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That is the problem with autocracy. If the leadership is good, it is very efficient and effective. Unfortunately based on thousands of years of examples, good l

That is the problem with autocracy. If the leadership is good, it is very efficient and effective. Unfortunately based on thousands of years of examples, good leaders are rare. Without checks on power, bad leaders can tear a country down at lightening speed. Democracy is absolutely a messy government and it is frustrating to watch the glacial speed and bickering. It is also a very stable government that checks the worst impulses of the human lust for power. It keeps the power-hungry chasing each other's tails and away from the ship's wheel.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago
Good leaders don't even have to be rare. They just have to be not forever. Sooner or later you get a bad one. The more power they have, the worse the damage. The US has had bad presidents. They did damage. But without the checks and balances, they would have done far more.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  And we got to watch those checks and balances play out this very weekend. Incredible to watch somone who would happily accept a crown be taken as a fool instead. Our system of governments may not be perfect, but it has certainly avoided a major historical event.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Yeah. I'm rather pleased with how well the US system held up to Trump. It wasn't perfect, and there has been damage, but overall the checks and balances did their job.
blippage 6y ago
Democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for all the others. -- Winston Churchill. I may be factually wrong, but I hear that Singapore is/was somewhat autocratic. However, the government was competent and honest, avoiding things like nepotism and suchlike. The result of all this is that starting from the mid-20th century, it grew from one of the poorest nations on earth to one of the richest. All this as a small island country that even has to import its own water. China is basically a giant kleptocracy. My dad is fond of China, but I am hesitant. China is so corrupt that it's hard for good things to come from it. I guess it is slowly industrialising and getting better, but it seems to be labouring under a heavy burden. I have long been suspicious that the Chinese economy would collapse. My theory is that it produces returns below the cost of capital. That's why we've seen movement in production from places like America to China. My argument is that you produce wealth by creating returns that are in excess of the cost of capital. You destroy it if it's the reverse. So we could find out that America has actually done the right thing by letting China do the manufacturing. That's all just my theory, though. I've been thinking like this since the 90's. So far, I've been shown to be resoundingly completely wrong (at least as it appears on the surface. Will I have been proven to be very wrong until I'm proven very right, or is the whole thing just a completely invalid theory on my part).
jhanschoo 6y ago
> That is the problem with autocracy. If the leadership is good, it is very efficient and effective. It really depends on the demographics. For example, I think you need a more decentralized and federal government when the state is comprised of different nations.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago

Good leaders don't even have to be rare. They just have to be not forever. Sooner or later you get a bad one. The more power they have, the worse the damage. The US has had bad presidents. They did damage. But without the checks and balances, they would have done far more.

dougmwne 6y ago
And we got to watch those checks and balances play out this very weekend. Incredible to watch somone who would happily accept a crown be taken as a fool instead. Our system of governments may not be perfect, but it has certainly avoided a major historical event.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  Yeah. I'm rather pleased with how well the US system held up to Trump. It wasn't perfect, and there has been damage, but overall the checks and balances did their job.

blippage 6y ago

Democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for all the others. -- Winston Churchill. I may be factually wrong, but I hear that Singapore is/was somewhat autocratic. However, the government was competent and honest, avoiding things like nepotism and suchlike. The result of all this is that starting from the mid-20th century, it grew from one of the poorest nations on earth to one of the richest. All this as a small island country that even has to import its own water. China is basically a giant kleptocracy. My dad is fond of China, but I am hesitant. China is so corrupt that it's hard for good things to come from it. I guess it is slowly industrialising and getting better, but it seems to be labouring under a heavy burden. I have long been suspicious that the Chinese economy would collapse. My theory is that it produces returns below the cost of capital. That's why we've seen movement in production from places like America to China. My argument is that you produce wealth by creating returns that are in excess of the cost of capital. You destroy it if it's the reverse. So we could find out that America has actually done the right thing by letting China do the manufacturing. That's all just my theory, though. I've been thinking like this since the 90's. So far, I've been shown to be resoundingly completely wrong (at least as it appears on the surface. Will I have been proven to be very wrong until I'm proven very right, or is the whole thing just a completely invalid theory on my part).

jhanschoo 6y ago

> That is the problem with autocracy. If the leadership is good, it is very efficient and effective. It really depends on the demographics. For example, I think you need a more decentralized and federal government when the state is comprised of different nations.