You're leaving out the cost of getting caught with risk factored in.
Also, if targeting small individuals, it's rarely one individual that's the issue, but a whole group. When Stalin or Hitler started systematically exterminating millions of people, it was essentially done algorithmically. The costs became very low for them to target whole groups of people.
I suspect that once you have the power of life or death over individuals, you automatically hold such power over large groups. Because you need a corrupt structure and once the structure is corrupt to that extent there is no clear line between 1 person and 1 million persons.
Also I suspect only one or a handful of individuals can have such power because otherwise such crimes can be used as a bait and trap by political opponents. Without absolute power, the risk of getting caught and prosecuted always exists.
Also, if targeting small individuals, it's rarely one individual that's the issue, but a whole group. When Stalin or Hitler started systematically exterminating millions of people, it was essentially done algorithmically. The costs became very low for them to target whole groups of people.
I suspect that once you have the power of life or death over individuals, you automatically hold such power over large groups. Because you need a corrupt structure and once the structure is corrupt to that extent there is no clear line between 1 person and 1 million persons.
Also I suspect only one or a handful of individuals can have such power because otherwise such crimes can be used as a bait and trap by political opponents. Without absolute power, the risk of getting caught and prosecuted always exists.