Kerby Anderson

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is providing a lesson worth repeating. “Unfree societies are weak.” That is one of the comments by Kevin Williamson in his commentary on “Autocracy’s Fatal Flaws.” When dictators or other autocrats are in power, they may look strong. But they have an inherent weakness. These strong men never allow people with contrary information to talk to them. They surround themselves with people to flatter them and encourage them. Kevin Williamson asks, “Does Russia look strong today? Vladimir Putin’s thugs are pretty tough guys when the contest is, say, a five-on-one fight against an unarmed female journalist (Anna Politkovskaya) or when they’re quietly poisoning his critics with polonium-210 (Alexander Litvinenko), but they aren’t much in a real fight with Ukrainian patriots.” China may look strong right now because of their brutality and authoritarianism. But beneath the surface is a country being hammered by the virus and facing serious economic issues. He explains, “20 percent of China’s housing stock is vacant after a speculative building boom that made the Dutch tulip mania seem like a sensible long-term investment; businesses are carrying too much debt, and creditors are worried about not getting paid.” Free societies allow people to fail and learn from their mistakes. Lackeys in authoritarian regimes aren’t allowed to talk about their failures for fear they will disappear the next day. Free societies can fail quickly and cheaply and then try another approach to social, economic, or political obstacles. Free societies also provide stability. If Vladimir Putin were to disappear tomorrow, Russia would be thrown into chaos. If Joe Biden were to step down, America would keep going and only hit a minor bump in the road. Autocracy has many fatal flaws.