Tyranny and autocracy are a method of governance, not always an ideology

When I was a student majoring in political science, I came up with a theory that the degree of the tyranny of a government was related to ideology.  In those student days, we were just out of the McCarthy era of a red scare that Russian communism would bury us and every commie had to be rooted out of US society, not just government. In my junior year abroad in Berlin and travels through  Yugoslavia,  I had just seen first hand how Russian Communists consolidated their power on the zones of Germany they controlled.  It was brutal and a study in mind control and propaganda. I was also trying to figure out how fascism got such a hold on Germany. The results of Berlin's war wounds, vacant bombed-out lots and large expanses where houses and buildings one stood, piles of rubble and shrapnel pitted walls of those parts of buildings left standing testified to the horrible end of fascism.  I saw a relationship between the extremes of fascism and Russian Stalinist communism.  The usual graph is a straight line with communism on one left end and fascism on one right end and libertarian capitalism off a bit to the right and New Dealism on a bit off to the left, still to the right of socialism which was closer to communism than not.  The key difference between communism and socialism was being the difference of who owned and controlled the economy and means of production...socialism, not so much and communism totally owned by a government (in theory only by the people).

I saw the graph of ideology not as a straight line with extremes left and right, but with fascism in the mix, it was a circle, where Stalinist communism met fascism at the bottom of the circle.  I got an A and a shoutout from my poli sci professor for that analysis.

I have since given that some thought.  Ideology is indeed related to autocracy and tyranny because centralizing everything in the hands of government whether by force or by persuasion and propaganda makes it easier for a tyrant to control everything in the country which is totalitarianism. The belief when I was in college in the late 1950s was that socialism would automatically lead to communism and tyranny.  Hitler,  Stalin, and Tito exercised totalitarian control of the economy and the military/police reins of power.  There was no room for dissent and deviation from either ideology, fascism or communism and all methods of communication were in their control.  Dissenters were treated brutally with no civil rights. Gulags, firing squads, or gas ovens were death and killing methods.  The only difference was the racist elements of fascism and their harnassing capitalism and the "brotherhood of all workers" of communism. 

My modification is due to my on hand observations of post-cold war experience.  I have had the advantage of being on the ground with my families of blood and marriage living in socialist societies of western and former satellite countries. European socialism is not tyrannical and gives room for capitalism and individual rights and liberties.   One does not automatically lead to another and the ideological graph is a straight line, far left of pure communism to the far right of libertarianism. In fact, the reverse can happen with former communist societies that become much more liberal with a blend of both capitalism and socialism. Communism, capitalism are ideological economic systems but are different from the governance methods, which range from totalitarianism to libertarian, with liberal democracies being a blend in the line of various degrees of government control.  So long as people have a  say by vote and are protected with civil rights, the method of governance and the ideology they espouse are separate and do not necessarily meet in a totalitarian society.   When liberal democracy fails,  there is little difference between totalitarian communism and totalitarian fascism and the circle I saw as a student in the 1950's is still valid. Dictators espousing communism and dictators who are fascists are still dictators, but worse. They are totalitarian dictators.
Both extremes of communism and fascism meet when the ideological straight line is bent into a circle per their methods of governance.  The essential element common in both ideological extremes is authoritarian control of their thoughts, actions, and personal lives, tolerating no deviation and brutally punishing dissenters.  For that reason,  I am dedicated to opposing authoritarian control of governance and less worried about blends of socialism and capitalism. I see Trump's attempt and desire of governing like a dictator abhorrent. and to be stopped, and feared much more so than Sanders' European socialism.  I still prefer moderation in any case. Count me as a left of center moderate in economic and political systems.  Extremes leave me with little power to live my life as I want, while at the same time still caring about the wellbeing of those in my society.