Commenter Freddie asks the question.
My instinct is to say Robert Mugabe. On the other hand, I do not know Freddie personally. More importantly, to my knowledge, we do not have well controlled data on the question. Who is willing to install Freddie as the dictator of a moderately prosperous African nation in order to provide the empirical study we need? My money is still on Mugabe, p>.95, or thereabouts. Tyler Cowen would probably say I am overconfident.
If Freddie is white, then by definition he'd be worse, even if he doesn't kill anyone or destroy the economy. Or so I've read in the comments of other threads.
Freddie, can you tell us how you'll govern? We'll promise not to tell anyone, so you can be totally honest.
Number one, we have to admire Freddie for sharing his liberal guilt, and I am also pleased that he would feel so safe in this community. That said, I think Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments which Professor Becker notes in his discussion of Creative Capitalism, to which you recently linked, points out, that, on hearing a million people died in China, the tradesman would sleep well whereas if he cut off his little finger that would be a noxious injury; so, similarly, I would have to agree with Freddie's fear that he is worse. If the Atlantic blog and Zimbabwe could trade Freddie for Robert Mubabe however, morally both sides would be better off.
You should see if the IT team for the Atlantic can set up a poll.
Well, Mugabe isn't done yet, is he? so he can still do more harm to the place, whereas we can assume Ian Smith's contribution is complete.
We could do a small-scale trial by, say, electing Freddie to zoning board of some small municipality and empirically measuring the level of oppression applied to local mid-density mixed-use retail.
Freddie, if they don't appreciate you here come on over and pound on Douthat. Sure, he's not as prolific as Megan is, but he's got lousier friends.
I'm not sure what Freddie said, but if saying something stupid here means the blogger can put you up for public ridicule that makes me a bit uncomfortable. (At first I thought Megan meant "Freddie" from those horror movies)
Granted I think it's just meant as good-natured ribbing, but still it seems like a crossing a line or something.
Thomas R,
Freddie said verbatim in the comments to thread "By Request": "Who's worse, Mugabe or Freddie?". I'm definitely going with the good-natured (and invited) ribbing theory, although of course it's possible one user was impersonating* another.
* Shouldn't there be a shorter verb form of impostor?
What, like "to impost"? One user was imposting another? :)
Easy. Freddie. Because he's not a ruthless, murdering, will-to-power asshole.
But, Freddie will need a ruthless, will-to-power thug bodyguard/lawyer to make sure them crazy African folks don't go tryin' to eat him, or sue him, or nuthin'.
I'd be happy to be that guy. For a reasonable living wage. ;-)
"Thomas R,Freddie said verbatim in the comments to thread "By Request": "Who's worse, Mugabe or Freddie?"."
Oh I see. How embarrassing, carry on then.
Freddie hasn't had a chance to implement his policy goals yet, so until that comes to pass and we can weigh the results, Mugabe is definitely a far worse leader. MI:Healthcare (that's "Moral Imperative", not the other thing) could very possibly shift the balance...or it could just go all Cuban on us. Only one way to find out!
Everybody always think they would do better. I submit that Freddie would do worse, since Mugabe is at least proficient in staying in power. I assume Freddie would last about 72 hours before the various factions of the armed forces began to plot coups.
I have a business acquaintance who was quite close to President Mobutu. Said he was one of the warmest and most charming folks he'd ever met.
What I like about this thread is that most commenters seem to implicitly understand that unchecked government authority can force otherwise respectable and well-intentioned humans to channel their inner Mugabe.
"if we could just get the right people in charge" expresses false hopes for authoritarianism.
Cake? Or Death!
The cake is a lie.
I don't think this is really knowable without giving Freddie a lot of power.
I would not jump to the conclusion that he would be better than Robbie just because he seems like a decent enough guy (even if you think he is misguided). My guess is that a LOT of the people we now think of as monsters would have been decent enough guys if they'd never have power to abuse.
I'm a wonderful person myself....considerate, intelligent, polite, just -- but put me in charge of a women's prison with no supervision and I have real doubts whether I could resist the temptation to make some of my fantasies come true.
(In case anybody is wondering and worried: I'm a computer programmer, and VERY unlikely to ever interview for a job as warden at a women's prison. Set your minds at ease.)
If Freddie (or anyone else) were magically thrust into the role of dictator, he would either die very quickly or become violently ruthless and paranoid. I would guess the former. Even if he did become a mini-Stalin he might still be better than Mugabe, but it's tough to be 95% confident like Megan when you think about how (or if) he will hold onto power.
Jens- I've never actually been to a women's prison but I'd imagine the inmates are a lot less fantasy-friendly than my exhuastive research on late-night cinemax would suggest...
I have a business acquaintance who was quite close to President Mobutu. Said he was one of the warmest and most charming folks he'd ever met.
Maybe that's why Mobutu and Pat Robertson were such buddies. That and the shared experience of having sold their souls to the devil.
And I got ripped off, too!
All i know about women's prison I learned from crappy "B" movies.
But if I were in completely in charge, assuming my svelte guards in their boots and their mini-skirts were successful in keeping order, about the only other thing that could go wrong would be getting a low quality group of inmates.
Oh, and I suppose there might be bad publicity if I ever had to release an inmate...as long as this is MY fantasy lets make them all lifers.
>>Who is willing to install Freddie as the dictator of a moderately prosperous African nation in order to provide the empirical study we need?always wanted to become the dictator of some African country... before that, I wanted to become a large-scale weapon dealer.
:)