I thought about it for days. Turned the problem over in my mind from every angle, using every analytical tool I had.
Deduction mapped out possible strategies Mark might be employing. Instinct searched for warning signs of traps or manipulation. Strategist ran scenarios and counter-scenarios.
Nothing.
Despite all of my skills and jobs, I couldn't find a logical reason why Mark would deliberately tank his approval rating. No strategy that made sense. No hidden benefit to losing public support.
Maybe he really was just crazy. So committed to his ideology about rank-based hierarchy that he'd sacrifice everything to implement it. Arrogance combined with genuine belief in his own vision, blind to the consequences.
It happened. History was full of leaders who destroyed themselves through ideological rigidity.
