We continue through Westeros, China, Rome, and talk a bit more about contemporary leaders, their struggles, and the people at their backs that have to make some very hard choices.
More Notes
Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons
How did Varys and Tyrion (and Jorah) deal?
- Note here that both of these guys get the boot–Varys gets the torch–when they decide they are truly going to dissent and try to replace. Any kind of attempt like that: if you fail, the leader purges and consolidates power and the problem gets worse (think Stalin)
King Robert Baratheon
Also pretty unfit to rule. Good fighter, bad ruler. Mostly drunk all the time.
Small Council had to try to run things themselves, weren’t able to influence Bobby B to not waste money on tournaments all the time. Weren’t willing to remove him for stability purposes–secession crises mean war.
MAO AND DENG/ZHOU
Deng Xiaoping, who later went on to rule China in his own right, was one of Mao’s right-hand men.
For example, Mao almost started a war with Russia over a tiny island in a river. Zhou Enlai tried to ameliorate the situation, saying something like, “the Chairman at times fires empty cannons”
Mao was a visionary/revolutionary par excellence, but the Great Leap Forward and Five Year Plan inadvertently killed tens of millions of people. The Cultural Revolution feels like something that came from the Great Idea Fairy and went terribly wrong.
“The failure of the Leap led Mao to turn many responsibilities over to other leaders (Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, etc.) and to withdraw from active decision making.” http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_leaders.htm
But Mao wasn’t always happy with his more pragmatic leaders and used his popular standing to fight back: “ Domestically, he became increasingly wary of his subordinates’ approach to development, fearing that it was fostering deep social and political inequalities. When Liu, Deng, and others seemed to be ignoring his call to “never forget class struggle,” Mao in 1966 initiated the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution,” exploiting discontent among some students (the “Red Guards”) and others. The Cultural Revolution was successful in removing many who opposed his policies but led to serious disorder, forcing Mao to call in the military to restore order in 1967.”
So as much as Mao was a genius he was also a liability. Right-hand men took advantage of his popularity to keep the regime in place while trying to do their actual policy, and as much as possible keep Mao aligned without Mao fighting back too hard.
Deng Xiaoping ultimately created “Communism with Chinese Characteristics,” dismantling communes that Mao had set up to actually grow. Kinda crony capitalism. His words: “”it does not matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches the mouse;”
UNSTABLE VERSIONS: CALIGULA, NERO, COMMODUS – HOW ROME DEALT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula
“Caligula was known for his lavish projects, his sadism and his eccentricity. He once had his army construct a two-mile floating bridge so he could gallop along it on his horse. In another episode he ordered his troops to “plunder the sea” by gathering shells in their helmets. Tall and hairy, Caligula is said to have banned the mention of goats in his presence, but practiced facial contortions to better terrify his subjects. He built a lavish house for his horse Incitatus and attempted to appoint the steed to the high office of consul, though he was assassinated before he could complete the promotion.”
Interestingly he was the first guy to order Seneca to commit suicide.
“Cassius Dio relates a story that Caligula was so offended by Seneca’s oratorical success in the Senate that he ordered him to commit suicide.[17] Seneca only survived because he was seriously ill and Caligula was told that he would soon die anyway.[17] In his writings Seneca has nothing good to say about Caligula and frequently depicts him as a monster.[18] Seneca explains his own survival as down to his patience and his devotion to his friends: “I wanted to avoid the impression that all I could do for loyalty was die.”[19]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero
Note here that Seneca was actually his mentor! So we have a lot of light into this one.
How did Seneca help Nero?
- Seneca composed Nero’s accession speeches in which he promised to restore proper legal procedure and authority to the Senate.[23] He also composed the eulogy for Claudius that Nero delivered at the funeral
- In 55 AD, Seneca wrote On Clemency following Nero’s murder of Britannicus, perhaps to assure the citizenry that the murder was the end, not the beginning of bloodshed. (PR support)
How did he try to help protect Rome from Nero?
- On Clemency didn’t actually speak truly of Nero–it tried to influence Nero, through a good public depiction of doing good and being flattered for it, into actually doing good
“In AD 41, Seneca was exiled to the island of Corsica under emperor Claudius,[2] but was allowed to return in 49 to become a tutor to Nero. When Nero became emperor in 54, Seneca became his advisor and, together with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, provided competent government for the first five years of Nero’s reign. Seneca’s influence over Nero declined with time, and in 65 Seneca was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, in which he was likely to have been innocent.”
“Jürgen Malitz writes that ancient sources do not provide any clear evidence to evaluate the extent of Nero’s personal involvement in politics during the first years of his reign. He describes the policies that are explicitly attributed to Nero as “well-meant but incompetent notions” like Nero’s failed initiative to abolish taxes in 58 ad. Scholars generally credit Nero’s advisors Burrus and Seneca with the administrative successes of these years. Malitz writes that in later years, Nero panicked when he had to make decisions on his own during times of crisis.”
Historian Miriam T. Griffins suggests that Nero’s decline began as early as 55 ad with the murder of his stepbrother Britannicus, but also notes that “Nero lost all sense of right and wrong and listened to flattery with total credulity” after Agrippina’s death
Obviously Nero went totally mad, got remarried to a slave where he dressed as a bride (controversial for a man even now, much less an emperor of Rome), ran around in stage costumes, and allegedly sang during the great fire of Rome, which contemporaries accused him of starting. (Though he may not have; he might have actually responded to it quite well)
-Lost both of his key advisers and ultimately lost control
-Ultimately lost control of the provinces, rebellion against taxes
-Galba puts it down but becomes popular and the provinces want him to be emperor
-Senate actually wanted to work with Nero to keep him in power and form a compromise because he was the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (there’s that legitimacy thing)
-He takes his own life thinking Senate wants to kill him
Note that after Nero died it was the bloody Year of the Four Emperors–that’s why the elites prop up bad leaders
In pre-bureaucratic (pre-Diocletian really) Rome it seems it was imperative that people follow the Imperator’s orders. Everything flowed through the emperor. Even though they had no constitutional power, which was weird.
Generally, how can we look at the situation in the US
- Trump has his ups-and-downs but generally has it together and the Republicans are willing to roll with the punches
- Trump is unstable/unhinged but powerful, especially within the party, and Republicans just have to cater to him
- He is powerful and not smart, Republicans try to manipulate him to get what they want and sometimes succeed
- Trump is a bit of a revolutionary genius–very uncomfortable, but Republicans are just along for the ride
- Some combination
It’s also very partisan in the US. It’s likely that there is a personal political gain element in each party–as long as Trump is very popular among GOP and very unpopular among DNC they will ultimately hold their ground and say the other side is crazy. Of course this is a self-fulfilling prophecy in a lot of ways.
So we have a leader that one side thinks is totally unfit but it’s a case where party loyalty and polarization are such big factors that we muddy the waters.
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