2021-10-28 08:31:07
Many argue that the term 'dictator' is not fitting for the supremely malevolent premier of Victoria. I would argue to the contrary.
Dictatorship
(n. )
1. Government by a dictator
2. A country governed by a dictator
3. Absolute authority in any sphere
The third definition is of key note.
There is an overwhelming amount of people who would ignorantly discredit and ridicule any comparison between the current path Victoria is taking, authoritarian and totalitarian forms of government, and the suggestion that Premier Daniel Andrews is attempting to place himself in the role of a dictator.
In fact, the statement was made mid last year in a viral post that was copied and pasted to every corner of the internet, that “comparing the current lockdown to a dictatorship is naive and highlights how unbelievably privileged we are in Australia…comparing this lockdown to the struggles of people who have faced real oppression is ignorant and thoughtless…comparing this to a dictatorship diminishes the atrocities that so many people have actually had to face…”.
It went on to discuss the fact that, because there are no extreme measures in place; because people are not kidnapped, imprisoned or made to disappear for speaking out against the government; because there is a lack of propaganda; and because there are no 're-education camps' or brutal methods of punishment, among other things, it is 'disrespectful' and 'naive' to compare this in any sense to the rise of a totalitarian regime.
However, I would make the argument that it is in fact, without question, statements such as these that are inherently and absolutely naive, ignorant, and uneducated.
Why?
Well all disputes surrounding propaganda, re-education camps, and the imprisonment of those who speak out against the government aside [and I would also argue that we are quite literally being perpetually subjected to a 24/7 propaganda campaign, camps for dissenters are being constructed as we speak, and there is a growing list of those who have been arrested and threatened with imprisonment for speaking out against this government].
Just because we are not experiencing the END result of a dictatorship in place, does not at all mean one is not beginning.
There is not a single occasion in all of history where a totalitarian or authoritarian regime has occurred overnight. To suggest as much is far more than just ignorance - it is utter lunacy.
I would like to use the frog in the pot analogy. “The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water, which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.”
To make the suggestion that dictatorships occur overnight, and that governments and ruling powers go from 0 to 100 with the snap of a finger, that power is seized all at once, and that totalitarian styles of governments and authoritarian regimes immediately begin with the full-blown propaganda, severe oppression, suppression of all free speech, and the mass imprisonment and extermination for which they are renowned, is nothing short of naive and completely ignorant to the evolution of any dictatorship that has ever taken place. Let me repeat myself: there is not a single time in all of history where a group of people have lost all of their freedoms and rights overnight. It happens gradually. Like heating up the pot to cook the frog, so that it will not jump out.
Are we there yet? Perhaps not. But it is little steps that are taken down a slippery slope along a path to total control. And we are much further along this pathway than we were at this very same time just last year. Which should absolutely alarm you. Propaganda campaigns, suppression of free speech, encroachment on basic rights and freedoms, and the arresting, silencing and repression of all those who dare to voice opposition to the government - all of these have become rife, and penalties and enforcement grow harsher with every passing day.
209 viewsedited 05:31
B
