“The defect weak republics can have is to be indecisive, so that all their decisions are taken out of necessity, and if any good comes to them, it is through force of circumstances rather than their own prudence.”
- Machiavelli [Discourses, I.38]
It seems like just a few months ago I was writing about the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government. That is because, indeed, it was just a few months ago. After winning a contentious leadership race, Liz Truss, a previously obscure, dreadfully uninteresting, woman became Britain’s Prime Minister in early September. This made her the last Prime Minister to meet with Queen Elizabeth, perhaps her only legacy besides brevity. Truss’s administration was a disaster from the start. It rapidly became apparent that she had no mandate to rule and lacked the competence to build one. Everyone knew she would not last …
