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RolfAndreassen comments on Orwell and fictional evidence for dictatorship stability - Less Wrong Discussion

16 Post author: Stuart_Armstrong 24 May 2013 12:19PM

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Comment author: RolfAndreassen 26 May 2013 11:14:21AM 4 points [-]

Yes, I was only responding to the question about the difference - I wasn't making any claims about the stability. It is not really clear that monarchies last all that long; if you look at England, they tend to get a new dynasty every two hundred years, or whatever, usually after a civil war. It's not obvious that you want to consider this a continuation of the monarchy; you might just as well consider it a new one.

Comment author: Stuart_Armstrong 27 May 2013 04:49:20PM 2 points [-]

Few dictatorships last that long.

Comment author: J_Taylor 01 June 2013 02:44:09AM 0 points [-]

Could you please name some that did?

Comment author: Douglas_Knight 12 June 2013 10:07:25PM 0 points [-]

The Roman Empire should probably be classified as a dictatorship, but it didn't have 200 years without succession violence. The "Five Good Empires" period lasted 100 years, though.

Maybe the Vatican should count as a dictatorship. It has had succession violence, but probably less often than England. But maybe it is too decentralized to count.

Comment author: Stuart_Armstrong 01 June 2013 08:33:37AM 0 points [-]

Can't think of any, in fact (which is my point). However, there may be one or two that don't spring to mind.