[wolverine876]

It always turns out badly and the dictator is always corrupt. If they aren't corrupt, why wouldn't they hold elections and allow freedom and dissent?

We don't need to, and don't have time to, and absolutely should not sacrifice the victims to, relearning the lessons of democracy.

[seabass-labrax]

It's only 'corrupt' though, if there was any expectation that the resources of the state were to be controlled by anyone but the ultimate leader. Therefore, the view of whether a given absolute leader is corrupt or not depends more on the society's expectations of them than it depends on their actions. A monarch in an absolute monarchy can never be considered corrupt, even if widely seen as wicked.

[wolverine876]

Even if that's true, how is it meaningful? Who cares what you call it, it's corruption.

[seabass-labrax]

The semantics are not very meaningful; I will concede that :) My point was simply that the concept of democracy isn't necessarily an obvious one. Perhaps in early 20th-century Italy, where there was still a technically supreme monarchy, and the tradition of democratic elections itself was only a few generations old, putting trust in one man alone (Mussolini) might have seemed reasonable or even ideal.

[wolverine876]

> Perhaps in early 20th-century Italy, where there was still a technically supreme monarchy, and the tradition of democratic elections itself was only a few generations old, putting trust in one man alone (Mussolini) might have seemed reasonable or even ideal.

Might have? Do we have evidence? And if it did, what do you conclude from that?

> the concept of democracy isn't necessarily an obvious one

Taking a vote is an obvious concept.