Mancur Olson Quote

"Sometimes, when leading families or merchants organized a government for their city, they not only provided for some power sharing through voting but took pains to reduce the probability that the government's chief executive could assume autocratic power. For a time in Genoa, for example, the chief administrator of the government had to be an outsider -- and thus someone with no membership in any of the powerful families in the city. Moreover, he was constrained to a fixed term of office, forced to leave the city after the end of his term, and forbidden from marrying into any of the local families. In Venice, after a doge who attempted to make himself autocrat was beheaded for his offense, subsequent doges were followed in official processions by a sword-bearing symbolic executioner as a reminder of the punishment intended for any leader who attempted to assume dictatorial power."

by:	Mancur Olson (1932-1998) American economist and political scientist
Source:	Power and Prosperity. Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships (New York: Basic Books, 2000), p. 39
Rating:
Categories:	Autocracy, Defense, Democracy, Despotism, Election, Slavery, Vote
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Perhaps we should adopt this tradition  -- Robert, Sarasota
-- Anonymous, Reston, VA US
I think this is something the U.S. should think about. Our current system is broke.  -- D.L., Bozeman, MT
Yes, let's lop off the heads of those in Congress who propose or don't remove unconstitutional laws! The people may have their usurped rights restored.  -- Joe, Rochester, MI
I am not quite sure how to rate this. Personally I am anti-violence / pro-peace.  -- Mike, Norwalk
I'm with Mike on pro-peace, BUT. After last nights debates on Fox, it is easy to see who is not a lifer politician. Dr. Carson. Trump on the other hand has been a self representative of big business for a long time. A hard liner knowing the cost of mistakes in international business. Morally slipping and sliding from side to side. I am a proponent of " Walk softly and carry a Big stick " Detail oriented with high quality standards was my edge in competing with a fixed ceiling of ft price, concerning contracting. From a militarily defensive stand point, treason is never tolerated within the ranks of business or good governing. Whether family, business or government. There is a time and season for every thing under the sun. As king David said, " When I speak they are for war " He sought that which good is. Non-intervention was and has been sound policy concerning other nations and their internal and external affairs. Tariffs in place, usury applied to strangers, this in proper place assure the children of the nation remaining at Liberty and Freedom. The experiment of democratic process with our Republic would eventually become corrupt, as with monarchies and the passing of the ( Eugenes, generous, more noble king, also. history has shown this to be so. Ezra 6:11 gives a good example of what should be done to those that would alter or try to corrupt. A swing set built from the timber of their own house, and there be hung.  -- Ronw13, Yachats Or      1
The US Coinage Act of 1792 provides for the death penalty for the debasement or the embezzlement of the nation's real currency, and is still applicable today. So technically, the people who exchanged our gold for fiat paper currency have in a sense completely debased the currency and definitely have embezzled through fraud the nation's currency. Mike, the threat of death by law is hardly a scarecrow -- it is the fear of assassination (physical, political, economic, etc.) that keep politicians in line (and it ain't the People they are afraid of...).  -- E Archer, NYC      3
Lord Acton was right, The fight comes down to " We the People " and the banks !!  -- Ronw13, Yachats Or
I'm still not sure how to rate this, tempering my thoughts on the subject with an understanding of justice — as concerns capital punishment for certain crimes still looms a corporeal necessity. The originating concept of individual sovereigns with mere servants to enhance inalienable rights and liberty at "the laws of nature and of nature's God" (Declaration of Independence) was almost immediately lost when there was not conceptual linguistics to define the concept to the minds of men. History, mind sets of rulers being of a superior caste, mental pictures of such terms as "government", power and greed of conspiring men, We The People being accustom to tyranny obedience and the government focusing force towards the corporeal person instead of a jurisprudence solely concerning the law (rights, liberty, etc. — all being there equal) has always plagued man's ability to implement rights and liberty at natural law. As small a body politic as possible to fulfill the administration of rights, liberty and justice is only a beginning façade to a required system emanating from liberty with in the hearts of the individual sovereigns. The current theatrics and implementation of extremely unconstitutional tyranny concerning a second presidential impeachment does support the here meme's concept of capital punishment for the political despots but, the GIANT question — how to administer such justice at law? – has still not been addressed.  -- Mike, Norwalk
The human purpose is abandoned in this whole scenario. The thriving community, not at all described in this quote, desires to become continual cohesive and to grow together in a life promoting/preserving process . The members of a community spend much of their time trying to understand the individual and community needs correlate, so there really is need for a chief administrator. The integrated relationship of individual and community is the guide and fuel for the life promotion process and purpose.  -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown      1
Sillik, being the self confessed god that you are, please enlighten us as to your perspective concerning the human purpose, what is the premiere life promoting / preserving process, the life's fuel that promotes purpose and who would be your sub-god that administers correlated needs. Socialism challenges individual sovereignty, inalienable rights and liberty at nature's law. Socialism, through its many denominations, creates censorship, illogical dialogue, pain, suffering, poverty, anger, violence, death, war and all else that is contrary to the nobility of man.  -- Mike, Norwalk

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