“It’s hardwired into our very being to desire a king. Throughout the history of the world, monarchy has been the most common form of government. Some people will argue that selfish strongmen imposed their will on oppressed populations, but that narrative doesn’t fit the historical record. Monarchy’s predominance doesn’t rest on oppression. It rests on the fact that for the last six thousand years most humans have been incredibly comfortable with the institution. People always preferred good kings to bad kings, but they rarely questioned the kingship itself.
We can point to a few notable exceptions. After the Athenians threw out their tyrants, they had a fling with democracy that lasted about a hundred and seventy years. Rome did a bit better. It operated without a king for almost five hundred years. Eventually the novelty of republicanism wore thin, and the Romans opted for one-man rule again. When Tiberius tried to become a private citizen, the Senate begged him not to. They needed a monarch.
We’ve flirted with those failed models of governance in America. Hearkening back to Athens and Rome, we called ourselves a democratic-republic. We had a fine run with it, but we’re getting back to our monarchical roots. In a nod to our constitutional past, we still hold elections, but we’re increasingly looking to one man to solve all our problems. We just elect our king every four years now. No one looks to Congress to accomplish anything. America’s founding fathers would be astonished at the amount of hope and faith we place in the president. They’d also be shocked by the amount of power that we’ve handed him. ***The world has never seen a mightier king than the modern-day POTUS.”***
Britain buzzes with excitement over the birth of a royal baby boy. That’s as it should be. After all, this baby is third in line for the throne. The nation looks forward to its first glimpse at the…
Read it all: Why Americans Care about the Royal Baby
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