this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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What is even meant by "king"? What's the definition?
In this case, they're referring to the old-fashioned autocratic rulers of absolute monarchies, rather than the otherwise relatively harmless figureheads that constitutional monarchies bafflingly insist on still wasting vast resources on in 2026.
Ruler of a region.
hmm yeah i was asking because in the context of these protests, it's important to understand precisely what is actually protested against, just for the sake of making more efficient analysis and decisions.
People think the current us administration is doing a lot of awful things to a lot of people buts itβs worse that they hold themselves above the law to do it, above the limits of their power, above the checks and balances that usually prevent authoritarianism
Among the many bad stereotypes of royalty is the blatant nepotism, self-enrichment, and total disregard for their constituents. Somehow they have no shame in accepting bribes, do not even try to hide it, and no shame using their authority to establish business βdeals@ for family and friends
i think they're talking about a leader snatching up power to make themselves an all-powerful ruler. where the power comes not from a mandate of the masses but from ~~a wet tart throwing a sword at you~~ absolute authority.
hmm ok so it's about the rule of the law that people want upheld.
yup. we would prefer the power of this nation to live amongst the people rather than allow it to coagulate into a single person or position. unfortunately with what amounts to actual monarchists in control of all three branches of government, we are on the backfoot.
Authoritarianism - it doesn't roll of the tongue though as you can see
Leadership by patriarchal lineage.
Not necessarily. Plenty of kings were elected by the nobility.
yeah german had that concept by the way. it's interesting to look at history and how stuff was done in earlier times
germany at some time had a king that was elected by the 7 most influential local landlords. they met and elected a king.
Yeah, people often forget that most regents were at least to some extent elected. If the nobility/rich landowners didn't want a specific regent then they were thrown out and a new one was found. Usually within the same line, though. A regent rarely had absolute power. For example Denmark has had a monarchy for over 1000 years but less than 200 of those were an actual absolute monarchy. Most of the time the regent was put in check by the nobility/landowners and the church etc.
Though their existence in the nobility was often through birth, Andorra has an elected prince from the general population.
I was speaking in the context of these protests.
UK is hereditary without being patrilineal nowadays