a torrent of spies, foreign media, coups, and whatever else. This is why only right wing governments only ever last more then a few years in history.
Vladimir Lenin is a great example of this, he genuinely saw himself as being benevolent. He was a real communist. He wanted to help the people. Yet he quickly realized once he obtained power that he did not have the support of the majority of the country. He pleaded and appealed to them, he tried to “educate” them on what was needed to achieve communism, mainly just time and their trust. Yet even his first election if he were to have one, he would lose, because already he had become associated with the status quo. The mainstream oppressors of the common people. So he became a tyrant, as all dictators do. Communism gets traded for national socialism and fascism with red paint by the time Lenin is dead. All in an effort to just keep power for a little bit so he could see his communist vision come true. Unfortunately as soon as the bosliviks started to oppress the people they lost the little bit of credibility they had. Just another tyrant, another right wing power obsessed state.
