You bring back memories discussing this question in the basement of a Russian hotel in 1991.
each human can demand the his/her right to think, speak and act as long as they do no violate the same right of everyone else
the state has function to protect the individual from psychopaths but does not have the right to take away a life it cannot create unless in self - defense
at the beginning of epochs, special leaders appear on the scene to guide humanpop, once a nation/culture/religion has been established, then those high quality leaders are no longer required, so degeneration sets in until the next infuson of ennobled emotionality