#most well-to-do hereditary ruling dynasties

[topstop5]

the top 5 most moneyed royal dynasties worldwide (The Crown's Hidden Wealth)

In this video, we'll take a look at the top 5 most moneyed royal dynasties worldwide. From the most prosperous royal clans worldwide to the most well-heeled royal clans in the world, we'll explore the financially strongest royal clans globally. We'll also examine the most 5 moneyed royal households globally and the 5 earning royal lines globally. These top 5 most opulent royal lineages globally are sure to amaze you with their wealth and power. So join us as we take a closer look at these rich royal families and the most well-to-do hereditary ruling dynasties.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Is antitrust anti-labor?

If you find the word “antitrust” has a dusty, old-fashioned feel, that’s only to be expected — after all, the word has its origins in the late 19th century, when the first billionaire was created: John D Rockefeller, who formed a “trust” with his oil industry competitors, through which they all agreed to stop competing with one another so they could concentrate on extracting more from their workers and their customers.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/14/aiming-at-dollars/#not-men

Trusts were an incredibly successful business structure. A bunch of competing companies would be sold to a new holding company (“the trust”), and the owners of those old standalone companies would get stock in this new trust. The trust would operate as a single entity, hiking prices and suppressing wages. If anyone tried fight the trust with a new, independent company, the trust could freeze them out, by selling goods below cost, or by doing exclusive deals with key suppliers and customers, or both. Once a trust sewed up an industry, no one could compete. The trust barons were rulers for life.

The first successful trust was Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which amassed a 90% share of all US oil. Other “capitalists” got in on the game, forming the Cotton Seed Oil Trust (75% market share), the Sugar Trust (85%). Then came the Whiskey Trust and the Beef Trust. America was becoming a planned economy, run by a handful of unelected “industrialists” with lifetime appointments and the power to choose their successors.

A century after overthrowing the King, America had new kings: “kings over the production, transportation and sale of the necessities of life”. That’s how Senator John Sherman described the situation in 1890, when he was campaigning for the passage of the Sherman Act, the first “anti-trust” act. The Sherman Act wasn’t the first time American lawmakers tried to protect competition, but it was the first law passed after the failure of competition law led to the hijacking of the nation by people Sherman called the “autocrats of trade.”

https://marker.medium.com/we-should-not-endure-a-king-dfef34628153

The Sherman Act — and its successors, like the Clayton Act, are landmark laws in that they explicitly seek to protect workers and customers from corporate power. Antitrust is about making sure that no corporation gets so powerful that it’s too big to fail, nor too big to jail — that a company can’t get so big that it subverts the political process, capturing its own regulators:

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

If American workers are derided as “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” who won’t join the fight against the rich because they assume they’ll soon join their ranks, then the American rich are “temporarily embarrassed aristocrats” who would welcome hereditary rule, provided they got to found one of the noble families. The goal of the American elite has always been to create a vast and durable dynasty, wealth so vast and well-insulated that even the most Habsburg-jawed failson can’t piss it away.

The American elite has always hated antitrust. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, abetted by Robert Bork and his co-conspirators at the Chicago School of Economics gutted antitrust through something called the “consumer welfare standard,” which ended anti-monopoly enforcement except in instances where price hikes could be directly and unarguably attributed to market power, which is, basically, never.

It’s been 40 years since Reagan took antitrust out behind the Lincoln Monument and shot it in the guts, and America has turned into the kind of aristocratic kleptocracy that Sherman railed against, where “great families” control the nation’s wealth and politics and even its Supreme Court judges:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

Anything that can’t go on forever will eventually stop. Monopoly threatens the living standards, health, freedom and prosperity of nearly every person in America. The undeniable enshittification of the country by its guillotine-ready finance ghouls, tech bros and pharma profiteers has led to a resurgence in antitrust, and a complete renewal of the @FTC and @JusticeATR:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Key to the new and vibrant FTC is Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, who, along with Commissioner  Rebecca SlaughterFTC and Chairwoman Lina Khan, is part of the Democratic majority on the Commission. Bedoya has a background in tech and privacy and civil rights, and is a longtime advocate against predatory finance. He’s also a law professor and a sprightly scholarly writer.

