Bring Down Dictatorship

Achieving a society with both freedom and peace is of course no simple task. It will require great strategic skill, organization, and planning. Above all, it will require power. Democrats cannot hope to bring down a dictatorship and establish political freedom without the ability to apply their own power effectively.

But how is this possible? What kind of power can the democratic opposition mobilize that will be sufficient to destroy the dictatorship and its vast military and police networks? The answers lie in an often ignored understanding of political power. Learning this insight is not really so difficult a task. Some basic truths are quite simple.

Local candidates need to take away support from BJP

Local candidates and MLAs need to take away support from BJP. BJP is playing a dangerous game of fascism by trying to take over every possible institute they can. People need to stop supporting local candidates that are from BJP. Local candidates can join any party, including independent, but not BJP. Remember, in a one-party dictatorship, there is hardly any power left with local candidates, so why vote them? Democracy is about making decisions by consensus, by listening to everyone, not decisions made by a single supreme leader. Remember how a dictator gets its power. All support systems of dictator need to be broken. Bring Down Dictatorship.

Necessary sources of political power

The principle is simple. Dictators require the assistance of the people they rule, without which they cannot secure and maintain the sources of political power. These sources of political power include:

• Authority, the belief among the people that the regime is legitimate, and that they have a moral duty to obey it;
• Human resources, the number and importance of the persons and groups which are obeying, cooperating, or providing assistance to the rulers;
• Skills and knowledge, needed by the regime to perform specific actions and supplied by the cooperating persons and groups;
• Intangible factors, psychological and ideological factors that may induce people to obey and assist the rulers;
• Material resources, the degree to which the rulers control or have access to property, natural resources, financial resources, the economic system, and means of communication and transportation; and
• Sanctions, punishments, threatened or applied, against the disobedient and noncooperative to ensure the submission and cooperation that are needed for the regime to exist and carry out its policies.

All of these sources, however, depend on acceptance of the regime, on the submission and obedience of the population, and on the cooperation of innumerable people and the many institutions of the society. These are not guaranteed.

Full cooperation, obedience, and support will increase the availability of the needed sources of power and, consequently, expand the power capacity of any government.

On the other hand, withdrawal of popular and institutional cooperation with aggressors and dictators diminishes, and may sever, the availability of the sources of power on which all rulers depend.

Without availability of those sources, the rulers’ power weakens and finally dissolves.

Naturally, dictators are sensitive to actions and ideas that threaten their capacity to do as they like. Dictators are therefore likely to threaten and punish those who disobey, strike, or fail to cooperate.

However, that is not the end of the story. Repression, even brutalities, do not always produce a resumption of the necessary degree of submission and cooperation for the regime to function.

If, despite repression, the sources of power can be restricted or severed for enough time, the initial results may be uncertainty and confusion within the dictatorship. That is likely to be followed by a clear weakening of the power of the dictatorship. Over time, the withholding of the sources of power can produce the paralysis and impotence of the regime, and in severe cases, its disintegration. The dictators’ power will die, slowly or rapidly, from political starvation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the struggle against authoritarianism necessitates a unified front comprising citizens, elected officials, and local representatives. It requires a concerted effort to undermine the sources of power upon which dictators depend, thereby weakening their stranglehold on society.

By refusing to support local candidates affiliated with authoritarian regimes, citizens can disrupt the regime's access to essential resources and undermine its authority. Democracy thrives on consensus and inclusive decision-making, not unilateral edicts from a supreme leader.

Remember, the power of a dictatorship lies not in its inherent strength, but in the acquiescence and compliance of the governed. Through collective action and steadfast resistance, we can dismantle the foundations of tyranny and usher in an era of genuine democratic governance. It is incumbent upon us all to stand firm in defense of liberty, justice, and the rule of law.

The “Monkey Master” fable

A Fourteenth Century Chinese parable by Liu-Ji, for example, outlines this neglected understanding of political power quite well: In the feudal state of Chu an old man survived by keeping monkeys in his service. The people of Chu called him “ju gong” (monkey master).Each morning, the old man would assemble the monkeys in his courtyard, and order the eldest one to lead the others to the mountains to gather fruits from bushes and trees. It was the rule that each monkey had to give one-tenth of his collection to the old man. Those who failed to do so would be ruthlessly flogged. All the monkeys suffered bitterly, but dared not complain.

One day, a small monkey asked the other monkeys: “Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes?” The others said: “No, they grew naturally.” The small monkey further asked: “Can’t we take the fruits without the old man’s permission?” The others replied: “Yes, we all can.” The small monkey continued: “Then, why should we depend on the old man; why must we all serve him?” Before the small monkey was able to finish his statement, all the monkeys suddenly became enlightened and awakened.

On the same night, watching that the old man had fallen asleep, the monkeys tore down all the barricades of the stockade in which they were confined, and destroyed the stockade entirely. They also took the fruits the old man had in storage, brought all with them to the woods, and never returned. The old man finally died of starvation. Yu-li-zi says, “Some men in the world rule their people by tricks and not by righteous principles. Aren’t they just like the monkey master? They are not aware of their muddle headedness. As soon as their people become enlightened, their tricks no longer work.”

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The general wanted the Zen master to submit to his will, and when the master would not submit, the general took out his sword and said,

“Fool, don’t you see? I’m the type of man that can put a sword through you without blinking an eye.”

To which the master calmly said, “don’t you see? I’m the type of man who can have a sword put through him without blinking an eye.”

That’s what true freedom is, isn’t it?

To be without fear.

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