Mencius Moldbug points out that the fish in the sea — he’s not really talking about fish, by the way — would be better off owned by a single King of the Fishermen than by no one in particular — but all the fishermen agree that fragmentation of authority is good:
Consider the incentives of the fishermen in an ocean under fractured authority. They are not friends. Each strives to strip the sea before his neighbor arrives. But there is one principle they can agree on: that fragmentation of authority is good.Why? Because any consolidation of authority must involve stripping at least one player of the power to fish. Any consensus that this is undesirable is a basis for cooperation among all, and is likely to achieve social popularity, regardless of truth. Hominids have been living in tribal societies for the better part of ten million years. They are very good at cooperation games.
For example: if political power is split between Commons, Lords, and Crown, it is easy to construct a settlement in which each of Commons, Lords, and Crown acknowledges the division of authority and promises not to infringe it. While each party will of course struggle to evade this settlement and gain absolute power — note that we don’t hear much from the Lords or the Crown these days — the doctrine of benign fragmentation is one all can endorse, even though it is the converse of truth.
Acton was exactly wrong: it is not absolute, but partial power that corrupts. More precisely, it is partial authority not formally matched with partial responsibility.