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Hot take: hereditary kingdoms were a reasonably successful solution to curbing constant civil war in a time when representative democracies might not have been
by overvale 11mo ago
Hot take: hereditary kingdoms were a reasonably successful solution to curbing constant civil war in a time when representative democracies might not have been viable (for various reasons).
- leobg 11mo agoHow can you have a democracy when 90% of the populous is working 12 hour days 6-7 days a week just to pay the bills? How are they going to have an opinion on anything, other than “Stuff is too expensive”.
- bell-cot 11mo agoNote that the Ancient Greeks very often had democracies, when their standard of living was rather lower than what you describe. Life expectancy at birth was often below 30 years. EDIT: Add some cites - https://acoup.blog/2023/03/10/collections-how-to-polis-101-part-i-component-parts/ https://acoup.blog/2023/03/10/collections-how-to-polis-101-p... https://acoup.blog/2025/07/18/collections-life-work-death-and-the-peasant-part-ii-starting-at-the-end/ https://acoup.blog/2025/07/18/collections-life-work-death-an... https://acoup.blog/2025/10/10/collections-life-work-death-and-the-peasant-part-ive-the-no-rest-of-it/ https://acoup.blog/2025/10/10/collections-life-work-death-an...
- buildsjets 11mo agoNote that in the Ancient Greek democracies, the people who worked 12 hour days 6-7 days a week and had a life expectancy of 30 years were called "Slaves", and they were not allowed to vote. Non-laboring, land-owning males were the only ones allowed to participate in the democracy, and they lived to ripe old ages just as in modern times, even allowing for the occasional hemlock ingestion. The Old Greeks cannot be trusted with historic matters. They were victims of indigestion, you know.
- lurk2 11mo agoAncient Greek democracy was limited franchise and the average life expectancy figure is pop history and not accurate.
- ncruces 11mo agoFor most of human existence, life expectancy at birth was dominated by half of all kids not reaching puberty, and a quarter of all infants not making it through their first year.
- csb6 11mo agoI don’t think you could call it reasonably successful. For example, much of European history consisted of war and succession disputes. The entire system of aristocracy was prone to instability and shifting alliances. It turns out hereditary succession is not a good way to choose a competent political leader.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- ramesh31 11mo ago>It turns out hereditary succession is not a good way to choose a competent political leader. It beats strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
- overvale 11mo agoFarcical aquatic ceremonies have their uses.
- infinite8s 11mo agoBinding people to a shared worldview due to a fear of an unsuccessful afterlife?
- overvale 11mo agoHistory says: proved useful.
- overvale 11mo ago> It turns out hereditary succession is not a good way to choose a competent political leader. I'm not sure republics have cracked that one either.
- nntwozz 11mo agoLet's try technocracy!
- m463 11mo agoI'm sort of amazed that democracies came into existence at all. On the other hand, I guess the actions of kings were a catalyst. (crazy taxation, closing ports, quartering troops, etc)
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- rgblambda 11mo agoRepublics, like Venice and San Marino (oldest Republic still in existence), endured for a millennia. I'll accept they don't have a good track record for defending themselves from hereditary monarchies. e.g. Nizny Novgorod to Muscovy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (technically elected monarchy) to Prussia-Russia-Austria.