why do dictators like huge buildings?

[cultxpt]

You have the pyramids in Egypt. The tallest building in the world in
Dubai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Dubai). One of the biggest
hotels on earth in North Korea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ryugyong_Hotel). The palace of Ceauşescu in Romania (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament). And, of course, the
Super Power building in Clearwater (http://
groundbreaking.scientology.org/page00.htm).

Why do dictators like huge buildings?

[Hartley Patterson]

cul...@gmail.com wrote:

> Why do dictators like huge buildings?

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
- Percy Shelley 1817

This isn't something that requires any conscious acceptance of belief, it
seems to be part of being human. The already rich and powerful seek to buy
a kind of immortality in stone, and sometimes they succeed. Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_magic
http://www.skepdic.com/sympathetic.html
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/s/sympathetic_magic.html

in which the appearance of wealth attracts wealth.
Hubbard gave sensible advice about this from both angles: Orgs should be
clean, tidy and presentable but that should not distract from their
function, to provide good Services.

--
FREEDOM is a trademark owned by
Religious Technology Center
http://www.newsfrombree.co.uk/stolgy_0.htm

[Eldon]

Ego gratification, obviously, but I think it also has to do with the
name of the building. "The Super Power Building is far more grandiose
than "the Flag Operations Building" or something of that sort. And
Davey definitely considers it his monument, even if it's still empty
inside.

[phil scott]

I think they are attempting to make their rulings and modus operandi
permanent by
enshrining it...including the large buildings.