Opinion / Columnist
Dictators are usually a deranged and psychopathic lot
11 Aug 2016 at 06:16hrs | Views
Recently, I was watching a very interesting, but disturbing documentary on the lives of three notorious dictators - namely, Joseph Stalin, Muammar Gaddafi, and Idi Amin - which clearly exposed the very disturbed, paranoid and psychotic nature of such people.
This documentary's in depth exposé on the lives of these dictators, led to me having a clearer understanding of the actions of dictators throughout the world, some of whom are closer to home.
The beauty of this documentary was that the main witnesses to these dictators' lives were people who were very close to them, including their own children - as such, rendering the testimonies as credible, and not some propaganda material.
It was so painful viewing the daughter of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, near to tears as she narrated how her father behaved at home and what he made them do.
She exhibited all signs of post traumatic stress disorder due to the manner in which her father had treated the family and the nation.
She appeared terribly traumatised by the murderous nature of her father.
She told of some of her father's deranged actions that not only severely affected the nation, but also their family lives.
A son of Amin - Jaffar -also had disturbing eye witness accounts of their father's psychotic behaviour.
Joseph Stalin's wife even went to the extent of committing suicide due to her husband's deranged behaviour.
More compelling were videos of the dictator bragging that he would kill anyone who dared oppose him, and that he had been anointed to lead the country.
His Presidential palace actually had a secret passage which connected to the nearby prison where his opponents were imprisoned - which he would use to go to the prison during the night to personally torture or even kill his opponents.
However, the common denominator amongst all these dictators was their psychopathic belief that they were anointed to be their people's Saviour.
In their deranged minds - and in the minds of their supporters - they genuinely believed that anyone who opposed their rule was an agent of the Devil himself, and as such, deserved to be put to death.
In that regard, these dictators, believed that oppressing, beating up, imprisoning, torturing, and even killing their opponents was a divine thing.
Such was the psychopathic nature of their belief that they regarded themselves as gods.
No wonder Gaddafi referred to himself as, 'the king of kings', a term commonly used in reference to Jesus Christ.
Whilst, other dictators have been directly referred to as 'son of god', 'Jesus', 'messiah', and so forth.
The situation was made worse by their hangers on, and even so-called divine messengers, who recklessly repeated this belief both to these dictators and to the nation - whether they genuinely believed this fallacy or they were just doing it to secure favours, it can not be clear.
Such a 'god' or 'messiah' psychosis led to these dictators believing that all they decreed was divinely inspired - a belief that led to the enacting of some of the most bizzare and outrageous laws that neither made economic nor political sense.
They developed such megalomania that they believed that only themselves had the answers to their nations' problems, and no one else - including within their own parties - had this divine gift, leading to them not wanting to cede power to anyone, even from their own parties.
However, if their 'divine' policies proved to be huge failures, they would genuinely believe that a 'dark and evil' force was responsible - they would never acknowledge that they failed, but always had someone else to blame.
These dictator believed that they actually owned the countries they led, including all the people.
They would, therefore, treat everyone - and everything - as their own personally property, such that, anyone who dared oppose them would be regarded as highly insubordinate and treasonous.
This also led to the extravagant looting of the countries' resources - which should have been used to benefit the nation - for their own personal wealth, as they regarded every mineral as their own.
The belief that they were god anointed also inculcated in them the sense that they should rule till death - actually, this belief was not at all different from the belief held by mediaeval kings and queens.
Therefore, anyone who challenged their rule was nothing short of demonic and Devil-sent, and as such, should be eliminated as a divine act.
This megalomania led to a pathological fear and distrust of anyone and everyone, thereby, resorting to instilling the same fear that they felt into the population.
It was amazing to witness how all of them had sleepless nights, haunted by nightmares of them being removed from power, or seeing the people they had killed or ordered their killing.
None of them had any meaningful sleep, and had to resort to medications to sleep.
In fact, their deranged status became apparent to most of their families and colleagues that fear was the only reason they never exposed this fact to the population.
Only after their demise, did their families and former associates, such as Henry Kyemba, who worked with Idi Amin give an account of former boss's behaviour.
With the world still full of dictators, it is always a wonder what disturbing stories will be revealed after their demise.
It was disturbing to note that these dictators not only destroyed the lives of their own nationals, but also of their families, and is always a wonder just what traumatic experiences the children of today's dictators are going through.
These dictators are not even fit enough to be trusted with driving a car, and so why should they be entrusted with running a country?
