Hear me out. The Crown has descended for centuries down a certain bloodline. But jus sanguinis, as it stands, has little truth and even less validity. We are only who we say we are, and who others think of us. I am King.
There is a concept in intellectual history termed the ‘sleeping sovereign’. It goes back to Thomas Hobbes, theorist of monarchy, for whom the people were the sleeping sovereign in a state ruled by a king or queen. But who will stand up for the people? Who will be their champion?
Certainly not Charles, an aristocrat whose approach to climate change lacks vision or clarity. I will personate the people and transform this world according to the 17 Points.
It has been noted that western democracies are reformed monarchies. To transform democracy in the image of justice, we need a form of ‘republican imperialism’, to avoid the totalitarianism that is to come if we do not follow the roman dictum: Si vis pacem, para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war).
I have a vision, a plan, and a suite of policies to level inequalities within countries and ensure the triple crisis of climate change, China, and capitalism is addressed. I also have some of the best music ever written. I wrote it.
Charles III is a good guy. He is also an idiot who thinks some leaves will cure illnesses (calling this approach ‘alternative medicine’). As much as I like this idea, it has little empirical grounding, and suggests Charles is not as scientific in his approach to climate change as people claim him to be.
The last Carolingian age (centring on England) was one of civil war in the seventeenth century. The last Wilhelmine age (centring on Germany) was one of interstate war in the twentieth century. In this age (centring on America), let there be peace. Let there be light. Watch as I rise.
Disclaimer: Any similarity between names mentioned and actual individuals is purely accidental and largely theoretical. These are fun ideas to entertain but, as always, I may be mistaken. After all, what do I know?
Edmund Wilson 