With all the political discussion going on this election year, I have been paying attention to some of the language. There are some words being used that I think I know, you know, words, we heard before, think we understand, but never actually took the time to look up in dictionary. Words like tyrant, autocracy, totalitarianism, liberality, etc. So this morning I took some time to look up the definition of some of these words. I began with the word “Tyranny”.
Dictionary definition
tyr-ran-ny
noun: tyranny; plural noun: tyrannies
- cruel and oppressive government or rule.
Similar:
absolutism, absolute power, autocracy, dictatorship, undemocratic rule, reign of terror, totalitarianism, Fascism, oppression, suppression, repression, subjugation, enslavement, authoritarianism, high-handedness, imperiousness, bullying, harshness, strictness, severity, cruelty, brutality, ruthlessness, injustice.
Opposite:
democracy, liberality
Simple definition: a government in which all power is in the hands of a single ruler. 2. : harsh, cruel, and severe government or conduct. 3. : a tyrannical act.
Then there is the word “Tyrannical“
A tyrannical ruler wields absolute power and authority, and often wields that power unjustly, cruelly, or oppressively.
First used in the 1530s, the adjective tyrannical stems from the late-14th-century word tyranny, meaning “cruel or unjust use of power,” which has origins in the Greek work tyrannos, meaning “master.” Tyrannical rule is the opposite of democratic rule, which places the power in the people, the majority of whom makes the decisions. Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin are three examples of the 20th century’s most tyrannical dictators.
Then I saw this on Facebook by Robert Reich
What are the 15 warning signs of impending tyranny? As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:
1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern — claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.
2. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.
3. Publicly criticize anyone who criticizes them, labeling them “enemies.”
4. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”
5. Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements.
6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.
7. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.
8. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
9. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.
10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as trade unions and opposition parties.
11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority.
12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public.
13. Put generals and other military commanders into top civilian posts.
14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators.
15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office.
I know this is not a Krishna Conscious post, unless perhaps it is in regards to this age we are living in; this age of Kali Yuga, or the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, this age of decline. But still I am hopeful that this Hare Krishna Movement will continue to grow with the ages, and that American democracy will endure.
-V
The Hare Krishna Movement 