If I were king I would immediately institute a democratic form of government over my lands and resign from the throne. Kingship implies absolute power over the people in the kingdom, and following from that is a total lack of choice on the people’s part in regards to the king’s command. This total power takes away all meaning from human life.
Beyond crude survival, mankind’s ultimate goal is to spread goodness across the world. It is true that cultural relativism stipulates that one’s goodness may be another’s wickedness;
If this is true, having no choice but to obey a king makes even global peace a hollow victory. Goodness without free will is worthless. In essence, nobody has chosen to be peaceful - all have behaved well for fear of retribution. This is not virtue, it is blunt obedience. The pinnacle of mankind’s adventurous and sublime spirit would be choosing goodness even when there is no real reason to do so.
Tolerating another person when you hate them because acting on that hatred could mean life in jail is a totally different dynamic than tolerating them because you respect their human right to exist. The latter represents a spiritual evolution, and it simply wouldn't be possible with the specter of a crown and a rod overshadowing humanity’s infinite potential for cooperation and wisdom.
All I have to say is: deeeeeeep.
ReplyDeleteThat view on the world is such a positive one. It's a pity that, especially with the problems you detailed with cultural relativism, such a thing has not and, unfortunately, probably will never come to pass. This unfortunate conclusion arises, at a very simple level, because of issues you also touched on, again circling back to cultural relativism and, indirectly, the central problem, yet also blessing, that we are all unique.