Theme: Governance

(Saving in progress)

1) —“Hello Curt! Briefly, and simply, would you tell me the difference between a dictatorship and a monarchy?”—

CURT:

Great question.

A Dictator is not bound by rule of law. He exercises discretionary rule.

A Monarch in the european sense, is bound by rule of law, and exercises discretion only within the bounds of rule of law.

Most cultures other than china limit rulers to some sort of traditional boundaries or religious boundaries. But only christian monarchies were semi-bounded by whatever natural law the church and tradition were able to limit them with. Anglo saxons were quite good at limiting the power of the monarchy, and that is the tradition that carries with us.

2) —“Regarding how aristocratic families earn their status, a King is nominated to lead? He is lifted up to the top of a society rather than oppressing the people?”—

CURT:

For most of european history, kings were elected. The reason they adopted inheritance was to end succession conflicts. But the consequence was the extension of time preference and the increased production of competitive commons.

3) —“Things we’re more stable that way I guess. I suppose even with a “bad” King, the people could more or less go about their business

Why are modern royalty so impotent? I was raised on Queen Elizabeth and all things British (plus James Bond ). Where are they now when we could use some Leadership?”—

CURT:

(Great questions. I’m going to answer this in the main thread so that everyone benefits. I’m doing some other things right now so it might take some time. )