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Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by kijin on Saturday January 03, 2026 @11:05AM (#46478193)
Equating a person with the government or the nation is a common trait among autocrats. L'État, c'est moi.
Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by lo_zamoyski on Saturday January 03, 2026 @11:31AM (#46478508)
Not quite...

Medieval kings were considered the embodiment of the government, but that didn't make them autocratic. Indeed, they were not only bound by a thicket of obligations and customs, but authority itself is only legitimate when it is just, a view that is traditional; it is modern legal positivism that roots authority in fiat, making it inherently tyrannical.

Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by danans on Saturday January 03, 2026 @12:28PM (#46479225)
> Indeed, they were not only bound by a thicket of obligations and customs, but authority itself is only legitimate when it is just, a view that is traditional;

Ultimately they were bound not by tradition, but by the reality that they may lose their heads, often at the hands of a competing relative, but also at the hands of starving subjects.