Reflections on American politics from one who thinks the republic needs constant attention.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Henry the Eighth and Us
I am watching this TV show, "The Tudors," which is basically about Henry the 8th and his reign and his many, many wives - even more wives than I've had. And here is what stuck me recently: How the people fawned over Henry as King despite his many and obvious deficiencies as a ruler. Why is that? Then I thought: We do the same thing, not only about presidents - despite repeated failures we still hope for a "savior," or as we say a "leader" who will lead us out of the wilderness into the promised land - but also about government. I mean, despite repeated and often large scale "missteps" we put our faith in government, especially a national government, again and again. It is a puzzle to me why we do this but I imagine it is related to the phenomenon in England when Henry was King. Perhaps it is as simple as needing something to believe in.....they chose the monarchy and we choose our monarchy - disguised but still a monarchy - and government.
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