Personality cult
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*[[Charles Manson]] and his "Family" (USA) | *[[Charles Manson]] and his "Family" (USA) | ||
*[[Augustus Caesar]] (Most of [[Europe]]) | *[[Augustus Caesar]] (Most of [[Europe]]) | ||
| − | *If you want to stretch it a bit, [[Ronald Reagan|Saint Ronnie]] for the [[Republican]]s and [[JFK]] for the [[Democratic Party|Dems]] (USA)<ref>A portion of people reading this article will be probably thinking "Why not [[Obama]]?" Simple: looking at it from today's perspective it was a very ''short'' one. The most important element | + | *If you want to stretch it a bit, [[Ronald Reagan|Saint Ronnie]] for the [[Republican]]s and [[JFK]] for the [[Democratic Party|Dems]] (USA)<ref>A portion of people reading this article will be probably thinking "Why not [[Obama]]?" Simple: looking at it from today's perspective it was a very ''short'' one. The most important element of a personality cult is the usage of authority to perpetuate artificial apotheosis; you don't want [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZFOoqX8kJTs#! videos] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Reimvk8D2Ho like] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4l_-RxbFPs these] lying around. American society has a unusual tendency to [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21580779 mythologize Presidents] ([[American Revolution|ironically]], even worse than today's constitutional monarchies), and over time [[wilful ignorance|ignore]] the very things [[Iran-Contra|which]] [[Ronald_Reagan#A_sterling_record_of_fiscal_conservatism|make]] [http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2013/01/the-real-cuban-missile-crisis/309190/ them] [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/all-the-presidents-unreported-women-jfk-never-had-problems-like-bill-clintons-recalls-nick-bryant-1438663.html human.] Who knows what will happen in 50 years to the legacy of the first POTUS who transcended the barriers of race. (We'd like an objective account, thanks.)</ref> |
==Footnotes== | ==Footnotes== | ||
Revision as of 09:50, 15 March 2013
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Personality cults are often found in totalitarian regimes. Although it is very rare to see them in democratic countries, they do occur from time to time.
Examples
- Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- Adolf Hitler (Nazi Germany)
- Kim Il Sung, his son, and then his grandson (North Korea)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan)
- Mao Zedong (China)
- Fidel Castro (Cuba)
- Hugo Chavez (Venezuela)
- Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir (Sudan)
- Hafez al-Assad and his son, Bashar al-Assad (Syria)
- Muammar al-Gaddafi (Libya)
- Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- Hosni Mubarak (Egypt)
- Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisia)
- Ali Abdullah Saleh (Yemen)
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Turkey)
- Ayn Rand and her Randroids (USA)
- Jim Jones and his "Kool-Aid drinkers" (USA)
- David Koresh and the disaster we know as Waco (USA)
- Charles Manson and his "Family" (USA)
- Augustus Caesar (Most of Europe)
- If you want to stretch it a bit, Saint Ronnie for the Republicans and JFK for the Dems (USA)[2]
Footnotes
- ↑ IMDB: Burnt by the Sun
- ↑ A portion of people reading this article will be probably thinking "Why not Obama?" Simple: looking at it from today's perspective it was a very short one. The most important element of a personality cult is the usage of authority to perpetuate artificial apotheosis; you don't want videos like these lying around. American society has a unusual tendency to mythologize Presidents (ironically, even worse than today's constitutional monarchies), and over time ignore the very things which make them human. Who knows what will happen in 50 years to the legacy of the first POTUS who transcended the barriers of race. (We'd like an objective account, thanks.)