XXXVIII: HITLERS AND DEMOCRATS

I wanted to continue with the idea of RIGIDITY from the last post, but the brutal ASSASSINATION (killing by professional killers) of Ms. Benazir Bhutto shook me to my roots so much so that I found it very hard to sit at the system and type in. The hands of terrorism have felled a lady who believed in democracy. Terrorism believes in COERCION (use of physical threat to convince people), whereas democracy believes in PERSUASION (use of logical argument to convince people). COERCION is the weapon of TOTALITARIANISM (dictatorship), Just as PERSUASION is the weapon of DEMOCRACY. Hence, TOTALITARIANISM: COERCION DEMOCRACY: PERSUASION We can say democracy is a PERSUASIVE form of government, while totalitarianism is a COERCIVE form of government. PERSUASIVE: DEMOCRATIC COERCIVE: TOTALITARIAN. A TOTALITARIAN is a HITLER, one who keeps all the power to himself and rules over others with force and violence. Here are a a few SYNONYMS to describe a HITLER: AUTOCRAT NIMROD DESPOT DICTATOR TOTALITARIAN An AUTOCRAT has ABSOLUTE (complete) power, while a FIGUREHEAD ( a person with power only in name) has only NOMINAL (name’s sake) power. Hence, AUTOCRAT: ABSOLUTE FIGUREHEAD: NOMINAL A terrorist who kills people like Ms. Bhutto wants to have absolute power. He/she is very FANATICAL or ZEALOUS (madly passionate or enthusiastic). We can call a terrorist, therefore, a FANATIC or a ZEALOT {one with ZEAL( excessive enthusiasm)}. A ZEALOT is a one with too much FERVOR (passion), just as a SKEPTIC is a person with too much DOUBT. ZEALOT: FERVOR SKEPTIC: DOUBT A ZEALOT’s ZEAL comes from his CONVICTION (firm belief), just as a DIE HARD’s RESOLUTION (firm determination) comes from his WILL POWER . So, ZEAL: CONVICTION: ZEALOT RESOLUTION: WILL: DIE HARD Before we close today’s post, let’s look at governments and societies other than the democratic. When a government is formed on the basis of faith (religion), we call it THEOCRACY. When it is formed on the basis of age of the rulers, we call it GERONTOCRACY. When it is formed on the basis of wealth, we call it PLUTOCRACY. When the government is formed by the noble persons, we call it ARISTOCRACY. Hence, ARISTOCRACY: NOBILITY PLUTOCRACY: WEALTH GERONTOCRACY: AGE THEOCRACY: FAITH THEOCRACY is a state ruled by religious head. It is a religious state, just as ANATHEMA is curse issued by religious heads. So, ANATHEMA: CURSE STATE: THEOCRACY The rule by women we call GYNOCRACY or MATRIARCHY, while the rule by men we call PATRIARCHY. If the rule is by a king or queen, we call it MONARCHY. Hence, GYNOCRACY: WOMEN PATRIARCHY: MEN MONARCHY: KING Of all these rules, let’s not forget that DEMOCRACY is the best, because it gives us the freedom of expression, the right to DISSENT(disagree).