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Notes -
No. I absolutely suck at psychology.
But to pull a 90° on you, I don't think it makes a difference. Governments will overreach. The interesting questions, IMO, are:
The first point may tie into your line of inquiry - there are certainly some types of government overreach that could be pruned with everyone (incl. the government) better off afterwards. Anything that costs a lot and has poor returns.
But I don't think you can make much progress on government reduction in principle. And you absolutely won't have any success if your preferred measures actually hinder the government - those will be rolled back.
The age of the citizen as the sovereign of his democratic republic is, in my view, already over. States have gotten too big, too invasive and too powerful. AI developments will only exacerbate it. And it may be that states or governments will be outdone or replaced by other oeganisations or organisms, but whatever entity comes after will certainly not see individual human liberty as its terminal goal. The best we might do is make a successful sales pitch for free-ish citizens being more useful than quasi-slaves or straight-up human extinction.
We're already not at the top of the food chain. Buerocracies are. Consider yourself a domesticated animal, and pray that your future overlords aren't vegetarian.
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