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handsomejack777 t1_j314ok6 wrote

>Putin, Lukashenko and the like had a choice.

Do you think any of those guys would be alive if they did not present themselves as a brutal dictator?

Would you sacrifice your life and your family's well being for other people's rights? They have no choice or the choice has not been made apparent.

Also you have to know that Putin and Luka are just figure heads. There is a whole mechanism of people behind them that operate their dictatorship. And the instant they suspect their position is in jeopardy they will not hesitate to change the leadership with coups.

You can't just blame Hitler. Half of the country was supporting Nazis at that time.

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wise_quoter t1_j317qij wrote

Dictators have always played on people's feelings. Moreover, they chose the basest feelings - hatred, vanity, xenophobia and servility. As a Belarusian, I'll tell you - Lukashenka's support in my country is no more than 5-7%. And that was Before the war in Ukraine. Now his support has fallen, along with Putin's support, to 1-3%.

The dictatorship has such mechanisms to suppress the will of the people that only an external force can destroy it. So it was with Hitler, as you remember. So what are we talking about? About choice?

Certainly every dictator or autocrat had one in the beginning. It was their choice that brought them to the point of no return. But not the choice of society.
If it were otherwise, then all rulers would become dictators. But it's not like that

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handsomejack777 t1_j31e572 wrote

> Now his support has fallen, along with Putin's support, to 1-3%.

It may seem like preaching to the choir because I am not Russian or Belarusian. Here is my take, his support has fallen but he has total control of the military and armed forces. Your support does not matter as long as you have strength to put people in line. All that matter is control.

Now if Lukashenka loses control and does not leave Belarus. He will die. His family will die. Not just him all his supporters will be criminally prosecuted. So his only choice is to suppress. What options does he have?

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