inequality is vastly greater. But median living conditions are exponentially greater.
If Mr T could literally order anyone murdered at will with absolute impunity, you might have a case. As of today, he’s having legal difficulties flying people out of the country. A Ramses II does not exist, and thankfully cannot exist, in today’s world.
Just like the Cambrian explosion only happened once, and could only happen once, so did this transition.
It was an awakening of the people that is difficult to imagine today: everything you’ve been told, everything your parents and grandparents have told you, might be flat-out wrong. You’ve never known any other system. You owe your life to the state, so you’re told, to bring glory to the gods. But life sucks a lot lately, and you’re not buying the party line any more. Your neighbors are grumbling too.
It was the first world-scale transition of state order, and it happened because the elites had amassed so much absolute power they’d been corrupted absolutely.
Not even totalitarian dictators of the modern era have had the kind of power these royals had.
And make no mistake, Trump and Erdogan want this power for themselves.
Even (gasp!) Putler's Russia has laws and police, I've heard.
"protect power" is always in there, but in modern democratic style states there are some extra details that greatly limit the abuse of said power.
The Architect had to tell Neo, that we'd been through this Seven times already.
Think yourself Neo?