Wednesday, 6 January 2021

When Good Governments Go Bad: History Shows That Societies Collapse When Leaders Undermine Social Contracts

quote [ They found that when “good” governments—ones that provided goods and services for their people and did not starkly concentrate wealth and power—fell apart, they broke down more intensely than collapsing despotic regimes. And the researchers found a common thread in the collapse of good governments: leaders who undermined and broke from upholding core societal principles, morals, and ideals. ]

This is an interesting conclusion, especially when you take into account the difficulty of comparing ancient governmental systems to modern democracies.
[SFW] [history] [+1 Interesting]
[by takajou]
<-- Entry / Comment History

mechavolt said @ 2:08pm GMT on 6th January
I've been thinking a lot about this the last few years. Social contracts work because we collectively agree they work. The more authoritarian the contract, the more the norms are codified into enforceable rules. The more liberal the contract, the more it relies on norms being upheld voluntarily. The US has historically favored the latter kind of social contract, and I think the last 4 years have really made clear how much our contract relies on tradition, decorum, and decency. The last 4 years have also really made clear how easily liberal social contracts can be taken advantage of by bad actors. But then the solution to this problem because problematic in and of itself. To fix this, we either have to somehow convince/train the population to once again agree to voluntarily uphold the social contract, or we have to shift to more authoritarian methods of enforcement. I don't see the first happening, and the second is distasteful. That leaves the third option, a decline into self destruction.

mechavolt said @ 2:09pm GMT on 6th January
I've been thinking a lot about this the last few years. Social contracts work because we collectively agree they work. The more authoritarian the contract, the more the norms are codified into enforceable rules. The more liberal the contract, the more it relies on norms being upheld voluntarily. The US has historically favored the latter kind of social contract, and I think the last 4 years have really made clear how much our contract relies on tradition, decorum, and decency. The last 4 years have also really made clear how easily liberal social contracts can be taken advantage of by bad actors. But then the solution to this problem becomes problematic in and of itself. To fix this, we either have to somehow convince/train the population to once again agree to voluntarily uphold the social contract, or we have to shift to more authoritarian methods of enforcement. I don't see the first happening, and the second is distasteful. That leaves the third option, a decline into self destruction.


<-- Entry / Current Comment
mechavolt said @ 2:08pm GMT on 6th January
I've been thinking a lot about this the last few years. Social contracts work because we collectively agree they work. The more authoritarian the contract, the more the norms are codified into enforceable rules. The more liberal the contract, the more it relies on norms being upheld voluntarily. The US has historically favored the latter kind of social contract, and I think the last 4 years have really made clear how much our contract relies on tradition, decorum, and decency. The last 4 years have also really made clear how easily liberal social contracts can be taken advantage of by bad actors. But then the solution to this problem becomes problematic in and of itself. To fix this, we either have to somehow convince/train the population to once again agree to voluntarily uphold the social contract, or we have to shift to more authoritarian methods of enforcement. I don't see the first happening, and the second is distasteful. That leaves the third option, a decline into self destruction.



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