Every Ruler Makes the Same Mistake When They Die
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it as a 101-level crash course on the keys to power, and says it changed how some viewers see political discourse.
What it is
CGP Grey, adapting The Dictator's Handbook, explains how rulers keep power and why succession causes trouble when they die. It is the sequel to his video on the rules for rulers.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2017 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec jiggawatts · 2020-03 · on “Ask HN: What are some deep, mentality changing books?”
For me, several books by Greg Egan fall into this category. Permutation City, Diaspora, Quarantine, and Schild's Ladder have all... changed me. I was a different person before and after I had read those books, and now I categorise all works of fiction into those that forever alter my way of thinking and those that do not. [LINK] Which reminds me, I should finish: [LINK] The Culture series by Iain Banks, especially Inversions also satisfy this requirement, as does The City at the End of Time by Greg Bear: [LINK] -- which is a difficult to consume masterpiece that nonetheless left me permanently horrified in the way that H. P. Lovecraft tried but failed. For the non-fiction category the CGP Gr
Recommends ghoward · 2021-09 · on “Russia asks Google to clamp down on Navalny′s ‘Smart Voting′”
To learn some of the answers to those questions, may I suggest you start with a particular YouTube video [1] (and its sequel [2]) and the book that inspired them [3]? [1]: [LINK] [2]: [this video] [3]: [LINK]
Recommends derefr · 2023-04 · on “Software firms across US facing tax bills that threaten startup survival”
The 101-level crash-course on this is CGP Grey's video Death & Dynasties : [this video] . In est, your "social connections" — Grey's "keys to power" — value stability of their own powerful positions in your government (or noble house, or family-run utility company/industry monopoly, or whatever other forms lumps of power can take.) The key-holders' own political power exists regardless, but whether it translates to active ability to affect change right this moment depends on favor of the current ruler. Who better to place their bets on, then, as a replacement for a ruler who will continue to favor them — a ruler who will ensure the stability of the previous ruler's power base — than someone the p