This short story is called “Dictator” and it is from my 1992 book of environmental short stories called “An Olive Tree, A Dictator, And A Letterbox.” I had 300 copies printed and sold them all in 18 months. The Iraq Hostage Crisis that preceded to first Gulf War is now long forgotten, swept from people’s memories by subsequent events. The first Gulf War began within hours of the release of the last hostage.
I hope you enjoy “Dictator”
Dictator
© Garth Dutton 1992
Eric sipped his cup of coffee, then put it down on one of the staff room tables. The coffee was much too hot. Having reserved his seat by leaving his cup there, he went to the large lunch box that had just arrived from the school canteen. He found the pasty he had ordered and returned to his seat.
Alex, the Social Studies teacher with whom Eric worked for some lessons, came and sat near him at the table, as did Jenny, a contract History and Remedial English teacher.
“Eric, do you know Jenny? asked Alex.
“Not yet,” replied Eric. “Or should I say, I’ve seen you around, but haven’t really been introduced till now.” They shook hands across the table.
“How long are you here for?” asked Jenny.
“Another three weeks,” Eric replied. “ Teaching Practice. I’m an adult Graduate Diploma of Education student at University.”
“Why would you want to get into teaching, with the latest cutbacks, and the big surplus of teachers?” enquired Jenny, quite curious. “It’s difficult enough even for people with a lot of experience in the system.”
“An eight year old son who has been classified as dyslexic,” replied Eric. “So I’ve developed a frantic interest in the whole process of learning, education, and the design of teaching materials. Even if I couldn’t get a full time job on graduation, it mightn’t really matter. I’ve learned a huge amount in the course to date. I’ve become more interested in Remedial Teaching at primary school anyway. I’d be happy with relief teaching at secondary level.”
“I wish you luck! Remedial is hard but rewarding work. So is Relief Teaching.” They would have gone on to discuss Eric’s son’s reading problems, but Alex said, “Oh, before I forget, Eric, you mentioned this morning that you’ve come up with some sort of game for getting students to learn geography-style maps quicker and better.”
“Yes!” replied Eric. “Over the weekend I was reading a long article in the newspaper about Saddam Hussein and the current Hostage Crisis in Iraq. I thought up the sketchy beginnings of a game called ‘Dictator’. It would go like this…”
He put on an official-sounding voice. “One draws an ‘action’ card to start the game. It reads as follows. ACTION : ‘Dictator seizes control of oil-rich sheikhdom.’ Then you draw a ‘rationale’ card. RATIONALE: ‘ Not known… Dictator refuses to say why this action has been taken…’ Students would then have to locate Kuwait on the map, have a look at where the world’s oil reserves are located, and so on, and try to make sense of Dictator’s action. Then play the game to try to defeat Dictator.”
Alex considered the idea. I’ve just had a thought,” he said. “How about this! You also have to draw a card for which country Dictator is ruling. For instance it would make a big difference if Dictator was ruler of the United States or Monaco; Leichenstein or China, or a country with no oil of its own.”
“True!” said Eric. “Perhaps we should only give the present situation of Iraq occupying Kuwait as an example of how the game works.”
“For example, you could ask if there are any precedents?” suggested Jenny. “To me the Indonesian occupation of East Timor is the obvious one.”
“Yes, and then locate that place on the map, find out what East Timor’s resources are and compare them to Kuwait’s, and so on…” said Eric. “Quite a bit of research involved, as well as development of map skills, and understanding the strategic nature of most of the world’s resources.”
He looked serious. “Another card I thought about was, ACTION: ‘Dictator announces plan to take over all the world’s cities over 10 million people.’ RATIONALE: Dictator simply says “It is necessary.” Students would then have to locate those cities, and so forth…In this game, which could be a board game or a computer game, students could play it individually, (and so try to defeat Dictator single-handedly), or they could play as a team of allies trying to stop him.”
Eric frowned. “Oh Dear! Sexist language. Of course Dictator would have to be able to be female as well as the usual male stereotype. ‘A coalition to stop dictator’ is what I should have said.”
“Makes me think of Margaret Thatcher,” said Alex, stroking his greying moustache. “Orwell warned us of the possibility of Big Brother in his novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’, but didn’t consider the possibility of a Big Sister. I bet John Major feels like her little brother at times with her still lurking in the background.
