Originality and the Long Conversation

A few days ago I was thinking, not for the first time, that politicians like Trump, Kim Jong Un, and Putin appear to have little interest in representing their people. They seem to be in politics primarily for the betterment of their brand, belly, and bank account. From the perspective of those being governed, the best leaders are probably those who do not want to be leaders: reluctant rulers who do the job to the best of their ability and happily step aside when democracy decides. Eager leaders are more likely to crave power -- and more hesitant to relinquish it. Because we live so late in humanity’s timeline, many thoughts that feel original have probably been thought before. I am very aware of this, so out of curiosity I looked into who else had expressed a similar idea. Plato, Cincinnatus, Douglas Adams, and Frank Herbert all expressed versions of the same idea: that people eager to wield power are often the least suited to it. Herbert put it this way: All governments suffer a…