It has always been about where you lived and not how the guys really were.

I do think authoritarianism on its own is bad. I want the freedom to criticize my government, and I want the freedom to run for elections or to advocate for changes I want to see. I think democracy and logical long-term thinking shouldn't be mutually exclusive. I feel democracy and sensible behavior are two not connected things.

You can have idiotic authoritarian governments that ruin the economy. China and Vietnam were exceptions among communist countries, who switched to a form of market economy, when they saw that central planning was poverty-inducing and nigh impossible to do.

The problems we're seeing in democracies might lie with the level of disinformation for electioneering purposes that is permitted under free speech today.

Oh please. You wouldn’t survive in the regime 15seconds.