Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I Love the Monarchy

[center][/center]
[b][center]
BECOMING A ROYALIST [/center][/b]

If you lean conservative (particularly if you are a woman) then the Netflix series [i]The Crown[/i] will turn you into a full-fledged Royalist. At the end of the first season my friend [b]Rachel Lu[/b] did a review called :[i] “The Crown: A Celebration of Traditionalism”[/i] [c=#BF0000]http://bit.ly/2jZDLs0[/c]: Here's an excerpt:

“Now that I’ve watched the first season, I need to confess my dark secret. I have monarch envy. It wasn’t always so. I was never particularly drawn to the celebrity cult of the Royals. I’ve changed my mind. I want royalty. It’s rather a piteous plight for an American.....

Clearly, monarchy is no longer a major political force in the developed world. Britain still has a royal family, but today they are primarily figureheads....We Americans, with our pragmatic Everyman ideals, tend to see the royal family as (at best) a walking museum piece, or (at worst) a cultural affectation.... Perhaps we are missing something.[i] The Crown[/i] gives us the hard sell on that possibility....

The monarchy may not be politically powerful anymore, but the crown is still heavy, both literally and figuratively....[b]Tradition is weighty, but someone has to try to carry that weight. Heavy is the head that bears the crown....[/b][emphasis added]

Again and again, [i]The Crown[/i] reminds us that unlike elected officials (who are answerable first and foremost to the people), a monarch is answerable only to God. In the United States, we don’t have any politicians like that. Every member of our government is answerable to a merely human “boss,” whether that is a particular person or the voting public. We tend to be proud of our “founded on an idea” non-monarchical government. Maybe it would be nice, though, to have a public official somewhere who felt more directly answerable to God?.....

My greatest fear for [i]The Crown [/i]is that it can’t endure. It’s hard to imagine the show could stay this good for very long....

I’ll definitely give it a chance, though. With such a great first season, there’s reason to hope. In these benighted times we could all use a little dose of dignity. It’s worth indulging some monarch envy to get it. God save the queen!”

If you haven't seen [i]The Crown[/i], go over to Netflix and binge....

You will be a better person for it...a better ordered person.
[center]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWtnJjn6ng0][/center]
Kwek00 · 41-45, M
Founding fathers go 😥
Spinoza goes 😓
Pretty much every thinker that helped found the principles of the USA today goes 😱🤢

I said it before and I say it again: "[b]You don't think things through![/b]".
These shows, are a "romanticization" of real accounts. The idea is to pull you in and keep you watching. But they are not critical, they show you the fluffy stuff. In the 80's, everyone wanted to be Sisi (just look her up). It's a romantic version. A lot of girls always wanted to be a princess, that's why Disney boomed so well. A lot of people want to play GTA, but we don't go out stealing cars and shooting people on the streets.

Are you really... like really!!! advocating bloodline inherent dictatorship now? Like really!!! Because you have seen a romanticised version of a story that has a lot more aspects never comes into the story.

If you go around looking at the old beautiful castles in Europe... just think about where the money and labor came from to produce them. Every castle could have been a number of schools, every value that is crystallized as a castle could have been something to make it better for their people. But instead, they extracted value from the people to build their own empires.

"But, when they were attacked, they could get into the castle for safety.". Yeah, that's true... so that royals could protect their labor power (pretty much there income) and set them free after the siege, so they can labor more, and the Royals could extract more. Royals don't really "work" that hard, they engage in politics, but they pretty much leach of everything that they conquer over.

Another question... do you really want to be a princess? Girls and guys in the royal families were used (yes USED) to marry other people from other royals. Most of their marriages were fixed because this meant they could hold alliances with other nations. So let's revive old monarchies, and we will agree that fixed marriages (the denial of a human being to choose freely on who they marry) is a good thing to keep our wealth and forge a strong alliance.

What if an absolute asshole gets into power? Someone that persecutes his people? Someone that rapes and murders? Someone that taxes the shit out of everyone without giving annything back to the populous? Can you vote him out? No of course you can't, cause it's not a democracy... that's where the entire idea comes from that the population should be able to bear arms. So you can get rid of these kinds of stupidity before they get rid of you. In a democracy, after 4-5-6 years (depending on the system) you can punish them by not voting for the same idiot... in this case, they will just make their children the new rulers when they die. Children that were brought up, with the same values mom and dad have... good luck!!!

The entire idea of democratic enlightened movements was to get rid of this stuff. That everyone could have a chance of getting into power. That everyone can be voted out of power. That people could govern themselves and get away from a dictatorship that was passed on from family member to family member. That wars would not be waged for the good of the monarchy (last war that was closely connected to monarchs? The first world war or just look at Europe in the 19th century) but for the good of the people. In a monarchy, this is not the same thing... people are submissive to the monarch, and (like you said) they only answer to God (if that guy is really up there!?!)