Earlier this week, Bedoya gave a prepared speech for the Utah Project on Antitrust and Consumer Protection conference, entitled “Aiming at Dollars, Not Men.” It’s a banger:

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/bedoya-aiming-dollars-not-men.pdf

Criticisms of the new antitrust don’t just come from America’s oligarchs — the labor movement is skeptical of antitrust as well, and with good cause. Antitrust law prohibits collusion among businesses to raise prices, and at many junctures since the passage of the Sherman Act, judges have willfully perverted antitrust to punish labor organizers, treating workers demanding better working conditions as if they were Rockefeller and his cronies conspiring to raise prices.

This is the subject of Bedoya’s speech, whose transcript is painstakingly footnoted, and whose text makes it crystal clear that this is not what antitrust is for, and we should not tolerate its perversion in service to crushing worker power. The title comes from a 1914 remark by Democratic Congressman Thomas Konop, who said, of antitrust: “We are aiming at the gigantic trusts and combinations of capital and not at associations of men for the betterment of their condition. We are aiming at the dollars and not at men.”

Konop was arguing for the passage of the Clayton Act, a successor to the Sherman Act, which was passed in part because judges refused to enforce the Sherman Act according to its plain language and its legislative intent, and kept using it against workers. In 1892, two years after the Sherman Act’s passage, it was used to crush the New Orleans General Strike, an interracial uprising against labor exploitation from longshoremen to printers to carpenters to hearse drivers.

Bosses went to a federal judge asking for an injunction against the strike. Though the judge admitted that the Sherman Act was designed to fight “the evils of massed capital,” he still issued the injunction.

The Sherman Act was used to clobber the Pullman Porters union, which organized Black workers who served on the Pullman cars on America’s railroads. The workers struck in 1894, after a 25% wage-cut, and they complained that they could no longer afford to eat and feed their families, so George Pullman fired them all. The workers struck, led by Eugene Debs. Pullman argued that the strike violated the Sherman Act. The Supreme Court voted 9:0 for Pullman, ordered the strike called off, and put Debs in prison.

In 1902, mercury-sickened hatters in Danbury, CT demanded better working conditions — after just a few years on the job, hatters would be disabled for life with mercury poisoning, with such bad tremors they couldn’t even feed themselves. 250 hatters at the DE Loewe company tried to unionize. Loewe sued them under the Sherman Act, and went to the Supreme Court, who awarded Loewe $6.8m in today’s money, which allowed Loewe to seize his former workers’ homes.

This is what sent Congress back to the drawing board to pass the Clayton Act. Though the Sherman Act was clear that it was about trustbusting, the courts kept interpreting it as a charter for union-busting. The Clayton Act explicitly permits workers to form unions, call for boycotts, and to organize sympathy strikes.

They made all this abundantly clear: writing in language so plain that judges had to understand the legislative intent. And yet…judges still managed to misread the Clayton Act, using it to block 2,100 strikes in the 1920s. It appears that passing the Clayton Act did not save a single strike that would have been killed by the bad (and bad faith) Sherman Act precedents that led to the Clayton Act in the first place.

The extent to which greedy bosses used the Clayton Act to attack their workers is genuinely ghastly. Bedoya describes one coal strike, against the Red Jacket Coal Company of Mingo, WV. The mine’s profits had grown by 600%, but workers’ wages weren’t keeping up with inflation. The miners sought a raise of $0.10 on the $0.66 they got paid for ever carload of coal they mined. The company didn’t even pay the workers with real money — just “company scrip”: coupons that could only be spent at the company store. Red Jacket gave its workers a $0.09/car raise — and raised prices at the company store by $0.25/item.

