The dynamics of authoritarian slides are unfolding before our eyes. Trump's executive orders (which were often ignored in practice) represent a very minimal example. Had he started enforcing those orders with purges, you would have learned a lot. As it is right now, you basically only learn that leaders without a "machine" end up as sounding brass and tinkling symbols in the wind. They have to resort to force and scare tactics for control. This was the solution for polities of chiefdom to kingdom size. Basically what we think of as the era of ancient despots.
The modern turn to authoritarianism has different dynamics. You basically try to convince everyone of a utopian solution and then get them to rat each other out. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and now Covid lockdown authoritans and the Establishment mono-party.
James Lindsay has a good thread up on this
https://threader.app/thread/1348828460161114117
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