Survival of the Richest

So, I read this article about what the Ultra-rich want.  Here is my solution. It would work, but it's not a world in which you'd want to live in.

You must turn your compound into your own kingdom from the start, because the only form of practicable government that ensures the survival of its leader is despotism. Everyone who has anything, tangible or intangible, must depend on you for everything. Everything must be in jeopardy if your rule ends, including individuals' pride and self worth.  A King you will become if not a cult leader. Having some charisma will help, but it's not essential.

The following are a few things that will need to happen.

1. Make sure they have families.

 Evey soldier/armed guard must have a family which must include children. It is of the utmost importance that they are protecting something important to them other then you. This has to be there in the beginning so that your new culture may take root. 

2. Have their sons and daughters live close to you.

You need those children to live in close proximity to you so that they may be punished swiftly if not terminated for the sins of their soldier/armed guard parent. Let the parents visit their children as often as their duties permit. You will treat the children of the armed guard with respect and dignity like the Kings and Queens of old treated their noble's children at court with the royals.

Why do you think the King required the Nobles of the land to send their offspring to court? If the Nobles went against the King in any way then off with their heads.

3. Make sure to take care of their children.

If you do not take care of the armed guards families then you will eventually have an uprising. When people have nothing to lose then they are capable of anything. You should be a benevolent King.


4. Make sure you set up rules for conduct including nonsense ones.

You must make rules/laws for everyday conduct. There needs to be nonsense ones that has no logical reasoning whatsoever in order to instill a sense of mystery, but most importantly they need to know that your rule must be followed whether understood or not from the beginning.  An example: No one except the you may walk on his/her left side of a path.

5. Punish anyone severely for offending the smallest infractions.

In the beginning you must be harsh to infractions because you are setting up the whole model. When your subjects see that you mean what you say, they will follow or suffer that which you have to offer.

6. Reward those who go above and beyond their duty.

Like a King you must recognize those who are loyal by distinguishing them from the rest. That being said, you must instill honor and duty to you. Make their existence depend upon your command alone.

7. Have people take responsibility for different sectors.

You cannot be everywhere all the time, so you need people to oversee all the daily things that need to happen in order to make it to the next day. These people need to be your upperclass/nobles. Always have more than one person in charge of a sector but make sure they don't really like each other. They only need to work for the benefit of the new Kingdom not be best friends.

8. Have new formal holidays.

You need to invent new holidays and keep some of the old ones. This needs to happen to help people understand it ain't Kansas no more, Dorthy. It will also give the people regularly scheduled fun time from the dreariness of the new life.

9. Start your own currency.

The old money system will be gone but you still need a system in place to run your little end of the world paradise. You will call it anything you want but essentially it will be the new form of currency. There will be a black market, so you need to secretly start the black market yourself or else you will be unable to control it. You need to start at least two "outlaws" so that no one of them will abuse their position. You must make it clear to the new outlaws who is actually in charge but give them their vices.

10. Make sure you have other people who are not soldiers/armed guard on your compound.

People need people if for nothing else than to produce healthy offspring. You need a plebeian/lower class individuals for others to be better than. This way there is something of a social ladder to climb. They don't need education but it would be nice if everybody can read the laws.

The answer above was from a few minutes of thought after I read the problem to be solved. I did not mention so many different things because this is a quick cursory answer to help the gears get going. Feel free to ask questions in the comment area.

If this sounds awful, that's because it is. This answer does not mean I think it should be done, but rather to demonstrate just how ugly the original question was. A more interesting question would be how to set up a community that everyone wants to continue, even if it isn't specifically set up to ensure the leader's survival.

Pat