The Hollow Symbolism of Monarchy
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit radixjournal.substack.comThe gang reacts to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and discusses the symbolism of James Bond, Top Gun: Maverick, and much more.
Sept. 10, 2022 - RadixJournal - Richard Spencer
08:20
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| Time | Text |
|---|---|
| Well, anyway, I was just going to talk a little bit about the Queen, and then we can discuss some other things, as you guys will. | |
| But, yeah, I mean, I guess I had some residual, almost like conservative instincts about the Queen dying and being sad. | |
| You know, I think that's normal. | |
| And I think I maybe had some kind of reactionary instincts of like, you know, monarchy is great and all of that kind of stuff. | |
| I don't think she's, I think Queen Elizabeth II was a good person and so on. | |
| I actually think King Charles, I guess he's going to be Charles III. | |
| I think he might very well be an interesting leader. | |
| He has been forthright on some important issues. | |
| I actually have this nice book that he wrote, or probably commissioned, but it is about human-centric living and architecture and stuff like that. | |
| So he cares about environmental issues. | |
| He has attempted, kind of failed to a degree, You know, attempted architectural and residential projects that are more traditional and human-centric and so on. | |
| And I think that is all a good thing. | |
| So I do admire Charles, and probably less so Elizabeth II. | |
| She's kind of been there, but been in the background, almost like a bit like wallpaper. | |
| I have not heard, I don't, I mean, I am not a royal watcher or a royal historian, so anyone can add in anything. | |
| I don't think I've really heard any, read anything that is a serious analysis of her ideology or anything like that. | |
| I think it is interesting to look at Monarchy, I mean, obviously after the... | |
| Glorious Revolution, the monarch is not sovereign. | |
| Although I did hear that for a, I believe this is how it went. | |
| So for a period of one hour, there was no prime minister and Charles was king. | |
| So he had his moment when there was no leader of parliament. | |
| So he could have just, he had absolute authority and could have done anything, but nothing happened. | |
| I think it is worthwhile pointing out that England, Scotland, Wales, they have a monarch. | |
| A country like, let's say, Germany doesn't. | |
| And they've both found their way to the same place. | |
| Not that England and Germany are identical or anything like that. | |
| But they kind of found, each of them found their own path towards the same destination. | |
| And, you know, I understand history and we're not living in like a sovereign monarchial situation. | |
| But Parliament, again, is the sovereign body and not the people in England. | |
| But nevertheless, it does kind of leave me with a sense of... | |
| Uselessness, in some ways, of the monarch. | |
| And I guess what I was thinking of today was the idea that they're kind of like symbolic structures that are very important, but are also outmoded and not irrelevant, because I think they are relevant. | |
| They're outmoded and they're almost deceptive in a way. | |
| So everyone who visits London at some point in their life has gone to see the changing of the guard. | |
| And I would imagine that everyone who is involved in this group, to some extent or another, has some kind of residual, maybe even childish reverence for monarchy. | |
| And so on. | |
| It kind of gives us a glimpse to the past. | |
| And I think that the king or the queen or the king can kind of symbolize the nation in some way or symbolize the continuance of history, etc. | |
| Obviously different. | |
| There have been major different families that have occupied the throne. | |
| The Windsor family is a German entity. | |
| But anyway, you get my point. | |
| You can kind of see a little glimpse of Elizabeth I. You can see a glimpse of the Middle Ages. | |
| But I sometimes think these symbolic orders are in many ways deceptive. | |
| And that there are other more primary symbolic orders that overwhelm these things to the point that they really are. | |
| Tourist attractions or museums or something like that. | |
| And I think that's really the proper way to look at these things. | |
| I mean, Charles had an hour of time to seize absolute power and, you know, save England. | |
| I don't know what he would do. | |
| Kick all the immigrants out and reestablish a family unit or something like this. | |
| Who knows? | |
| But he didn't. | |
| And nor, in a way, should he have, nor would any rational person think he would. | |
| It's a kind of false, deceptive, symbolic order. | |
| And in that sense, it is kind of a lie. | |
| And so, I don't know. | |
| I don't have any of the American animosity towards Royal houses or monarchy in general or anything like that, where, you know, it's some kind of inherent disgrace that, you know, even if the king doesn't have any real power, he kind of symbolically conveys that power to his parliament. | |
| Despite that reality that we should just get rid of the monarchy, it's a symbol of something bad. | |
| It's maybe even a temptation. | |
| I don't have any of those instincts or emotions, but I do see the institution as effectively a lie, a kind of hollow symbol in a way, or a deceptive symbol. | |
| The king doesn't have authority, and he ultimately isn't impactful in The ideological direction of the British Isles and thus having him around, | |
| it's a quaint, it's at best a kind of quaint vestige of the past, it's furniture, but I think it ultimately is a lie and thus probably shouldn't exist. | |
| I think might very well do more harm than good. | |
| It gives a kind of... | |
| Lie to the fact that there's another England is still around and still holds sway. |
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