a dictator's playbook

I used a lower case on the title on purpose. I am trying to be soft. Our orange colored heavenly father at the white colored house want us to comply. So we will :)

This weekend I was listening and watching to the interview of Maria Ressa, who published the playbook of the traits of a modern autocrat in Philippines. I am talking about Rodrigo Duterte. The criminal and the convict (just like the current US president) was arrested on March 11, 2025, by the international criminal court for the crime against humanity, and is currently in prison at the Hague.

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Here is the interview I am talking about...

The purpose of this post is not to talk about Duterte or Philippines, but rather to learn about how a soft or hard autocracy works, either in Philippines, or Hungary, or Russia, and learn from it. That is what Ms. Ressa was trying to teach us, and there is a lot to learn from it.

I found it a exceptionally educational how Ms. Ressa described the institutional collapse under a dictator. The constitution of Philippines was basically a replica of US constitution and there are exactly three branches of the government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial, just like US. In 2016, it took Duterte exactly 6 months to collapse the three branches of the government. In 2025, Stewart jokes, why it is taking the orange guy 8 months?! :) Well, Ms. Ressa argues, he probably have done it in his first 100 days already! I agree with her, the shock to me have always been the Republican legislative wing. They are so spineless, and so hungry for power, that none of them even say a single thing that goes against the line that comes out of the orange guy's mouth! So compliancy is the nature of the Republican politics right now. So with all Republican inside his jacket pocket and with all democrats who left the country, the legislative branch is a done deal.

Digital Authoritarianism and Institutional collapse - visual selection.png
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Judicial branch is easy. Here the method is targeting one person at a time and just wear him/her out. With most of the Supreme Court in his pocket, the Orange guy is currently the king of the land. All corrupt actions are now normalized, and if he says that he can shoot someone at the 5th avenue and get away with it, you better believe him.

"How can you have rule of law if you don't have facts?"

Stewart asks, what is the last word again? :)

what prize? our guy will get it soon enough!

Social Media

The collapse is inherently tied to technology. The Philippines served as a crucial testing ground for mass manipulation tactics using platforms like Facebook and X. These tactics rapidly advance authoritarian goals by weaponizing the algorithm for political consolidation and power. Stewart again correctly pointed out that while the algorithm may have initially been weaponized for profit, the application of emotional triggers made it effective for political consolidation and power globally.

"what free speech means is free speech is speech that supports the president"

Ressa argued, that facebook and X have tested the strategy clinically for 6 years in Philippines, because at the time that population is THE highest consumer of social media and internet. It is now proven that lies spread six times faster through social media compared to conventional media. The logic board is simple:

fear
anger
hate

These three together is a weapon so powerful that if used correctly there is nothing that can stop it. Our tech CEOs have perfected it for profit, and they have used it for years in Philippines. So now they have data for six years on how this works. And they are the largest donors for the 'MAGA cause'.

Apocalypse or Armageddon

So the only question now remains is are we heading into an Apocalypse or Armageddon. Ms. Ressa argues for Armageddon, because at least there is fight in Armageddon, in Apocalypse it is all over.

Well, God help us!

Many years ago I remember a quote from a movie Tears of the Sun by Bruce Willis

"God already left Africa"

https://clip.cafe/tears-of-the-sun-2003/god-already-left-africa/

To that I probably should say, God already left USA!