WATCH: Robert Reich Video: 7 Signs Of A Tyrant
In a new video, former labor secretary walks us through what he calls the 7 signs of tyranny.
As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically do 7 things according to Reich.
7 Signs of Tyranny
1. They exaggerate their mandate – For example, they claim they won an election by a “landslide” even after losing the popular vote. And they criticize any facts or suggestions that they stole the election.
Reich also notes that they repeatedly claim “massive voter fraud” in the total absence of any evidence, in order to have an excuse to restrict voting by opponents in subsequent elections.
2. They turn the public against journalists – They call the news media “deceitful” and “scum,” and tell the public that the press is a “public enemy.”
Tyrants also hold few, if any, press conferences, and prefer to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements (or what we might now call “tweets”).
3. They repeatedly lie to the public – Even when they are confronted with the facts. Repeated enough, these lies cause some of the public to doubt the
When repeated enough, the lies cause the public to doubt the truth and to believe the fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.
4. They blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities – They foment public bias or even violence against their scapegoats. And they threaten mass deportations, “registries” of minorities.
5. They attack judges or anyone who opposes them – They attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
6. They appoint family members to high positions of authority – Tyrants appoint their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public. And they also put generals into top civilian posts.
7. They keep their personal finances secret – They also draw no distinction between personal property and public property. Tyrants profiteer from their public office.
You can find more videos by Robert Reich on his blog here.
