+- noahrevoy -- 3mo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[...]+
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| Most people misunderstand power in government.                                                                       |
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| There are only a few true positions of power. In the U.S., there are roughly 800–1,200 elite rulership positions     |
| that actually make binding decisions over law, enforcement, courts, budgets, and force.                              |
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| The President is only one of them, and over time, not the most powerful.                                             |
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| Roughly 10–15% are elected, 45–55% are appointed, and 35–45% are career or institutional roles (judges, senior       |
| bureaucrats, regulators, military command).                                                                          |
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| This means real power is mostly unelected, durable, and appointment-based.                                           |
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| Elections shape legitimacy and direction, but institutions run the country.                                          |
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| Elections alone do not change a country.                                                                             |
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| Nations rise or fall based on the quality of their institutions, whether they are understood, invested in, defended  |
| from corruption, and capable of attracting competent people willing to take responsibility.                          |
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| If institutions decay, elections become symbolic.                                                                    |
| If institutions are healthy, elections matter.                                                                       |
| Ignore institutional competence long enough, and collapse becomes a question of when, not if.                        |
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