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Matt_Simpson comments on Human values differ as much as values can differ - Less Wrong
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Hmm, Kim Jong Il is apparently a bad example since he's so wealthy. Surely there are dictators who don't have the resources that Kim Jong has (such that they're living in sub-modern conditions), but they still want to hold on to the power and status they hold despite the potential for wealth. right? (again, speculating, no hard evidence in mind)
Just about any nation-size dictator will be able to scratch up enough cash to live like a millionaire. Extort a few dollars from a million destitute inhabitants and you're talking real money. So you have to look at city or tribal scale units, and even then, I think most chieftains are happier to be in power than out of power in a wealthier nation. How many Afghanistani elders are cooperating with the US, and out of enlightened self-interest, knowing that in any modernized industrial society their clans will be hopelessly obsolete? How many out of naked fear of the Taliban or US, and bribes?