This reminds me of the fact that humans have an evolved tendency for pure time preference, and indeed hyperbolic time preference, rather than accurate modeling of future rewards.
“—at least one king somewhere who took power by lies and assassination, and then ruled wisely and well—but I can’t actually name a case off the top of my head.”
If ruling wisely and well means increased GDP or quality of life (e.g. attracting and accepting immigrants), we might nominate Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Chile’s Pinochet, Gorbachev, Ian Smith, Deng Xiaoping, etc.
Also, every major democratic political leader lies abundantly to obtain office, as it’s a necessity to actually persuade the voters. So Bill Clinton, Jean Chretien, Winston Churchill should qualify for at least half of your list of villainy.
This reminds me of the fact that humans have an evolved tendency for pure time preference, and indeed hyperbolic time preference, rather than accurate modeling of future rewards.
“—at least one king somewhere who took power by lies and assassination, and then ruled wisely and well—but I can’t actually name a case off the top of my head.” If ruling wisely and well means increased GDP or quality of life (e.g. attracting and accepting immigrants), we might nominate Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Chile’s Pinochet, Gorbachev, Ian Smith, Deng Xiaoping, etc.
Also, every major democratic political leader lies abundantly to obtain office, as it’s a necessity to actually persuade the voters. So Bill Clinton, Jean Chretien, Winston Churchill should qualify for at least half of your list of villainy.