Yeah I’m from the Netherlands and I also find it strange. It’s like this odd thing that you read about in history books and yet it exists today. The king sometimes gives people knighthood. They kneel before him and he stands there with a sword and says some words, and then boom you are a knight! It’s wild and something out of fantasy stories.
Tbh, coming from a constitutional monarchy myself, where the king and queen are a moral backbone, born and bread diplomats, using their funds to salvage, maintain and protect items of cultural heritage like buildings, furniture, art, etc, giving people hope everytime they speak…
… I’m glad we’re not just stuck with politicians. Like OMG! Americans whining about monarchies when their oligarchy reminds of the aristocracy in all the wrong ways becomes a facepalm moment.
Have there been bad monarch’s? Yes. Have there been bad politicians? Yes. Have both partaken in both classic and modern colonisation? You betcha. But sometimes, just sometimes, you want someone born dedicated to your country - and despite how many politicians rub sensually up against the concept of patriotism, you notice real quick who’s just wearing the emperor’s clothes - and in my case it ain’t the king nor queen.
I’m Finnish so we’re surrounded by constitutional monarchies, and honestly aristocracies are just not something I’d expect from a modern nation. The idea that only a person with the correct heritage is fit for a national leadership position is frankly nuts, and I don’t think the only option to that is the dumpster fire that is US politics
I’m Finnish, and as I noted in another comment here we’re surrounded by constitutional monarchies and I don’t find “well everyone does it” a very compelling argument for aristocracy
I always forget that the Netherlands is a monarchy. It’s such a weird thing to see in the modern age
Yeah I’m from the Netherlands and I also find it strange. It’s like this odd thing that you read about in history books and yet it exists today. The king sometimes gives people knighthood. They kneel before him and he stands there with a sword and says some words, and then boom you are a knight! It’s wild and something out of fantasy stories.
Tbh, coming from a constitutional monarchy myself, where the king and queen are a moral backbone, born and bread diplomats, using their funds to salvage, maintain and protect items of cultural heritage like buildings, furniture, art, etc, giving people hope everytime they speak…
… I’m glad we’re not just stuck with politicians. Like OMG! Americans whining about monarchies when their oligarchy reminds of the aristocracy in all the wrong ways becomes a facepalm moment.
Have there been bad monarch’s? Yes. Have there been bad politicians? Yes. Have both partaken in both classic and modern colonisation? You betcha. But sometimes, just sometimes, you want someone born dedicated to your country - and despite how many politicians rub sensually up against the concept of patriotism, you notice real quick who’s just wearing the emperor’s clothes - and in my case it ain’t the king nor queen.
I’m Finnish so we’re surrounded by constitutional monarchies, and honestly aristocracies are just not something I’d expect from a modern nation. The idea that only a person with the correct heritage is fit for a national leadership position is frankly nuts, and I don’t think the only option to that is the dumpster fire that is US politics
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no, its still an extremely weird thing to see in the modern age regardless of how common it is
I’m Finnish, and as I noted in another comment here we’re surrounded by constitutional monarchies and I don’t find “well everyone does it” a very compelling argument for aristocracy