Alot of Americans say they want a strong leader. I presume George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would be good examples. A strong leader could give you everything you want, if that is what she wants you to have. A really strong leader can also take everything you’ve got, and several have.
A strong leader collected almost all the produce from one region to feed the capitol: Joseph Stalin.
One strong leader created a national pension plan so your grandparents would not starve. It also takes about 10% of your income so it’s harder to invest yourself even if you are astute: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Strong leaders typically collect all the weapons from the population door to door, if necessary, then have armed thugs do it again and woe be to the citizen who still had one: Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Several strong leaders decided that certain minorities were poisoning the blood and nearly exterminated sub populations for having the wrong blood, or color, or education, or religion, or sexual preference, or voting habits, or earlobe shape: Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot.
Several strong leaders took over the broadcast media, first radio then TV so that all that the people could receive was pablum or propaganda. Others smashed all the printing presses except for the ones they could control. Fake news was a popular rallying cry.
Strong leaders have killed or imprisoned journalists and opponents.
Strong leaders falsified intelligence to start a war: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney.
Strong leaders squandered the wealth of Europe in 158 years of war against “The Saracens:” The Crusades.
Strong leaders torture suspected non-believers until they confess or die: The Inquisition.
A strong warlord in Africa stopped paying soldiers, when they complained he said: I gave you a rifle, just take what you need.
A strong leader gave a banquet for the poor. When they were all inside, he barred the doors then burned the building to the ground: Ivan the Terrible.
A strong leader quartered his troops in people’s homes. The officers slept in the people’s beds, demanded cooking service from the wife. The enlisted demanded the males to care for their horses, cut firewood, and butcher the livestock. They raped the girls. Oh, and stole any coin, or other valuables: George III.
Strong leader uses enforcement position to prosecute personal agenda: Herbert Hoover.
Strong leaders destroyed public works, roads, dams and bridges for political advantage: Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein.
Strong leaders extirpate some species of game animals to force native population to submit: Andrew Johnson, Gen. Sherman.
Strong leaders force subpopulations into (insert your own adjective here) camps (reservations) to force them to assimilate with the leader’s culture. Indigenous language, or name, is forbidden.
Strong leaders debase the coinage by diluting the precious metal. A pound (£) or French livre was once a troy pound of sterling silver pennies. Worth $272.58, U.S., or £214.71 in today’s British pounds.
Strong bureaucrats rename cannabis, marijuana, to create racist pressure to reinforce an endless drug war: Harry Anslinger.
Strong leaders (Some not as strong as they thought they were) print too much paper money to fund their pet project. Eventually the currency becomes worth less than the ink to print both sides. This can precipitate a war that they lose.
Strong leader creates national universal health insurance, but it’s insurance not care so the insurance bureaucracy adds 40% to the real cost: Barack Obama.
A strong leader forced farmers to smelt iron at home instead of tending their crops, all they got was worthless sponge iron and hunger.
The same leader told them to ignore their experience and the agriculture advice. Instead plant the rice close together so the plants could encourage one another like players on a team. The crops failed because the plants could not get enough air, water and nutrients: Mao.
This is why our founders gave us checks and balances. A President can’t have a war without money from Congress. Congress can’t start a war without the Commander in Chief. The Supreme Court can make a decision, but it’s meaningless without the cooperation of the others. Although our governance is imperfect, those checks protect us from irrational exuberance that can break down our civilization.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com