cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
The cruel is just a means to an end. They want a new sort of hierarchical post-feudal kingdom with themselves as the titled élite, effectively owning the rest of us in a postfeudal contract.They've devolved to cruel. They want to punish, even execute those who are not them.
This is about hereditary oligarchy shedding the husk of the republic that was its host organism.