Been thinking a lot about the Roman Empire 😀. Why? Not as something to aspire to, but because it is a sobering reminder of what politics is usually like, putting recent events in perspective.
I have been lucky to live during times when (some of) American, European, and Australian politics seemed, to some extent, to be about deciding on the best policies for society broadly.
Mostly, politics isn't like that.
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Late republic and Roman Empire politics revolved around the efforts of powerful leaders like Caesar, Sulla, or Pompey to capture state institutions through mobilization of their allies.
Having politics be centered on benefiting people very broadly rather than client groups is a difficult equilibrium to maintain.
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I actually know very little about the Roman Empire, but I've been reading Fukuyama's "The origin of political order" and its provided me this sort of long-run perspective.
I find that situating the ongoing rather infuriating events in this realist view of longstanding societal forces can make them less acutely stressful - helps one to take a step back.
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