Even the West Has Some Dictator Envy

Some Western leaders are jealous of dictators’ abilities.

President Donald Trump said, when North Korea’s Kim Jong-un speaks, “his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”

According to President Barack Obama, it will be easier for him to serve as the president in China.

Canada’s foolish Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said he admires China because “their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime.”

They are dangerous and stupid fantasies.

Some people have a “utopian dream that if only someone at the top could just point us in a certain direction, everything would go well,” says historian Johan Norberg in my Video of the Week.

“People like a strong leader,” I point out.

“A strong leader of their own imagination,” Norberg responds.

One example he gives: “Thomas Friedman of The New York Times famously said that he wanted to be China for a day to solve global warming.”

Friedman, as a dictator, could solve the global warming problem. I doubt it.

China is home to many wind turbines.

“But those wind turbines don’t produce more power!” Norberg points out. “Around 30% of them are not even connected to the grid. What is the reason for this? It’s not because they built them to make more money. They built them because they wanted to meet a political goal.”

China now has no wind turbines, and instead, it builds more coal-fired power plants.

A second example is the American media’s suggestion that we look at China in order to stop COVID-19. NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, “How uncomfortable is it that perhaps China’s authoritarian ways did prevent this?”

Fauci replies that China “prevented a broader spread.”

But China’s “’Zero COVID’ policy turned into a nightmare,” says Norberg. China locked people into homes. One city even killed the pets of COVID patients. China may still be the country that refuses to recognize that there are people who can live with COVID.

“That’s what you get with dictators,” says Norberg. “If government is big enough to give you anything, it’s big enough to take everything away from you.”

America followed China’s lead when the pandemic began. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti threatened to turn off the power to those who refused to follow his commands.

It was a lot of bickering over COVID rules. Although people don’t enjoy the bickering Norberg says it is one of the strengths of democracy.

“Because it means that we see different things and we bring different ideas to the table.” By contrast, “when we have one guy at the top, they begin to fall for their own propaganda.”

This is probably why Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Putin thought that his own military was in excellent shape,” says Norberg. “Ukraine was seen as a joke of a country, a place of latte-drinking comedians.”

Volodymyr Zeleskyy, the Ukrainian president was an actor before he became president.

Putin assumed Ukrainians “would just run away the moment they saw muscular Russian paratroopers,” says Norberg. “But it’s been a disaster for them.”

In freer countries, Norberg points out, “journalists (and) people online would’ve seen those problems and brought them forth.”

Putin’s advisers worry that they will tell the truth. You can watch his flunkies making groveling sounds.

It is not hard to understand the reason his advisor stammers. His adviser might even be killed if he points out a problem. That’s how dictators obtain bad information. It’s why they take bad decisions when there isn’t open dissent.

“That’s what happens when you centralize,” says Norberg. “You lose individual initiative … local knowledge. If you can mobilize everybody in one direction, sometimes they mobilize us all over the cliff.”

It’s a blessing that America has a limited government.

“Democracy cannot guarantee the best governance, but it can prevent the worst from happening,” concludes Norberg. “That is enough. This is what democracy and freedom are all about. It doesn’t guarantee us heaven, but at least it makes us sure that we won’t end up in hell.”