Greg Olear: Down with the Crown!

[Nevilledog]

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Greg Olear
@gregolear
"Charles II's heirless death in 1700 led to the inexplicable War of Spanish Succession, which continued a long tradition of Europeans slaughtering one another to determine which inbred ass should park itself on which plundered throne."

Down with the Crown!
End the monarchy, that obsolete vestige of a less-evolved time.
gregolear.substack.com
3:50 AM · Apr 13, 2021

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/down-with-the-crown

PRINCE PHILIP died this past week. He was born a royal, lived a rich royal life that lasted a few months shy of a full century, and died a royal. With his widow a few weeks shy of 95, the question has come up in Britain and beyond: Should Queen Elizabeth II be succeeded by Charles, her dour and unpopular eldest son, or by her genial grandson, William?

My answer is: I don’t give a shit. As an American, an individualist, and a creative person, the idea that certain individuals, from special “royal” bloodlines, are born to rule is anathema to me. I don’t like it in literature, whether it’s the Harry Potter series or the Gospels. And I reject it entirely in real life.

The Coronation, when it happens, will be fascinating spectacle—there has not been one in Great Britain since 1953—but the notion of holding an opulent ceremony to crown a new king, in twenty-fucking-twenty-one, is ludicrous. This ritual has as much place in the modern age as the wedding-night custom of displaying the bloody sheet, to “prove” a bride’s virginity. If we’re being honest, the person who should succeed Elizabeth is: NO ONE. When the queen is dead, the monarchy should die with her.

Down with the Crown!

Kings and queens are archaic, vestiges of a long-bygone era, when human beings operated in tribes, when clear lines of succession helped stave off war. As a form of government, monarchy—even constitutional monarchy—is a relic, a museum piece, incompatible with true democracy.1 It should be dragged to the recycle bin of history, with conquistadors, slave traders, and blackface. Crown Royal is a fine title for a brand of ho-hum blended whiskey; for a person, not so much.

*snip*

[hlthe2b]

1. Seems like Americans made their feelings clear 2 1/2 CENTURIES ago...

I appreciate the history lesson from Greg Olear because I personally love history. And I DO think there is a benefit to speaking out against tyrannical governments, dictatorships, autocracies, and theocracies... I think those should be our target and let other western democracies decide for themselves. I feel quite confident in Brits' ability to decide for themselves, as I suspect the Scotts are about to show sometime soon.