Jenny looked at Eric sadly, and said, “Sorry, but I’m beginning to see all sorts of problems with this concept. For instance, imagine an ACTION card that reads ‘Dictator announces plan to take over all the world’s remaining rain forests as a personal National Park’. RATIONALE: ‘Dictator wants to go down as one of the greatest figures in history. The leader whose personal action saved the rainforests, (and therefore the climate) for posterity.’
Alex interrupted. “I go back to my previous point. A card for the country. Say you draw Brazil. Presumably the Amazon Forest, or what’s left of it is then safe. Dictator now needs to conquer the rest of the tropics. Talk about side benefits… To save the rain forests, Dictator gains a monopoly on tropical products.”
Alex continued visibly for a few moments, then continued. “Alternatively, you draw a card that reads ‘Nauru’, and you are left with the Dictator of a mini-state with no army, a handful of people and an island almost stripped bare by phosphate mining, setting out to save the world’s rain forests.”
“The latter might even cause some other countries to consider where they stand on the question of rain forest timber use,” suggested Jenny. “But what I really had in mind
was the implications of winning or losing in such a situation. For example, forget the country involved for the moment, Dictator has announced his or her plan to take over the rain forests. You, the player, see Dictator’s rationale as pure ego trip and personal aggrandisement, so set out to defeat Dictator. But what happens to the rain forests if you win? What happens to democracy if you lose?” She let those points sink in, then continued. “Suppose you defeat Dictator, but then feel obliged to set up your own plan to save the rain forests. Would not Dictator then have actually won?… Hasn’t Dictator got checkmate?…” She certainly had a point.
Alex again stroked his moustache. “I wonder how long it will be before some real-life dictator jumps on a ‘green’ bandwagon? Perhaps George Bush is making the world safe for democracy by getting rid of as many dictators as possible before that happens. Hard line on Col. Gaddafi, arresting Noreiga, and now responding to Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in such a way that it’s apparent he’ll get rid of Saddam Hussein if at all possible.”
“It mightn’t come to war. There’s always hope someone will persuade Hussein to withdraw… Russia… The other Arab countries… There has to be hope,” said Jenny. There has to be.”
Alex looked deep in thought. “I wonder what would happen if someone did propose a peace plan, Saddam Hussein accepted, and agreed to withdraw from Kuwait. He certainly would use acceptance of any Russian or Arab peace plan as a propaganda victory against America. Personally saving the world from war and all that…” He took a drink of his coffee, and continued. The question is really, ‘Could the Americans cope with the concept of a dictator who was capable of changing his mind and admitting a mistake?’ I wonder?” He shrugged. “For that matter, could we cope? Only time will tell.” The others could add nothing except, “Only time will tell.”
“Back to the game concept, and the rain forest for the moment,” said Jenny. “Democracy has got to both do, and be seen to be doing, something about environmental problems like the greenhouse effect, the damage to the ozone layer, and the cutting down of the world’s forests, or it is going to lose the loyalty of quite a lot of young people brought up with Environmental Education at school.” She looked straight at Eric.
“As you’ve pointed out, Eric, sooner or later some dictator will try to get a bit of glory, or some personal mileage, out of these issues. That was my point about the rainforest example. What would you do about someone was trying to save the rain forests, but doing so by means of government that are indefensible?” Neither Eric nor Alex had an immediate answer. Dictator can’t lose by taking on such an issue, as I see it,” she added.
Eric too saw a problem. “ What if Saddam Hussein were to offer to release his ‘guests’ in return for an immediate halt to killing of whales. What would we do?” Again, they had no immediate answer.
“Or offered to withdraw from Kuwait as soon as the destruction of rain forests stopped,” added Alex, thoughtfully.”
“Personally, I’d like to see him get the Indonesians withdraw from East Timor in return for withdrawal from Kuwait,” said Jenny bitterly. “ It may be the only hope of ever freeing East Timor.”
“Jenny also feels Australia’s role in events in East Timor in 1975, and after, was appalling,” Alex said to Eric.
Eric looked at Jenny. He could see that East Timor was a very bitter issue for her. He nodded agreement, but considered it unwise to pursue the matter further. There was an awkward silence, broken by Alex, who said, almost to himself. “I can see now why the U.N. is adamant that Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait is unconditional. There is no way Bush, Major, or the U.N. will have this issue linked to any other. No way! They have said so in no uncertain terms. To do otherwise would be to give in to blackmail. People’s lives are at stake.”
