Should Dictators Want Their People To Be Free?

Dictators do not want their people to be ‘free’. If their people have unrestricted liberty to “work; learn; and relax… express itself in any forum and through any media, organize itself along any criteria, respond thoughtfully to the decisions of your administration and participate in the process of governing,” then they are free to organize against their dictatorship (Wood 83). To help regulate and keep control, dictators will instill fear into their citizens with threats. A citizen who is fearful will then be too afraid to speak out against them and will draw as little attention as he can to himself, for fear of a dictator’s secret police to write down his name and therefore become a target.
One of a dictator’s best weapons for rule is control over military and police. People rely on military and police for protection. When one has control over them, they have control over the people. Their military is an effective force to use to deal with oppositions, unrest, and …show more content…
A dictator would have enough information about his enemies ahead of time from his policeman’s eyes, and target them ahead of time by putting restrictions on any ‘unauthorized’ gatherings (143). They can then arrest opposition leaders and break up rallies. To take another step, dictators can declare a curfew to be carried out, or go farther and enforce martial law. Anyone out after a designated time is then targeted as a supporter against you and they can be taken in for questioning. If the majority of opposition leaders are arrested, dictators can then move on and arrest those who complain. (146) By setting groups against each other, such as political parties, environmental issues, races, religions, etc. it weakens a nation by dividing them. Dictators will encourage group conflict within opposing parties, just to weaken them down. They can then, as a result, begin attacking each other instead of the