Julius Caesar killed the republic–then perished in its general ruin.
Government makes a mess, then demands more power to clean it up. It seeks perpetual expansion, at the people’s expense. It has always done so.
Y’know, you can operate a government without doing harm; you can even do good. But not if your lust for power becomes a mania, and drowns out everything else. How often have we seen that pattern!
“A republic–if you can keep it,” said Benjamin Franklin.
We are way too close to losing it.