what background do I need to understand that utterance?
Conversation
Replying to
I think D&G do a great analysis of errors of abstraction when they talk of statements both too abstract and not abstract enough.
1
Replying to
Ahh. Well I don't see how abstraction errors are limited to democracy, plenty of mismanagement by monarchies.
1
Replying to
Failed megaprojects are great examples of the kind of abstraction error a monarchy likes to commit.
2
Replying to
Democracy is like a monarchy except with a hated and impotent monarch who gets replaced with another.
1
Replying to
sorry to rehash an old argument from elsewhere, but being voted out of office surely beats a war of succession?
1
Replying to
I do see monarchies being better at long-term coherence, as long as the same monarch lives.
1
Replying to
The choice of successor should of course be up to the monarch. It need not be primogeniture.
1
1
Replying to
But let's say I choose from my courtiers. The selection pressure at my court will be brutal and select for the wrong things.
2
Replying to
I'm more inclined to think brutal selection pressure will select for the right things, but it depends on what is selected for.
1
Replying to
Political aptitude and an instinct for the right moment to backstab someone. Which, okay, is sort of useful in int. politics.
Replying to
I think the example of Lee Kuan Yew is the most educational here. He chose his son as successor but based purely on competence.
1
Replying to
Yeah singapore is kind of the model state here. But I haven't read too much about it tbh.
1
Replying to
LKY might know the right moment to backstab someone, but you could hardly consider that his defining trait.