Dr. Marcel Dirsus

And the other good thing about it is that you don't need a lot of competent people. As a dictator, you want to promote for loyalty. If you're choosing your ministers, you don't want to pick people that are actually good at their job at creating good outcomes for the population.

And the other good thing about it is that you don't need a lot of competent people. As a dictator, you want to promote for loyalty. If you're choosing your ministers, you don't want to pick people that are actually good at their job at creating good outcomes for the population.

You want to pick people that are fiercely loyal to you, or at least pretending to be, and you want to pick people that are not a threat to you. But obviously, if you do that over and over again, if you don't want to educate your people, and if you don't want to promote competent people, things go bad. But that doesn't really matter if you have oil or if you have diamonds.

You want to pick people that are fiercely loyal to you, or at least pretending to be, and you want to pick people that are not a threat to you. But obviously, if you do that over and over again, if you don't want to educate your people, and if you don't want to promote competent people, things go bad. But that doesn't really matter if you have oil or if you have diamonds.

You want to pick people that are fiercely loyal to you, or at least pretending to be, and you want to pick people that are not a threat to you. But obviously, if you do that over and over again, if you don't want to educate your people, and if you don't want to promote competent people, things go bad. But that doesn't really matter if you have oil or if you have diamonds.

So that's part of the reason why a lot of these dictatorships have natural resources.

So that's part of the reason why a lot of these dictatorships have natural resources.

So that's part of the reason why a lot of these dictatorships have natural resources.

I think all of these dictators are mentally ill in a way, right? Because these are people who do absolutely terrible things regularly. One day you'd be looking at somebody, you'd be talking to them totally normally. And as they walk out of the office, you would order their death. You have families thrown into jail. You have masses of people killed.

I think all of these dictators are mentally ill in a way, right? Because these are people who do absolutely terrible things regularly. One day you'd be looking at somebody, you'd be talking to them totally normally. And as they walk out of the office, you would order their death. You have families thrown into jail. You have masses of people killed.

I think all of these dictators are mentally ill in a way, right? Because these are people who do absolutely terrible things regularly. One day you'd be looking at somebody, you'd be talking to them totally normally. And as they walk out of the office, you would order their death. You have families thrown into jail. You have masses of people killed.

If you're somebody like Vladimir Putin, for example, you would agree to help a regime in Syria that was literally barrel bombing hospitals. So if you do this, and if you can still sleep somehow, you are obviously abnormal. And if you can maintain power in these systems, you need to be paranoid.

If you're somebody like Vladimir Putin, for example, you would agree to help a regime in Syria that was literally barrel bombing hospitals. So if you do this, and if you can still sleep somehow, you are obviously abnormal. And if you can maintain power in these systems, you need to be paranoid.

If you're somebody like Vladimir Putin, for example, you would agree to help a regime in Syria that was literally barrel bombing hospitals. So if you do this, and if you can still sleep somehow, you are obviously abnormal. And if you can maintain power in these systems, you need to be paranoid.

You cannot be a quote-unquote normal person who just goes about their day relatively carelessly because if you were, you would die. So you need that paranoia and you need that ability to make all of these horrible decisions and basically go on with your life. So if you don't have it, you are not suitable for this job. What about the military?

You cannot be a quote-unquote normal person who just goes about their day relatively carelessly because if you were, you would die. So you need that paranoia and you need that ability to make all of these horrible decisions and basically go on with your life. So if you don't have it, you are not suitable for this job. What about the military?

You cannot be a quote-unquote normal person who just goes about their day relatively carelessly because if you were, you would die. So you need that paranoia and you need that ability to make all of these horrible decisions and basically go on with your life. So if you don't have it, you are not suitable for this job. What about the military?

You don't, which is why coup d'etat are a major problem for just about every dictator. So if you're a dictator, you usually don't want a military that is actually good at doing the job of a military, which is to fight an external enemy, to protect the country, maybe even fight rebels. But what you do want is a military that is not going to topple you.

You don't, which is why coup d'etat are a major problem for just about every dictator. So if you're a dictator, you usually don't want a military that is actually good at doing the job of a military, which is to fight an external enemy, to protect the country, maybe even fight rebels. But what you do want is a military that is not going to topple you.

You don't, which is why coup d'etat are a major problem for just about every dictator. So if you're a dictator, you usually don't want a military that is actually good at doing the job of a military, which is to fight an external enemy, to protect the country, maybe even fight rebels. But what you do want is a military that is not going to topple you.