The next guy will be worse

 My dad, who was a minister, liked to tell this joke:

A minister had just given his last sermon to his congregation before he was set to move on to a new church. Standing at the back of the sanctuary shaking the hands of his parishioners as they exited, he was feeling the glow of their warm wishes and appreciation for his service. An elderly lady approached, shook his hand vigorously, and said, “I sure am sorry to see you go. I just know the next minister won’t be as good as you.” 

In his heart, he knew she was right (how could anyone be as good?) but he adopted the proper air of humility and said, “Oh, you just have to give him a chance–I’m sure he’ll be great, probably better than me.” 

“Nope,” said the old lady. “He won’t be.”

“But you have to give him a chance, and keep an open mind,” the minister insisted.

“Nope,” she said. “He won’t be as good as you. I’ve been a member of this church for more than sixty years and have seen a dozen ministers come and go. Without fail, every one was worse than the one before.”

[That’s what passes for church humor, in case you were wondering. Although I could tell some bawdier ones.]

I have often heard the sentiment, “If we could only get rid of Trump.” 

Be careful what you wish for. His successor will be worse. Donald Trump is a charismatic autocrat. He accumulates and maintains power with a combination of charisma, corruption, and brutality. Successors to charismatic autocrats typically lack the charisma, so they rely more heavily on corruption and brutality. Let’s look at a few successions throughout history:

Nicolas Maduro is worse than Hugo Chavez was.

Stalin was worse than Lenin.

Deng Xiaoping was no less brutal than Mao.

Kim Il Sung was succeeded by Kim Jong Il and then Jong Un. As near as I can tell, a decrease in charisma but no decrease in corruption and brutality.

Hafez al-Assad created a cult of personality. Bashar al-Assad consolidated power in part by using chemical weapons against his own people. 

Unfortunately, charismatic autocrats create an infrastructure of terror and corruption that is easily inherited. The successor typically lacks the personality of the original, but appears to access the infrastructure without too much difficulty.

Donald Trump could be taken down by the Epstein business or by cheeseburgers. That doesn’t mean we’ll be any better off when it happens.

[OP by Dan T]