Talk:Benevolent dictatorship

Similar concept "bourgeois socialism" / Patriachalism

In the 19th and early 20th century a similar concept also arose in industry. Some industrial leaders either genuinely cared for their workers or were rather good at pretending to, and thus they provided for certain services (cheap company housing, childcare, higher wages thaen other companies, the likes) in "exchange" for the workers refraining from forming unions / becoming socialist. In a sense the ideology (if one can call it that) behind this is very similar to the East-Asian "benevolent" dictatorships, which have also been called "development dictatorships" because they usually reign during the time of transition from pre-industrial to "Tiger economy" or whatever China is slowly turning into. Interestingly enough, this is also the historic era most of this "bourgeois socialism" (notice the scare-quotes) occurred in Europe and the US, be it Krupp or Ford... Avengerofthe BoN (talk) 19:45, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

That's a stretch. Everyone thinks that their system of government is a good idea, and portraying it as a good thing is normal. Benevolent dictatorships are notable for just how "opposite of reality" that belief is. ikanreed ^{You probably didn't deserve that} 19:50, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

It is similar insofar as both wield(ed) (next to) absolute power over their subjects and that both have an "everything for the people, nothing (decided) by the people" approach to handling stuff. I would say both are rather similar. But thaen again, economics to this day is not a democracy. In a democracy one person= one vote. In capitalism one dollar=one vote Avengerofthe BoN (talk) 19:54, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Well yes, economics as a field is not a specific political system. That's pretty general knowledge about anyone that knows what each is. -EmeraldCityWanderer (talk) 20:18, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

My point was something else: We claim to be democrats, yet let huge parts of our lives (those touched upon by economics) be governed by a system that has nothing to do with democracy. On the face of it this must seem utterly insane. Try explaining Microsoft to Extraterrestrials if they ever visit... Avengerofthe BoN (talk) 20:35, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Examples

What, Singapore doesn't count? CorruptUser (talk) 04:41, 20 September 2015 (UTC)