...the tyrant is a narcissist whose only preoccupation is his own well-being and survival. The future is circumscribed to his own personal survival, no matter what the costs may be.
...Today’s tyrants are ideological opportunists—postmodern leaders who shape their “narrative” according to public relations needs.
...today’s tyrants exercise personal rule through brute force and murder, but also through skillful cooptation of society. They are good pupils of Niccolò Machiavelli, and expend energies to avoid being hated by the majority of their subjects. They are feared, to be sure, but they buy the servility or docility of their populations through economic welfare and propaganda.
...tyrants can get anything they want in great abundance — horses, gold, food, and women — and as a consequence they lack the anticipation of greater delights. Fantastic wealth and absolute power are not the sources of joy but of constant disappointment.
...Tyrants are perennially insecure. Their lives are ruled by the desire—and the need—to hold on to power, a preoccupation that is always immediate.
Does any of this sound familiar?
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