This is Ethiopian Review Policy Research Center’s series on From Dictatorship to Democracy extracted from books published by Albert Einstein Institution.

Be inspired! Be coordinated! And take action!

How to Overcome Dictator-phobia
In virtually all cases in history a dictator was allowed to be a dictator until someone stood up and said, “Enough.” BEKA! This is not an action of aggression as much as it is an action of assertiveness. Many individuals need to understand that it’s OK to have needs that you should stand up for – that by denying your needs a dictator is denying you the right to pursue happiness.
Your voice needs to be heard and your fear needs to take a break. A dictator is often little more than a school ground bully that never grew up.

A dictator depends on the support/obeying of the people. If everyone rebelled, the dictator would not be able to exist. So why is it that dictators still exist and rule today? Why do people mindlessly obey?
Because the majority of dictators run a totalitarian society. They control their people through fear and suppression. These people are censored from outside influence, and if a group of people do rise up from the oppression they are either killed or beaten into submission.

A lot of dictators that are “elected” into their positions run rigged elections. So a lot of their citizens feel powerless to bring about change, because fear controls the behavior of people who are weak and poor.
FEAR! yes FEAR, that’s what empowers dictators. People are too scared to rise against them, and takes a lot of courage to overcome it.

TO VIEWWhy People Fear, Endorse or Obey a Dictator