Gadol > hard to tell which tyrants are acting “rationally’
Gemora mentions power as one of the avoda zara types. I can understand dictators from olden times – first “everyone did that”, second, if you wanted to have a decent life with servants/wine/ladies, you want to be a somebody; and if you are a somebody, you need to concur others before they did same to you. In our times, Kim or Putin could have opened a cyber-security company and become billionaires and have worry-free life without subjugating millions of people. In fact, they live lives of fear worse than a simple unemployed person in America. Not rational.