After months of fighting in Libya following the Arab Spring uprisings, Muammar Gaddafi is dead. What his legacy is in the annals of history has yet to be determined. We can say that there will likely be footnotes in his sections of history books dedicated to explaining his crazy faces and obsession with fancy eyewear. I’m not sure why but it seemed a crucial aspect of being a dictator in the latter half of the 20th century to wear designer sunglasses at all times. I’m not sure if it’s a wink and a nod to how filthy rich these guys get by embezzling the guts out of their already-strained public coffers, or if there’s some sort of inter-dictator sunglass competition going on. It may just be that they can’t stand to view the glare of their starving populaces unless their eyes are shielded by thousands of dollars worth of Prada and Hennessy. Until some sociologists dedicate themselves to sunglasses research, we’ll just have to decide on our own. To kickstart the scholarly debate, I’ve rounded up my top eight shades-wearing dictators from recent history.
