As I normally do every morning, I was scrolling through the New York Times online and saw a headline that caught my eye. It said that for the first time in about 125 years, the Netherlands has a king instead of a queen. To be honest, I didn't even know that Denmark was still a monarchy, not that the now king has any real political power as the queen of England doesn't have any real political power, but still, I didn't know. This made me wonder how many monarchies still exist in Europe and for that matter, world wide. So what did I do, I looked it up on our fantastic little technological device called a computer. Turns out that 8 countries in Europe are still considered monarchies albeit they are all constitutional meaning that political power is not held by the king or queen, they are just a ceremonial figurehead with a lot of money. All told, there are still 44 monarchies in existence throughout the world with only a small fraction of them actually holding absolute power (the majority of those with absolute power are in the Middle East in case you were wondering). Also interesting is that the Queen of England is considered the figurehead for many more countries than her own. So at this point in history, despite being a ceremonial figurehead with a lot of money and not much to do, what is the real purpose of a monarchy? The ones with absolute power make sense as they are the sole governing body of their country (despite the fact that I don't agree with that type of rule), yet all the others seem to serve no purpose at all. Perhaps it is just my American oblivion as to why monarchs are still around, but it would seem to me that we could do just as well by abolishing all monarchies. I'm fairly certain that none of the monarchs in the world are poor, in fact, I would hazard a guess and say that most of them are filthy rich. So does being a monarch simply mean that you get to parade around doing whatever you want and not have to worry about money? Seems to me to be that way, but then again, I am biased.
Perhaps it is because I just don't understand the intrigue of having a monarch as a ceremonial figurehead of a country. Or perhaps it is just my feeling that everyone should reside on the same playing field when these individuals do not. Yes, I know, we have our own elite in the United States, however, I see a big difference in the fact that in terms of filthy rich Americans, at least someone in their family had to work at some point in their life to get to where they are today. Do I think that some people have too much money? No, I believe that if you earn your money, you should be able to keep it. However, let me say that I believe that if you are filthy rich, you should be giving more back to society than most other people, which as it turns out, usually doesn't happen. Yet, I could almost see a monarchy in the United States in the ceremonial figurehead kind of way, yet it could never contain only one family, it would most likely hold the most obnoxious self-loving individuals this country has to offer, and I would hate every aspect of it. That is why I am glad that I don't live in a country with a monarchy. While I know that in this country the rich get richer and the everyone else stays where they are, at least I can rest assured in the fact that at least they work, even if it is working to keep the rest of the population from getting a piece of their proverbial pie. It is what it is. All this makes me wonder exactly how long the existing monarchies will survive. From what I have heard, or not heard, it doesn't seem like they are going away any time soon, yet how long can they feasibly exist in a growing world that for the most is full of people seeking to level the playing field? I know, the majority of the people don't have the power to change things, but I wonder if there will ever be a tipping point where it just makes more sense to abolish monarchies than to keep them in existence. I am sure it won't happen in my lifetime, but you never know, stranger things have happened.
For now, I think I will proclaim myself King of Old Boudro. That is the name of the trail where my property is located in Vermont and since its mine, I will proclaim myself King of it. Hardly anyone up there knows me, so I am starting off with a little bit of intrigue, now I just need money to build myself a castle. I have decided that instead of a constitutional monarchy where someone else gets to make the decisions, it will be an absolute monarchy with only myself (along with my trusted wife) making the decisions. Anyone who treads on our land without permission will be subjected to whatever justice we see fit including flogging and Chinese water torture. I will leave out water boarding since that is a specifically heinous form of torture whereas the aforementioned two are more acceptable in my mind. I must, however, build a dungeon. It won't be to throw anyone into, but every monarch needs a dungeon, if only to say they have one and to threaten others with it. I will also need to make a flag with a family crest and some cool colors on it to let everyone know that I am the King and that I have staked my claim (or at least paid for) my property. Hey, its my little fantasy world so I can do what I want. If only I had millions of dollars so I could sit around on a thrown and look fancy, I would truly be a monarch. I guess that last part will probably never happen, but rest assured, as long as I own our property in Vermont, I will be King of Old Boudro. I hereby proclaim my heir to be my son upon my death, whenever that will be. OK, I think I have reached my limit here, so I will sign off and get back to painting and living in my own little kingdom in my head.
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