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Yeah society needs to be able to allow for this In Machiavelli's view. whoever desires to establish a kingdom or principality where liberty and equality to pre
by whattheheckheck 8mo ago
Yeah society needs to be able to allow for this
In Machiavelli's view.
whoever desires to establish a kingdom or principality where liberty and equality to prevail, will equally fail, unless he withdraws from that general equality a number of the boldest and most ambitious spirits, and makes gentlemen of them not merely in name but in fact, by giving them castles and possessions, as well as money and subjects; so that surrounded by these he may be able to maintain his power, and that by his support they may satisfy their ambition, and the others may be constrained to submit to that yoke to which force alone has been able to subject them. ... But to establish a republic in a country better adapted to a monarchy, or a monarchy where a republic would be more suitable, requires a man of rare genius and power, and therefore out of the many that have attempted it but few have succeeded. (Discourses I; Machiavelli [15311 1950, chap. 55, p. 256
- pembrook 8mo agoSo essentially, this is why the suburbs of Washington DC are among the highest income regions in the world. You don’t have to invent new technologies if you simply position yourself next to halls of power and the money printer.
- whattheheckheck 8mo agoWell also think about every fortune 1000 company and the mini fiefdoms that exist in each of them
- pembrook 8mo agoThose are largely fiefdoms of competence and positive-sum value creation. The fortune 1000 are generally both accountable to shareholders, customers and vulnerable to attack by competition if they get too incompetent. The left-populists of HN will of course argue that all private business is a scam (using edge case anecdotes), but that's juvenile so I won't even waste time confronting that. The US federal government on the other hand, is largely unaccountable to anyone, even its voters, and has zero competitive pressures. They are undeniably the largest, and least accountable fiefdom of all. Hence why Fairfax, Loudoun, Montgomery, etc counties (suburbs of DC) together have nearly 70,000 housholds with an income over $500K+ per year. Edging out the entire Bay Area while having less people.
- whattheheckheck 8mo agoI was pointing out that without the business fiefdoms to keep the wanna be princes at bay there would be a lot more political problems
- whattheheckheck 8mo agoAnd how every person who figures out enough stuff to buy a house with a 30 year mortgage... they get to climb a predestined little mountain to keep them busy