I mean, think about it. My grandmother was a piece of shit, which caused my mother to be a piece of shit.
So this probably also happen in affluent families. One of those families is gonna be the ruling dynasty. So in the beginning somebody send an army to conquer lands. Then was really strict (aka: abusive) towards his children in order to find the “perfect” hier to the kingdom/empire. Because of the abuse, the heir grows up to be a tyrant. This chain reaction lasted for centuries, which is why our world is just tyranny after tyranny.
Obviously this is not to say it absolves the tyrants of their wrongdoings, but its the explanation.
That and rampant inbreeding.
Wouldn’t be surprised. Especially since the monarchs are used to everybody bending to their will, a prince having a tantrum probably didn’t go to time out.
Dan Carlin had an interesting podcast episode of Hardcore History on this/related subject about the history of child rearing and the unfortunate conditions that were super common prior to the modern day which might interest you.
Don’t forget everyone was also drunk and suffering from lead poisoning
Absolutely!
You’re jumping over points here a lot… Yes children who were raised to be a piece of shit will probably raise their children to be a piece of shit, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the ruling family.
There’s examples of hereditary rule where the ruler is a great and largely fair leader, such as Pedro II and Elizabeth I, as well as the opposite, such as Kim Jong Un and Ferdinand VII, as well as great and tyrannical elected leaders, and great and tyrannical leaders who came to power militarily.
As soon as you say “every,” the answer will be no.
Humanity is too varied and unique. Shitty behaviour can erupt spontaneously at any time.
But unfortunately abuse creates deep insecurity, which creates a drive for power (control), so I think the OP isn’t far off the mark. Benevolent ruling is largely history washing imo, even if some good acts were carried out. The winner writes the history after all.
But your point is broadly fair - in most cases there is great variety in life. The ruling class, however, consists of less than 0.0001% of the global population so lies outside or the majority (figure made up for illustrstive purposes!).