Maybe people that write crap like this, should move to the middle-east. Granted, it's not Christianity, but they have some really strong monarchies over there. These monarchies aren't constitutional like in the west, they are real monarchies. I'm not sure if you want to live as a normal person over there, it's only beneficial for you if you are part of the aristocracy. But they are real conservative too. They believe in blood lineage inherit power, they believe in fixed marriages, and they sure don't want the population to vote them out of the office.

But no worries, wanting to become a bit of dictator for a while... doing what you want, only being kept responsible to someone that is up there... it's something a lot of people would like to do from time to time. Heck, I read Arabian Nights, and sometimes my fantasies take me to this fairy land. Where I rule as a Sultan over my subjects, take the young women (if they want it or not) to be in my harem. I can do what ever I want, and cut off heads whenever I please. People listen to me, just because I was born out of the vulva of a girl taken away from their family by a sultan and created out of the seed of a sultan. Not because I earned anything, not because I was smart, not because I'm educated... just because mom and dad had sex, and I was born in a society where people seem to ador this piece of human stupidity.
SatanBurger · 36-40, F
@Kwek00 I've wanted to start a cult lol 👍
@Kwek00 Hey Tom Paine, your beloved politicians, in their enlightened institutions, have more power than Louis XIV and George III ever dreamed of. And they have waged the wars to match it. But, not even counting their wars -- in the twentieth century they killed more people than had been killed in all the previous centuries combined.
Kwek00 · 41-45, M
Who said I loved them? I have no problem comparing western democracies btw when it comes to death tolls. Humans have do things that are considered "flawed" in the big scheme of things. Since institutions, politicians, governments, ... etc all consists of humans. Mistakes (really terrible mistakes) will be made. Since humans are "flawed", once you start looking at the big picture.

A human being, a person, an individual can be "irrational" especially when emotions take over. We are not computers, we have instincts and strong emotions. We sometimes act with our primitive mind.

And even when we are calm, when our actions can be considered "rational", our decisions are made by the knowledge/data that we have accumulated over time (through experience and accumulation of knowledge). People are rarely truly original, we just have another data set than other people. And with that dataset, we make "rational" decisions for ourselves (not for other people). On a micro scale (for ourselves) we are rational... in the big picture, our "rational" decisions can be seen as being "irrational" (because most people don't have 100 percent of all the knowledge availble to them, because we are only human). So yes... again, humans can be "flawed" in the big scheme of things. I'm not even going to debate the fact that humans are prone to mistake. I agree with that.

But at least in my system... the wrong doers can be punished. In the romantic stuff you are proposing, only "God" can punish the ruler. No one can get rid of them in a "legal" way because the ruler stays there till he's dead. Let's compare the 2 forms of state.

[image deleted]
Here is an image, that shows the 2 forms of state. It's from a lecture by a university professor called "Noor Syafika Ramli". She gives a sociology course in Malaysia. It's the best one to show everyone what the differences between the 2 forms of state are.

* In a traditional monarchy, the people that they reign over, have no way of choosing their own leaders. Their freedom on self-governance is non-excisting. It's submit our revolt (by force and violence). In a democracy, you can vote out people that are a failure to the majority. Note: [i]that "the majority" in a democracy, can become a dictatorship over the minority. This can be a danger towards the minority. But in a monarchy, the 1 ruler has the possibility of not even caring for the majority he/she can oppress all. As long as he/she keeps his army well fed and keeps a strong position, he/she pretty much doesn't have to care about the will of the people.[/i]

* In a traditional monarch, only the bloodline provides the leaders. No matter how dumb, idiotic the person is. The moment he/she gets in power, it's for life! What the population thinks about them is not important. They have no real incentive to take care of their people because they don't need their support (vote). They just need to make sure that if there is a revolution, they are strong enough to beat it down. If you think this is more stable than power politics in a democracy! Then think again! Princess and Princes were killed before they could raise to power. "Game of Thrones" is not to far fetched (no dragons or white walkers, but loads of bloodshed and fucking), look at all the wars and intrigues in England (for example) during "the wars of the roses".

* In western democracies we got representatives that are voted into office. In a monarchy aristocracy rules. Even in England when "voting" became a thing, you got crooked ways of getting into office. The voting system during the monarchy in the 19th century was largely a farce. If you want an example why I make this statement, just look up "who" was allowed to vote. Also look at the famous "rotten boroughs. A lot of these aristocrats became royals because they got their title from... yes, the monarch! So opposition wasn't always found. A system without any opposition is bound to be or become a dictatorship. Opposition keeps people "real", creates checks and balances, it gives alternatives, it provides the room for progress. A room of people that always agree have no incentive to better anything unless they all agree something is wrong. They have one mind, one goal, they are blind to everything that they don't want to see. And again... they have no incentive to do something for the people, cause they can stay at power without their approval.

