The Inheritance Problem

Here's the thing about centralized power: it's a coin flip on repeat.

You get a benevolent king. Smart, capable, makes good decisions. The system works because one person at the top is exceptional. But then what?

They have to pass it on. And their successor has to be just as good. And their successor. And theirs.

It's like betting on heads twenty times in a row. Eventually, you get tails. Eventually, you get the bad king. The incompetent son. The corrupt nephew. The well-meaning fool.

And when that happens? The whole system breaks. Because you built everything around one person being exceptional.

Singapore? They had Lee Kuan Yew. Brilliant. But now they're betting the country on finding another one. Forever.

This is why top-down control fails. Not because it can't work, it absolutely can, with the right person. But because it requires the right person. Every single time.

What you want instead is an anti-fragile system. Something that gets stronger when stressed. Something that doesn't need perfect leaders because it doesn't depend on leaders being perfect.

Decentralization isn't just about freedom. It's about not betting your entire future on coin flips.