Inspired by another essay that 
jordan179 indexed -- this one.
In which he observes of Powerhouses -- really, really, really powerful superhumans, a la Superman
Well, given the usual slew of superpowers that such beings have -- they don't usually include mind control. Or massive multitasking. It would be kinda tricky. To steal an observation from Thomas Sowell: in both Imperial Rome and the antebellum South, a slave-owner would suffer little if anything for killing a slave, and yet despite the extent of this power, slaves in both eras were sometimes paid to do work.
It was the delusion of Communism, too, that people could somehow be made to work. Assuming that the Powerhouse had needs, there is the little matter of how he could prevent malingering, laziness, theft. True, he could blast the slothful to dust, but that wouldn't get their jobs done.
Could be elided, fictionally. In fact, in most fictional kingdoms, it is elided -- as the king is, so is the kingdom. Like many conventions, it helps move the story along without distractions.
But it would be more realistic to have a character he describes as a Mentalist do it. Or perhaps a Gadgeteer, who could make lots and lots of any given gadget to coerce people into doing as he wants.
jordan179 indexed -- this one.In which he observes of Powerhouses -- really, really, really powerful superhumans, a la Superman
All this assumes that the Powerhouse is an ethical being. If he is ruthless and amoral, of course, he simply takes over. There is nothing that you can do to stop him, unless you have other Powerhouses or really good gadgeteers.
Well, given the usual slew of superpowers that such beings have -- they don't usually include mind control. Or massive multitasking. It would be kinda tricky. To steal an observation from Thomas Sowell: in both Imperial Rome and the antebellum South, a slave-owner would suffer little if anything for killing a slave, and yet despite the extent of this power, slaves in both eras were sometimes paid to do work.
It was the delusion of Communism, too, that people could somehow be made to work. Assuming that the Powerhouse had needs, there is the little matter of how he could prevent malingering, laziness, theft. True, he could blast the slothful to dust, but that wouldn't get their jobs done.
Could be elided, fictionally. In fact, in most fictional kingdoms, it is elided -- as the king is, so is the kingdom. Like many conventions, it helps move the story along without distractions.
But it would be more realistic to have a character he describes as a Mentalist do it. Or perhaps a Gadgeteer, who could make lots and lots of any given gadget to coerce people into doing as he wants.
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Comments
Most of the most successful monsters in history were *beloved* of their people.
How many folks are killed doing really dumb stuff?
To be fair, the situations where "one person changes everything" usually have a massive number of support folks who just aren't involved in the final step. I figure that's why dictators hate private speech.
It's the same reason that all the brutal dictators are "socialist". Because everyone that has read their Machiavelli knows that you can get more bad things done as the good guy than you can as the bad.
(Most successful villainous "take over the world" ploys show the villain rather unhappy actually ruling the world. Sometimes he even limits his resistance to the Resistance because he was happier trying to conquer the world.)
If Superman WAS real, he'd have a list of accusations of being exactly what you point would be the smart way of being powerful leveled against him constantly.
Anyway, cutting a deal is not taking over. At most, it is introducing yourself into the current power structure.
Lower level but still superhuman metas would be very good footsoldiers, especially if someone's bright enough to have figureheads.
North Korea is certainly having its problems in generation three.