“dictators die… and so long as men die liberty will never perish…”
This is an abbreviated quote from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” which stuck with me ever since the clip was played for me in middle school. Political but prescient, these words describe a natural limiter on any man’s ambitions. A check and balance that has guaranteed the downfall of many a dark figure, from Genghis Khan to Stalin.
But, and here it is, technology advances.
Advances in medicine, genetics and nano technology may soon combine to make death no longer inevitable. By solving one problem we move up the chain to face new ones. So even though we still die today, we may, regardless, want to start thinking about what happens when dictators do not, in fact, die.
Men and women with unchecked ambition may evolve into what I call “Forever Leaders”. They would persist without the problem of succession, ever consolidating power in their hands past any inside challenge. We can each postulate a few such individuals today that would-so evolve if radical life extension were to be invented tomorrow.
Perhaps the solution is simply the “term limit”, but only one check is too fragile. I wonder what other mechanisms may help balance the systems that govern our societies. For that I hope to start a small discussion.
Forever Leaders
“dictators die… and so long as men die liberty will never perish…”
This is an abbreviated quote from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” which stuck with me ever since the clip was played for me in middle school. Political but prescient, these words describe a natural limiter on any man’s ambitions. A check and balance that has guaranteed the downfall of many a dark figure, from Genghis Khan to Stalin.
But, and here it is, technology advances.
Advances in medicine, genetics and nano technology may soon combine to make death no longer inevitable. By solving one problem we move up the chain to face new ones. So even though we still die today, we may, regardless, want to start thinking about what happens when dictators do not, in fact, die.
Men and women with unchecked ambition may evolve into what I call “Forever Leaders”. They would persist without the problem of succession, ever consolidating power in their hands past any inside challenge. We can each postulate a few such individuals today that would-so evolve if radical life extension were to be invented tomorrow.
Perhaps the solution is simply the “term limit”, but only one check is too fragile. I wonder what other mechanisms may help balance the systems that govern our societies. For that I hope to start a small discussion.