Good throw of the dice: Octavian Bad role of the dice: Kaiser Wilhelm II - ThreadSky

sodrock.bsky.social • 14 days ago

Good throw of the dice: Octavian

Bad role of the dice: Kaiser Wilhelm II

The majority of “high agency” people historically had inherited power and wealth, and how smart they were was a random throw of the dice.

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sodrock.bsky.social•14 days ago

@deadcarl.bsky.social has a great article on this phenomena

sodrock.bsky.social•14 days ago

@deadcarl.bsky.social your time is now!

davidjorgonson.bsky.social•14 days ago

It's the defective horseshoe nail, the one that *breaks*, that makes a difference

christianh.bsky.social•14 days ago

the four consecutive Brandenburg/Prussian high rolls from the great elector onwards really stacked the deck against later Hohenzollern mediocrities tbh

jacobreaded.bsky.social•14 days ago

Real Paradox heads know that we all must kneel before RNGesus in the end.

bendeebendee.bsky.social•14 days ago

I mean, Octavian had a charming habit of massacring people so when that’s the “good” side of the coin, I think I’ll pass

roninmacbeth.bsky.social•14 days ago

Good as in "competent."

whiskeynachos.bsky.social•14 days ago

Absolute worst throw: Tsar Nicholas II.

stephenbuggy.bsky.social•14 days ago

This or Charles I of England.

roninmacbeth.bsky.social•14 days ago

Nah, at least by the end some people were willing to fight for Charles. By the end basically no one was fighting for Nicky. He alienated fucking everyone.

stephenbuggy.bsky.social•14 days ago

My thing is that even a good Tsar would've struggled with WWI, but the English civil war and especially the regicide were completely avoidable with a minimally competent King.

roninmacbeth.bsky.social•14 days ago

I think it's more than struggling with World War 1, but he also exacerbated the situation far more than he needed to. Personally assuming command of the war, keeping Rasputin around, going back on the October Manifesto, refusing to let the Duma help run the country...

roninmacbeth.bsky.social•14 days ago

I don't know if the Russian Empire would have survived the 20th century. Probably not. But Nicholas accelerated its collapse by alienating literally everyone in his country. Not even members of his own family were willing to fight for him by the end!

stephenbuggy.bsky.social•14 days ago

Total idiotic and selfish decision maker. I'm just questioning whether he's the worst.

waluigiyaoi.bsky.social•14 days ago

When you’re riding off the high of Charlemagne and your new king is bald chuck

johngriffiths.bsky.social•14 days ago

One of the biggest problems in the world is successful people attributing their good fortune to their own inherent qualities, and assuming those less successful are lacking in those qualities.

smullins3000.bsky.social•14 days ago

Willy & Nicky, the "high IQ, high agency" pair who personally destroyed an entire world order.

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