My favorite dictator was Field Marshall Josip Broz Tito. He’s the fellow who held Yugoslavia together from 1945 to 1980. And his political skills carried some time after his death, at least enough to allow Yugoslavia to host the 1984 Winter Olympics.
He’s been called a benevolent dictator. He somehow knew how to keep his country together, full of ethnic groups who bore centuries-long grudges with each other: Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Albanians, Hungarians, Roma, and Greeks. These ethnic groups were starting to like each other under his rule. And Tito put a fair bit of practical socialism into Yugoslavia’s economy, which put his country outside of being another puppet of Moscow.
He’s also been called an authoritarian. He tolerated little challenge to his vision or reign. He sent agitators to prison. He had a finely-honed secret police force to find those agitators. Respecting human rights was not his strong suit.
I regard Josip Tito as the world’s best social engineer. He knew the condition of his people and how to move them forward. Admittedly, he had to do some bad things for that forward motion. But whatever bad things he had done pale in comparison to the bad things that happened after we westerners brought western democracy, with political parties, into Yugoslavia.
Let’s face it, some societies are better run as an oligarchy than a democracy.
The Current Chapter 7
Chapter 7 of my Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG) book is about how to move a society from an oligarchy to TDG governance. When developing that chapter, I had Field Marshal Tito in the front of my mind. He just might have been the kind of dictator who would have realized that his people needed the TDG. With a few tips from Chapter 7, he could have led his people to a TDG direction.
But there is one big problem with Chapter 7: The United States of America. It is plausible that the United States will be reverting to an oligarchy soon. And it won’t be like the oligarchy that Yugoslavia used to be. It won’t be led by someone like Tito. So Chapter 7 needs to be rewritten to accommodate the new American oligarchy.
The more likely oligarchy is a Republican oligarchy. The Republicans might win the 2024 elections outright. And that might be a good thing as they will not have as great of a need to dismantle democracy totally. But if they find it necessary to overturn another fraudulent election, American democracy will be dismantled, probably to the point that only 5% of the population have any say in the fate of their nation — just like feudal Europe and in the original American constitution. In both these outcomes, the early TDG builders can still build the TDG despite the USA being under oligarchic rule. I shall elaborate on this later.
A much smaller outcome is that the Democrats, anticipating a Republican takeover, do a pre-emptive takeover themselves. A lot depends on the back-room meetings between shadowy political figures and the higher-ranking military officers sworn to uphold the constitution. We won’t know about these meetings, let alone be invited to them. But they are happening — and will be more influential in the next stage of American history than all the political writers on Medium can ever be. Early TDG builders can still build the TDG under a Democrat oligarchy.
A fourth outcome is that the USA continues to bumble along with its democracy. Mr. Trump is an old man and not in the best of health. His death would be a setback to his movement. And maybe the Republicans will gain some sanity when their prime vote-getting machine is no longer on the stage. Still, the USA would not be saved; it could be dancing the tango near the edge of a cliff soon again. Early TDG builders should still build the TDG if American democracy bumbles along.
TDG and the Republican Oligarchy
Unlike the people of Yugoslavia in communist times, Americans will not be so easily subdued.
If the Republicans do assume power — legitimately or illegitimately — expect left-wing militias to arise to cause trouble. The government will take undemocratic steps to restore order, using the police and right-wing militias. This reaction will further increase the activity of the radical left-wing, and it will draw more disaffected citizens to its cause. A secret police force will become more prevalent. A few people will disappear.
Most of us will learn to keep our heads low. The economy will chug along, but not with the same convenience, comfort, and confidence as before. To bring food into our house, more of us will be taking crappy jobs with less money. But we can still build the TDG in these times: 10 hours a month, working from our living rooms, working with our neighbors.
Undoubtedly, the secret police will set some eyes on the TDG. It will realize that the TDG is no immediate threat to the oligarchy. It can’t throw too many productive citizens in jail just because they are not enthusiastic about the oligarchy. And the secret police will still be quite busy with the left-wing militia anyways.
Unlike Tito, the Republicans will be inept in governance. There is no 40-year reign of one-party rule here; maybe a decade. Within a few years, the party will split — and disaffected right-wing militias will form, giving more work for the secret police to do. The TDG building can still continue — probably with less resistance than before.
Most of us with “low heads” will live through the fighting. History says such fighting eventually stops, so it’s likely this strange civil war will also stop. If enough of us “low heads” have been working on the TDG, we just might have a credible alternative for the people to consider as the new system of governance. Without us, what will be the new system when the Republicans are soundly thrown off the stage? Are you ready to leave that to chance?
This is how I see things if a Republican oligarchy comes to pass. I should elaborate more.
Someday, I’ll get to re-writing Chapter 7.
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