This documentary truly opened the mind to the paranoid and psychopathic nature of the dictators we have, and how all nations need to stand up and rid the world of such deranged people, who have destroyed countless innocent lives.
° Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist and commentator, writer, and journalist. He writes in his personal capacity, and welcomes any feedback. Please feel free to WhatsApp/call: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com. Follow on Twitter: @Tendai_Mbofana
This documentary's in depth exposé on the lives of these dictators, led to me having a clearer understanding of the actions of dictators throughout the world, some of whom are closer to home.
The beauty of this documentary was that the main witnesses to these dictators' lives were people who were very close to them, including their own children - as such, rendering the testimonies as credible, and not some propaganda material.
It was so painful viewing the daughter of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, near to tears as she narrated how her father behaved at home and what he made them do.
She exhibited all signs of post traumatic stress disorder due to the manner in which her father had treated the family and the nation.
She appeared terribly traumatised by the murderous nature of her father.
She told of some of her father's deranged actions that not only severely affected the nation, but also their family lives.
A son of Amin - Jaffar -also had disturbing eye witness accounts of their father's psychotic behaviour.
Joseph Stalin's wife even went to the extent of committing suicide due to her husband's deranged behaviour.
More compelling were videos of the dictator bragging that he would kill anyone who dared oppose him, and that he had been anointed to lead the country.
His Presidential palace actually had a secret passage which connected to the nearby prison where his opponents were imprisoned - which he would use to go to the prison during the night to personally torture or even kill his opponents.
However, the common denominator amongst all these dictators was their psychopathic belief that they were anointed to be their people's Saviour.
In their deranged minds - and in the minds of their supporters - they genuinely believed that anyone who opposed their rule was an agent of the Devil himself, and as such, deserved to be put to death.
In that regard, these dictators, believed that oppressing, beating up, imprisoning, torturing, and even killing their opponents was a divine thing.
Such was the psychopathic nature of their belief that they regarded themselves as gods.
No wonder Gaddafi referred to himself as, 'the king of kings', a term commonly used in reference to Jesus Christ.
Whilst, other dictators have been directly referred to as 'son of god', 'Jesus', 'messiah', and so forth.
The situation was made worse by their hangers on, and even so-called divine messengers, who recklessly repeated this belief both to these dictators and to the nation - whether they genuinely believed this fallacy or they were just doing it to secure favours, it can not be clear.
They developed such megalomania that they believed that only themselves had the answers to their nations' problems, and no one else - including within their own parties - had this divine gift, leading to them not wanting to cede power to anyone, even from their own parties.
However, if their 'divine' policies proved to be huge failures, they would genuinely believe that a 'dark and evil' force was responsible - they would never acknowledge that they failed, but always had someone else to blame.
These dictator believed that they actually owned the countries they led, including all the people.
They would, therefore, treat everyone - and everything - as their own personally property, such that, anyone who dared oppose them would be regarded as highly insubordinate and treasonous.
This also led to the extravagant looting of the countries' resources - which should have been used to benefit the nation - for their own personal wealth, as they regarded every mineral as their own.
The belief that they were god anointed also inculcated in them the sense that they should rule till death - actually, this belief was not at all different from the belief held by mediaeval kings and queens.
Therefore, anyone who challenged their rule was nothing short of demonic and Devil-sent, and as such, should be eliminated as a divine act.
This megalomania led to a pathological fear and distrust of anyone and everyone, thereby, resorting to instilling the same fear that they felt into the population.
It was amazing to witness how all of them had sleepless nights, haunted by nightmares of them being removed from power, or seeing the people they had killed or ordered their killing.
None of them had any meaningful sleep, and had to resort to medications to sleep.
In fact, their deranged status became apparent to most of their families and colleagues that fear was the only reason they never exposed this fact to the population.
Only after their demise, did their families and former associates, such as Henry Kyemba, who worked with Idi Amin give an account of former boss's behaviour.
With the world still full of dictators, it is always a wonder what disturbing stories will be revealed after their demise.
It was disturbing to note that these dictators not only destroyed the lives of their own nationals, but also of their families, and is always a wonder just what traumatic experiences the children of today's dictators are going through.
These dictators are not even fit enough to be trusted with driving a car, and so why should they be entrusted with running a country?
This documentary truly opened the mind to the paranoid and psychopathic nature of the dictators we have, and how all nations need to stand up and rid the world of such deranged people, who have destroyed countless innocent lives.
° Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist and commentator, writer, and journalist. He writes in his personal capacity, and welcomes any feedback. Please feel free to WhatsApp/call: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com. Follow on Twitter: @Tendai_Mbofana
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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