If you're running a dictatorship, you don't really have to worry

The words of Bruce Bueno de Mesquita—“If you're running a dictatorship, you don't really have to worry about the welfare or the property rights of the ordinary citizen. Only the people who keep you in power, a very small group, matter.”—are a stark unveiling of the mechanics of tyranny. They reveal that in a dictatorship, the bond between ruler and people is severed, replaced by a darker covenant between ruler and a narrow circle of elites. The masses may suffer in silence, but as long as the ruler secures the loyalty of this small group, his throne stands firm.

This utterance speaks to the corruption of power without accountability. In a just order, rulers must heed the voice of the people, for their strength flows from the consent of the governed. Yet in a dictatorship, the people are silenced, stripped of property and dignity, and their cries go unheard. The dictator’s gaze narrows upon generals, ministers, and financiers—the few who hold the keys to his survival. To them, he grants riches and privilege, while the multitude languishes in neglect.

History offers us the grim tale of Louis XVI of France, who clung to the favor of his court and nobility while ignoring the hunger of his people. The peasants starved, the treasury bled, and yet the king poured his attention upon the aristocracy that shielded him. But when the storm of the Revolution came, the small circle was swept away, and with it the crown upon his head. Thus we see that a ruler who disregards the ordinary citizen may endure for a time, but when the multitude rises, no small group can save him.

The quote also carries a warning for all ages: beware the system where survival depends only on pleasing the few. Such a system breeds corruption, oppression, and injustice, for the wealth of the land is drained to sustain the luxury of the guardians of power. Meanwhile, the people—though ignored—harbor the seed of revolt. For though they may seem powerless, history shows that the neglected many can become a force greater than the pampered few.

Let this teaching endure for generations: true strength lies not in bribing the small group that props up power, but in securing the trust and loyalty of the many. A dictatorship may flourish briefly, but it rots from within, for it is built on fear and neglect. As Bruce Bueno de Mesquita teaches, rulers who ignore the people trade eternity for fleeting safety. Only in honoring the welfare of all can power endure without collapse.