Jaki rząd jest najlepszy? Ten, który uczy nas rządzić samym sobą.

[jovimcg]

English Translation

Which government is the best? The one who teaches us to rule ourselves.

does “samym” here mean something like “by ourselves”? Everytime I see any form of “sam” alongside any form of “sobie” I always get a bit confused. Would this sentence be ok without using samym? Or its use is detrimental here?

[alukasiak]

“Samym” is here for emphasis, and it is often used with “sobą” in contexts like this one. It is not strictly required though.