* No freedom of speech. You can only say what the ruling class wants to hear. There is a reason why monarchies had the biggest powers during the dark ages. If you want a great example, read the story of "Thomas More". Writer of the book "Utopia". Great guy, roman catholic under Henry the VIII. He helped Henry persecute Protestant reformists that followed Luther. Then later when Henry (great guy btw, great ruler, go monarchy) did all his business with his women, More refused to go to one of the marriages. He got persecuted because it was a shame he didn't support Henrie's divorces (because he was a catholic). He died in 1535 a year before Henry reformed the English Catholic tradition to the Anglican church. Oh yeah! before we go on! That's the monarch standing before God right there. He didn't really care about God, she reformed religion. Great stuff Becky! You want more people that were persecuted by aristocracy? Just look up any liberal thinker. From Hobbes to Spinoza... they were all afraid for their lives, because they criticised absolute power by people (usually in the form of monarchs, but they also criticize dictatorship).

* In our western democracies, powers are separated (trias politica). This is an important asset in our political world today. During an absolute monarchy, this didn't exist.
- Law Makers
- Execution
- Judges
... they don't mix in a western democracy. During absolute monarchies, the monarch is judge and executioner. Who wants to live in a system like that today? Or do you believe that all the people in a blood lineage are as smart as Solomon? Lol, the idea in the bible was that Solomon was a wise king. The fact that the Bible makes the distinction saying that he's smart, means that they also had kings that weren't so wise. Do you want to be judged by an asshole? Executed by someone who maybe didn't even want to listen to your argument? Arbitrary judgement might I say because the absolute leader is not bound to the law. They make the law. There doesn't have to be rationality, they just do what they want, and it's okay, cause they are king. Do you really want to live in a system like that?

Our politicians can be held responsible for their actions. They are judged according to the laws of the land. They are bound to the law of the land. If they go beyond their jurisdiction they get fired out of the office. They have to keep to the rules... What do you choose? Dictatorship? Or someone that is bound to laws, laws that are telling them they have to do good to the people. It's also these "laws of the lands" that usually include the protection of minorities. It's the thing that should protect everyone from crooked politicians AND the majority... that and the fact that they need your support for the next election.

Are you talking about the 20th century? Who are the enlightened politicians that kept the bloodiest conflicts? You show them to me Becky! You show them. It's not enough to say that they are there, you just type them out. Proof your point instead of just making a statement that is simply not true!!! Western democracies did wage wars... but they were not responsible for most of the bloodiest conflicts in the 20th century. Not by a long shot.

[b]1st World War[/b] = One of the reasons in Europe that more and more people got the right to vote, and social rights. Was because they went to fight for monarchs and aristocracy. The first world war, was not a battle between western democracies. A lot of people didn't even have voting rights back then. That changed! Because the masses that died in Belgian fields, in French fields, in turkey... all over the battle front. Most of them (specially in western europe) demanded more respect AFTER the bloodshed.

[b]2nd World War[/b] = Germany, Italy, Japan, were not western democracies. The ideology of Fascism (Germany and Italy) were explicitly ANTI-Enlightenment. And Japan? They were ruled by an absolute Emperor. No western democracy there.

Those are the 2 biggest conflicts of the 20th century. In the world where more and more people got votes (like Europe)... there was less bloodshed instead of more. Europe hasn't been so peaceful in a long time. Largely because everyone gets a vote, politicians have to answer to their people and there is trade between the countries. Capitalism kinda helped here, although capitalism has violent tendencies towards countries that don't really belong to the western block... ex-colonies (Africa for instance)... there is a war for resources. But look up western Europes' history, I'm really fortunate that I live in a western democracy AND NOT during the time of the big monarchies.

Just do the reading... I really don't understand that in 2017 we have to debate this stuff with people that grew up in a western democracy. That you haven't got this out of your schooling is just ridiculous. That you can choose for an arbitrary dictatorship instead of the choice of choosing your own leaders, just blows my mind. I usually don't call people names... I dislike it when people start calling names to make their point. BUT in this case, I dare to make the statement that: "[b]You are either a troll, or you are a complete idiot![/b]". I like to listen to everyone's arguments, but this is so idiotic that I literally want to vomit all over my keyboard.

And yes, politicians aren't good. But you can vote them out of office if you don't like them. A Monarch is for life... you stuck with the asshole that was made of the seed of so called "royal blood". They become leaders because their parents had sex. And that's what you are trying to sell us here... a political leader, with absolute power, not because he's smart but because his parents were from a certain stock and they had sex. Great stuff Becky, great stuff... I thought after reading some of your posts you couldn't sink lower, but thanks for proving me wrong I guess. Great stuff.
SW-User
Busy finding a rationale for your reasoning? That will always be tiresome. I'm from Canada, we still respect the monarchy, there's not much reason too other than we once fought off the United States with support from them. That was 1867, times have really changed, and this country proved very open to ideas ...

 
Post Comment