Yet the idea underpinning it is sound. It’s to separate the office from the individual. If you attach reverence to the role, not the person, you make it easier to change the person and avoid dictatorship.
It doesn’t read that way to me - I see it far more as “you have won at life, you are better than other humans”, exactly the kind of thing narcissists crave.
Not if the alternative is that people begin to see the role and the person as the same thing. That’s the dream of every would-be dictator. A certain chancellor of Germany knew this very well in 1934 when he abolished the titles of Chancellor and President and made the army swear its oath to him personally.
This is just standard political theory: to protect democracy, respect its institutions. Absolutely does make sense to me.
Yet the idea underpinning it is sound. It’s to separate the office from the individual. If you attach reverence to the role, not the person, you make it easier to change the person and avoid dictatorship.
It doesn’t read that way to me - I see it far more as “you have won at life, you are better than other humans”, exactly the kind of thing narcissists crave.
Not if the alternative is that people begin to see the role and the person as the same thing. That’s the dream of every would-be dictator. A certain chancellor of Germany knew this very well in 1934 when he abolished the titles of Chancellor and President and made the army swear its oath to him personally.
This is just standard political theory: to protect democracy, respect its institutions. Absolutely does make sense to me.