Thinking about terrible regimes and what they had in common in early years compared to the current admin. It seemed that what they all had in common was a willingness to be morally flexible for the greater good. Mao prioritizing huge debt payments on advanced unrequired loan payments while millions starved, one example. The nuances are not obvious which is why I wanted a little debate. Wasn't referring to where they ended up but where they started. Current admin seems pretty obvious but I'll spell it out, Trump and gang...

Unless you were just trolling...

@JazznBlues Not trolling. This is way too nuanced for me. What did these three monstrous dictators start out thinking? Answers are necessarily speculative and require endless navel-gazing. Mao is said to have had a soft spot for some of his concubines, not all. Hitler is said to have liked his dog, even to the end. Are you maybe linking any regime similarity to Trump passing the anti-animal cruelty law? There's still a world of difference between a "terrible" regime and a mass-murderous one. Luckily, Trump is in his seventies already, and also given the robustness of US political opposition, has probably done his worst by now. Or are you considering this theme to maybe embark on writing some speculative fiction? -- has possibilities. e.g. The movie "Boys from Brazil" (1978) speculated on Hitler's nature as a boy, and concluded (rightly or wrongly) that his genes weren't responsible -- but that he was ruthlessly, lethally self-seeking by the time of his early teens.