SO YOU WANT TO BE A DICTATOR

A farcical guide for the aspiring autocrat during a time of democratic decline.

According to author Jackson, democracy is in a global downward spiral, though it’s never shown much promise and has historically been a “mostly ineffective method of managing humanity.” The good news, though, is that the arrant failure of self-governance has unambiguously exposed the idiocy of mankind. Which means there is ample opportunity for the would-be “future despot” to rule with aplomb. Jackson wryly notes the many forms of authoritarianism: “theocracy, dictatorship, military junta, homeowner’s association (HOA), shogunate, caudillo, autocracy, despotism, PTA president, hedge fund CEO, tsarism, and Ellen DeGeneres.” The book comprises three parts: a brief and equally cursory history of democracy, counsel for the achievement of authoritarian control, and guidance for its maintenance once achieved. Jackson covers an astonishing swath of territory for a relatively short book—under 200 pages. He discusses the authoritarian’s proper diet, the wise use of Twitter, and the importance of propaganda. He even discusses the proper attire for a tyrant, delivering one of the many humorous lines in the book: “Communism gave the world many things: Gulags, The Red Scare, Proxy Wars, and Joseph McCarthy. However, perhaps one of the greatest gifts that it gave was the pants suit.” This aptly captures the general spirit of the book—light nihilism designed to entertain rather than edify. And following in the footsteps of Machiavelli or Swift, he is deeply irreverent, discussing the pros and cons of genocide. The cleverness can wear thin occasionally, and the book sometimes feels like a comedy routine taken too far. By its conclusion, the reader might not have increased their understanding of history, but they will have certainly learned the tyrant’s playbook from an author who skewers everyone from Adolph Hitler to Elon Musk. A compendium of tyrants is included.

An amusing, cathartic political satire.