Kings and Queens are pretty
much an anachronism these days. England
has their royals but they are figureheads, they don’t have any real power to
rule. Where there are kings, we think of them more like dictators. With a few
exceptions, as always. But in the time of Kings and kingdoms, it was unheard of
to not have a King.
If a King died, whether it be by old age, in battle, or more
suspicious circumstances, he was replaced by another from a royal lineage.
Hopefully the transition was a clean and peaceful to the eldest son, but if
that wasn’t possible, a nearby King would likely move in and claim the
territory. Sometimes a Queen or child King could hold the kingdom together, but
that was less likely to last.
This was seen as some sort of natural order. As if the very
blood in your veins made you a royal. Being born a peasant had equal meaning
for what you would do with your life and what you were capable of. The many
notable exceptions didn’t seem to matter. Royals who inherited their position
failed miserably and peasants rose up to be great men and women. Power rested
in the hands of a few and overcoming it seemed impossible.
We got rid of kings because we got tired of their childish
bickering destroying so many lives. In 1648, after a century of wars, mostly
over details of how to worship Christ, a peace treaty was signed that created
the modern nation-state. Some argue that the wars were actually over territory
and resources, and of course all wars include those goals, but the treaty
specifically stated religious freedoms as part of the deal. The King could have
his territory, but he couldn’t punish people for worshiping differently than
him.
I tell this story not only to explain where religious
freedom comes from, I’ve been over that. I want to point out that something
that appears to be the natural order can be changed. The natural order that is
accepted in the modern Western nation-state, dominated by capitalism is, that
if you are rich, you deserve it. Because we are free, we can gain and
accumulate wealth freely. We can use our intellect and energy to create value
and be rewarded for it. If you work hard, you will be rewarded. Sounds good.
It is good. But it only works if people are honest, if they
don’t lie and cheat their way to fortune. We know people do it, but we so want
to believe in the power of the free market to select the best people and reward
them accordingly, that we ignore that. We dismiss those who are caught as
outliers. We punish the little cheaters, the starving boy who steals an apple,
and let the bankers charge outrageous fees and the insurance companies deny
benefits.
This corrupts the system and wealth accumulates at the top
until all of our politicians are millionaires because it takes millions of
dollars to get elected and laws get passed that you can spend billions on an
election because the thing that is supposed to measure your value in a free market
is now a commodity that can buy more freedom. “More freedom” is not a lie like
“more equal” was in George Orwell’s 1984. Freedom can be bought at the expense
of others. But as we did with kings, we can change that.
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