• About
  • Archive
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Dana Blankenhorn
  • Home
  • About Dana
  • Posts
  • Contact Dana
  • Archive
  • A-clue.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Dana
  • Posts
  • Contact Dana
  • Archive
  • A-clue.com
No Result
View All Result
Dana Blankenhorn
No Result
View All Result
Home A-Clue

The Trouble with Dictators

by Dana Blankenhorn
February 15, 2022
in A-Clue, business models, crime, Current Affairs, economy, ethics, law, political philosophy, politics, war
0
0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[itomRussia may or may not invade Ukraine.

Either way, it can’t hold it.

Russia is no longer communist. It’s a personal dictatorship of Vladimir Putin. He holds all the reins of power. If a bus ran him over tomorrow, Russia would be plunged into chaos.

That’s why it doesn’t matter if he invades. Ukraine has spent a generation building a sense of national identity. They even have a democratic system that will let them choose a new President. Thinking they can be held down forever is naïve.


Mark_ZuckerbergRussia is not unusual. Most of America’s great business empires are also dictatorships. This is especially true in technology. It’s guaranteed by “dual-share” structures that hold all the votes in one set of hands. The New York Times can’t be overthrown because the Sulzberger family owns the voting shares. Google can’t be bought because Larry Page and Sergey Brin control the voting shares. The same with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. Even Under Armour can’t be bought.

It gets worse. It’s part of America’s corporate ethos that the founder, or the CEO, is the unquestioned king or queen of their domain. Some of the greatest U.S. corporations collapsed, or nearly so, during the last decade as a result. Jeffrey Immelt destroyed GE. Virginia Rometty destroyed IBM. Randall Stephenson wrecked AT&T. Even Intel nearly collapsed because of Brian Krzanich, until he broke one of his own rules by having an affair with a co-worker.

The point is that the problems of succession, and controlling dictators, isn’t unique to Russia, or to politics. The only protection any country, company or organization has is a system that lets voters, directors or boards toss incompetents. Too few have it in practice because bosses find ways around it.

Constitutional ConventionPutin will lose his power. He will fade and he will die. The same is true for Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, there’s a process whereby Joe Biden can be replaced, and even his party can be overthrown. If you want to know why the state of our union is strong, that’s what it comes down to. When you take any office here, even as an Army private, that’s what your oath says.

Tags: corporate boardscorporate democracydemocracyelectionsFacebookGoogleIBMpolitical systemsPutinUkrainevoters
Previous Post

The Electric Car Bowl

Next Post

Beyond Even the Cloudless Cloud

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn

Next Post
Beyond Even the Cloudless Cloud

Beyond Even the Cloudless Cloud

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Post

Why Do I Hate Medill so Much?

Why Do I Hate Medill so Much?

December 4, 2023
Big AI, Little AI

AI and the Death of Writing

November 30, 2023
A Retailing Ghost Story

A Retailing Ghost Story

November 28, 2023
AGI is the Lie of the Year

AGI is the Lie of the Year

November 27, 2023
Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!


Archives

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Dana Blankenhorn on The Death of Video
  • danablank on The Problem of the Moment (Is Not the Problem of the Moment)
  • cipit88 on The Problem of the Moment (Is Not the Problem of the Moment)
  • danablank on What I Learned on my European Vacation
  • danablank on Boomer Roomers

I'm Dana Blankenhorn. I have covered the Internet as a reporter since 1983. I've been a professional business reporter since 1978, and a writer all my life.

  • Italian Trulli

Browse by Category

Newsletter


Powered by FeedBlitz
  • About
  • Archive
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 Dana Blankenhorn - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Dana
  • Posts
  • Contact Dana
  • Archive
  • A-clue.com

© 2023 Dana Blankenhorn - All Rights Reserved