Am I free?

[Humility]

An illusion is a lie and nothing more. I'd prefer not to believe in those things.

And then you are left with nothing. You don't have to believe, merely accept. An illusion is more then nothing, so in a way it is real as far as itself.

In addition, I do enjoy slightly authoritarian forms of government. For example, I admire the political tradition of Bonapartism and I am fascinated with the Orleanist regime of King Louis-Philippe [The July Monarchy of 1830-1848 CE]. My favorite form of government is a principate which is a combination of a monarchy and an oligarchy. For a principate, I take the Roman Principate [27 BCE-235 CE] as the prime example of a prosperous and culturally effervescent age.

And it is an equally prime example of its failures. With periods of activity tending to one extreme or another and periods of general laziness tending to rock more gently.


Though somewhat better then a pure monarchy or oligarchy. Though the power tended to be seated more with the senate then the Emperor until it reversed.