Eric decided to return the conversation to his game. “As I see the game,” he said. The really good point is that every rationale that Dictator might have would be equally believable, because dictators can range from benevolent to complete crackpots. Plus dictatorship is really in the news at the moment. The whole point of the game is to defeat Dictator, but learn a whole lot about the world and its resources on the way.”
There was a short short silence, then Jenny shook her head. She raised her hand and pushed a wisp of blonde hair back into place. “The more I think about the whole concept,” she said, “the more unworkable it seems. In the example you used ,Eric, about Dictator’s plan to take over all cities of over 10 million people, then simply saying, “It is necessary…” For me that conjures up visions of Stalin, the enforced collectivisations of agriculture in the 1930’s, and the Ukrainian famines he deliberately created to wipe out the whole Kulak class of peasants. A simplistic solution, and totally ruthless means…”
“A choice of different RATIONALE cards could be interesting on this one,” suggested Alex. “Card one we have a Stalin or Hitler who simply says, “It is necessary…”; card two reads, ‘Dictator’s previous occupation was Town & City Planner’; card three reads, ’As a child Dictator always wanted cornflakes for breakfast, but was always given porridge’. Three different scenarios as to why Dictator might want to control mega-cities.”
“In fact, it shows up the worst fault of dictatorship,” said Jenny , passionately. “ If a dictator goes off the rails mentally along the way, or was in Cloud Cuckoo Land from the beginning, the consequences for the country, and the world, can be appalling.” She calmed down a little, and added. “With any luck, a just and peaceful end to the present Gulf Crisis will put an end to wars over resources in the real world, at least for a while.” She gave Eric a supportive smile, but said, “Sorry Eric, as I see it, this whole concept deserves to be put into the ‘too hard’ basket, perhaps permanently.”
“The basic idea seems feasible,” said Alex, thoughtfully. “It’s the political and social implications of what the game is saying that’s the problem. For example, that any country can fall under dictatorship. Sad in a way, because it could be a really useful tool for the study of maps, and for gaining a wide knowledge and understanding of resources and global issues.”
“The problem is in the images and background it conjures up,” said Jenny.” And there is no way we should ever suggest to students that dictatorship is a way of getting things done. Kids are disillusioned enough with democratic processes as it is. In 10 years in schools, off and on, I’ve never met a student yet who aspires to be a politician as a career.” They lapsed into silence.
“ Thanks anyway!” said Eric, with a resigned smile. “It’s good of you both to talk this out with me. The only way to find out if an idea is feasible is to spell it out and get some feedback. It’s good to be at a school where I can do that.” He hoped he was right. If not, it might show on his teaching practice report.
The bell rang.
“Oh well, back to the classroom for the afternoon, said Jenny.
Eric raised his eyebrows. “You make it sound like going out of the trenches, and over the top, in the Battle of the Somme.”
“Isn’t it?” replied Jenny, in a non-serious tone of voice. “It poured with rain all weekend, so the students had no chance to run off surplus energy. Also, it’s really windy outside today…That throws them. they are quite scatty on windy days.”
They all agreed, and as they rinsed their cups and plates, Jenny said to Eric, “I am now trying my very best to get students to be form supporters of democracy. You know why? Recently I heard a rumour that thousands of children from around the world have written to Saddam Hussein. Their letters all begin the same way apparently.”
“Dear Saddam Hussein,
Please release the hostages…”
Eric too saw a mental picture of children’s letters with scrawly handwriting. “They only have to change one person’s mind,” she said, “ and the hostages will be released. Those kids can see that. That’s why they wrote. I consider children writing to a dictator as the worst threat democracy has faced.”
“Suppose, in reality, no children wrote, and the rumour was entirely Iraqi propaganda.” suggested Eric.
Jenny caught eye contact with him. “What is the propaganda saying then?”
“That Saddam Hussein is prepared to what children have to say,” said Eric. He looked at Jenny. “I see what you mean.”
The second bell rang, and as they headed out of the staff room, Jenny sighed. “Dictator announces plan to abolish windy Monday afternoons,” she said with a smile.
“I don’t think I’ll put too much heart into opposing Dictator, said Alex, and then to Eric. “Put the concept in wraps for a while. You never know, something might come out of it eventually.”
And with that they went to their classrooms.
