3 ms·
Anybody know enough ancient Greek to coin a word for governance by whim or fickleness? Perhaps astathocracy from the Greek word astathes (https://en.wiktionary
by ThrowawayR2 2y ago
Anybody know enough ancient Greek to coin a word for governance by whim or fickleness? Perhaps astathocracy from the Greek word astathes (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B8%CE%AE%CF%82 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B...)?
- card_zero 2y agoGo Latin: capriarchy. (Surely there's word for this already? Scanned lists of -cracy and -archy words, couldn't find one.)
- ThrowawayR2 2y ago-archy is from the Greek arkhos so the first part has to be Greek too. There are mixed Latin + Greek words but they're not really considered proper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_word https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_word.
- card_zero 2y agoSuch as matriarchy. Lots of Latin words are borrowed Greek words. But if you insist, you could have schediocracy, from σχεδίασμα (skhedíasma). Or maybe drop the h to give *astatocracy, like astatine, the unstable element. Easier to say.
- cmurf 2y agoPatrimonialism. https://archive.is/8RJoN https://archive.is/8RJoN The exact form of government is whatever achieves the goal, and is largely academic. It only vaguely will help understand what’s happening, or what is yet to come. e.g. in some sense right now, the form is diarchy, but also principate. The veneer of republic will make it plausible and normal when one of the diarchs is fired. Part of the confusion is many things are happening all at once. It might seem whimsical and fickle because of the incompetency, but the largest single component of what’s going on is corruption. And it’s going to get much much worse, because power is being consolidated. This is 180° from Federalist 51 in which Madison describes (polyarchy) making ambition counter ambition.