Comment by jonplackett

There’s a podcast I love called Real Dictators.

It looks at loads of dictators from history - Stalin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein.

What they all have in common is a love for loyalty and subservience. And they demand loyalty and subservience be constantly proven. Often in very weird and trivial ways.

Eg. Saddam Hussein liked to have a BBQ where he would cook (but not eat) and make the food inedible spicy. Then he would force his top people to eat it while he laughed at them.

They of course had to keep up the pretence that the food was delicious and pay him lots of compliments.