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> Why do people in power seem to prefer to kick the can down the road until it explodes instead of trying to resolve problems as they come? It seems to be a rec

> Why do people in power seem to prefer to kick the can down the road until it explodes instead of trying to resolve problems as they come? It seems to be a recurring theme of history. People in power are often motivated by gaining more power & their core competency is acquiring more power, usually by manipulating social dynamics. They also also adept in manipulating organizations to have power-focused people, especially if they can be controlled, in positions of governance & management. Any other popular ideological position they publicly espouse is a mask to consolidate power. There are some books on psychopathy in governance & management...such as https://www.amazon.com/Political-Ponerology-Science-Psychopathy-Totalitarianism/dp/1734907452 https://www.amazon.com/Political-Ponerology-Science-Psychopa... With advances & consolidation in the state/empire, technology, automation, & global socioeconomic systems, people in power have more leverage over everybody else...Consolidation will increase until systems become too top-heavy & a collapse occurs. Most people, including people in power, tend to not desire being ruled by others, so infighting is inevitable, which also leads to collapse...Usually the breakups occur suddenly when the status quo becomes obviously untenable & it is less risky to break ranks. Political rivals that can execute a coherent long term strategy of systemic growth & power have a long-term advantage over those who are unable to execute continued growth. You can test these assertions in an analysis of the history of the various political & business empires which grew & collapsed.

jongjong 4y ago
That makes sense. Unfortunately, our current system seems to support almost unlimited centralization and this is the ideal kind of system for psychopathic power-hoarders. In the past, it was far less common for companies to grow to the point that they would dominate large parts of the economy. In essentially all cases, scale is achieved through illegal or at least highly unethical practices. Mega-corporations are not a natural part of capitalism; rather, they're the result of intentional system design and manipulation at the political/social layer. I think decentralization can go a long way to protect the system from power-hoarders. All things considered, it's probably better to have small groups, headed by many low-grade psychopaths, competing and even (on occasion) fighting each other for dominance rather than a single monolithic global empire headed by top-grade psychopaths. Also, I think if we could decouple political groups from geography, we would be able to protect ourselves from existential threats such as nuclear weapons. Nobody is going to risk nuking their own people in order to destroy an opposing group if they are all intermingled geographically.

jongjong 4y ago

That makes sense. Unfortunately, our current system seems to support almost unlimited centralization and this is the ideal kind of system for psychopathic power-hoarders. In the past, it was far less common for companies to grow to the point that they would dominate large parts of the economy. In essentially all cases, scale is achieved through illegal or at least highly unethical practices. Mega-corporations are not a natural part of capitalism; rather, they're the result of intentional system design and manipulation at the political/social layer. I think decentralization can go a long way to protect the system from power-hoarders. All things considered, it's probably better to have small groups, headed by many low-grade psychopaths, competing and even (on occasion) fighting each other for dominance rather than a single monolithic global empire headed by top-grade psychopaths. Also, I think if we could decouple political groups from geography, we would be able to protect ourselves from existential threats such as nuclear weapons. Nobody is going to risk nuking their own people in order to destroy an opposing group if they are all intermingled geographically.