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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that A despot who fully disposed of subjects arbitrarily would destroy the productive capacity and loyalty necessary for the regime's own survival.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Fear alone can sustain regimes for generations without productive capacity; subjects produce under coercion even when incentives are destroyed, as in Soviet gulags.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Despots can maintain loyalty through monopolized access to survival goods (food, shelter) rather than predictability, making arbitrariness compatible with regime persistence.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Some of history's longest-lasting despotisms (certain sultanates, dynastic autocracies) combined arbitrary rule with cultural/religious legitimacy that transcended rational calculation.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Economic productivity requires predictable property rights and investment incentives; arbitrary seizure destroys both, reducing tax revenue and regime resources.
      ?

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    • 2.Loyalty among elites and administrators depends on reasonable security; total arbitrariness causes defection, conspiracy, and institutional collapse from within.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Historical despotisms that survived (Ottoman, Chinese imperial) maintained some rule consistency; those with pure arbitrariness (certain warlords) collapsed quickly.
      ?

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