Dictators

Submitted by Sigmund Derman (United States), Jun 23, 2014 at 17:06

I agree that it is good to get rid of the dictators even if some bad things happen. These dictators always say "I am preparing my people for democracy" but they never do that. Or, at least, hardly ever.

To me, the remarkable and encouraging thing that happened in Egypt is that it did not take the Egyptian people very long to figure out that they really did not like an Islamist government. When living under a dictator, I imagine that a lot of Muslims can dream that a religiously driven Sharia based government might be pure bliss. But I suspect that when they experience it and see a few friends and family get their heads chopped off they might think otherwise.

The Brotherhood in Egypt was not as extreme as Isis and the people did not like it. Marketing research shows that having one bad meal in a restaurant will turn off customers of that restaurant for years. Imagine what Isis rampaging through your neighborhood is going to do for the popularity of Islamist rule.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".