Game of Thrones answered this question in the first five minutes of the first episode, and almost everyone forgot.
The series opens with three rangers beyond the Wall. The White Walkers butcher two of them and deliberately let the third go. Will rides south, tells everyone what he saw, and gets beheaded by Ned Stark for desertion. That is the show's opening act.
A season and a half later, they do the exact same thing to Sam. A Walker on horseback looks directly at him, screeches, and moves the army along.
This is a real military doctrine, older than the books. Genghis Khan's armies deliberately released survivors from cities that resisted. The refugees ran ahead spreading stories of what they saw, and the next city surrendered without a siege. Fear traveled faster than the horde and cost nothing to feed.
For the Walkers the economics are even better. Every man who flees south eventually dies somewhere, and every death is a future recruit. Killing Sam gains one corpse now. Sparing him spreads panic through the entire Night's Watch, and they collect the body later regardless.
An army that raises the dead loses nothing by letting you run. You're inventory either way.
The darkest part is what the living did with their messenger. The first man the Walkers ever spared to deliver a warning was executed for delivering it, by the most honorable man in Westeros.
Been seeing his video. All I know is I'll win in a fight against him every day (because no way I'm not shooting him).
Who has strength to be fighting someone who's head tapping?
Plato was right about democracy
And the West doesn't want to learn the lesson
In The Republic, Plato laid out his political theory. He argued that the best form of government wasn't democracy at all... it was aristocracy
Not aristocracy in the sense of inherited titles and lazy nobles living off their ancestors
But rule by the most capable. The philosopher-kings. People who actually knew what they were doing and cared about the outcome
Plato saw democracy as inherently unstable. It eventually devolves into demagoguery, then tyranny. The masses vote for whoever promises them the most, not whoever is best equipped to lead
Sounds familiar? That's exactly what we're seeing right now
Now look at El Salvador 🇸🇻
Bukele took over a country that was literally the murder capital of the world. Gang violence everywhere. People couldn't walk down the street without fear
Democratic institutions had failed for decades. Corruption, incompetence, the same political families rotating power... basically what Plato predicted
What did Bukele do?
He ignored the "proper channels" and got shit done
- Arrested gang members en masse
- Built the largest prison in the Americas
- Didn't ask permission from international bodies or worry about what the UN thought
And the results speak for themselves
El Salvador went from one of the most dangerous countries on Earth to safer than most US cities. Tourism is booming. Investment is flowing in. People can actually live their lives
The population loves him. His approval ratings are through the roof
That's what happens when you have competent leadership that prioritizes results over process
Meanwhile in the West...
We get career politicians who've never built anything in their lives, making decisions based on focus groups and donor interests
Nothing gets done. Infrastructure crumbles. Crime rises. But hey, at least we followed the proper democratic procedures
Plato called this exact outcome 2,400 years ago
I'm not saying democracy has no value. But maybe the obsession with it as the only legitimate form of government makes zero sense
Sometimes you need a leader who can actually execute. Who puts the population's wellbeing above political theater
The West could learn something from El Salvador
But they won't. Because admitting that would mean questioning our entire narrative