Yuval Noah Harari: Dictatorship functions on the basis of distrust

"You need to trust a lot of institutions in order for democracy to function. Dictatorship on the other hand, it functions on the basis of distrust. For a dictator, it's a good thing that people don't trust each other, that people don't trust what they hear on the news, that people don't trust the courts.

Because if people lack trust, they cannot unite against the dictator. It's the most basic, you know, the most ancient trick is divide and rule. When people don't trust each other, that's the ideal situation for a dictator. When people trust each other, they can oppose the dictator, and this is the basis for a democratic system.

But of course, trust is much, much harder to achieve than distrust. It takes years to build trust between people. And you can destroy this trust within a few days or even a few hours."