The workers struck, Red Jacket sued. The Fourth Circuit refused to apply the Clayton Act, following a precedent from a case called Duplex Printing that held that the Clayton Act only applied to people who stood “in the proximate relation of employer and employee.”

Congress was pissed. They passed the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, with LaGuardia spitting about judges who “willfully disobeyed the law…emasculating it, taking out the meaning intended by Congress, making the law absolutely destructive of Congress’s intent.” Norris-LaGuardia creates an antitrust exemption for labor that applies “regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.” So, basically: “CONGRESS TO JUDGES, GET BENT.”

And yet, judges still found ways to use antitrust as a cudgel to beat up workers. In Columbia River Packers, the court held that fishermen weren’t protected by the exemption for workers, because they were selling “commodities” (e.g. fish) not their labor. Presumably, the fish just leapt into the boats without anyone doing any work.

The willingness of enforcers to misread antitrust continued down through the ages. In 1999, the FTC destroyed the hopes of the some of the country’s most abused workers: “independent” port truckers, who worked 80 hours/week and still couldn’t pay the bills. Truckers were only paid to move trailers around the ports, but they were required to do hours and hours of unpaid work — loading containers, hauling equipment for repair, all for free. The truckers tried to organize a union — and the FTC subpoenaed the organizers for an investigation of price-fixing.

But the problem wasn’t with the laws. It was with judges who set precedents that — as LaGuardia said, “willfully disobeyed the law…emasculating it, taking out the meaning intended by Congress, making the law absolutely destructive of Congress’s intent.”

Congress passed laws to strengthen workers and judges — temporarily embarrassed aristocrats — simply acted as if the law was intended to smash workers. But by 2016, judges had it figured out. That’s when jockeys at the Camarero racetrack in Canóvana, Puerto Rico went on strike, demanding pay parity with their mainland peers — Puerto Rican jockeys got $20 to risk their lives riding, a fifth of what riders on the mainland received.

Predictably, the horse owners and racetrack sued. The jockeys lost in the lower court, and the court ordered the jockeys to pay the owners and the track a million dollars. They even sued the jockeys’ spouses, so that they could go after their paychecks to get that million bucks.

The case went to the First Circuit appeals court and Judge Sandra Lynch said: you know what, it doesn’t matter if the jockeys are employers or contractors. It doesn’t matter if they sell a commodity or their labor. The jockeys have the right to strike, period. That’s what the Clayton Act says. She overturned the lower court and threw out the fines.

As Bedoya says, antitrust is “law written to rein in the oil trust, the sugar trust, the beef trust…the gigantic trusts and combinations of capital…dollars and not at men.” Congress made that plain, “not once, not twice, but three times, each time in a louder and clearer voice.”

Bedoya, part of the FTC’s Democratic majority, finishes: “Congress has made it clear that worker organizing and collective bargaining are not violations of the antitrust laws. When I vote, when I consider investigations and policy matters, that history will guide me.”

There's only three days left in the Kickstarter campaign for the audiobook of my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon's Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they're DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

[mathlann]

Thought Dump about YM and being heir, and some other stuff.

The circumstances in which YM got declared heir is a whole nother long-ass post in itself, but I do think the starting trouble of his heir-dom is both that he represents a Lot™ as far as the von Valancius dynasty goes and the choice to foist that on him was mostly a rash decision Casimira made before he was born and now they're both stuck with it because by the time she started to reconsider it was far too late.

Like, being a regular Rogue Trader's heir is a lot of pressure, but he is also the first von Valancius born in the Expanse for at least the last 3-400 years (Theodora being from Scarus and Casimira being Calixian), the first heir born after his dynasty became the most powerful one in the region, and (quietly) a living result of his mom's particular policies regarding Aeldari.

Which is a lot even without even without factoring in parental issues! And no doubt the above became a factor that contributed to Cas deciding not only to publicly make him heir presumptive but also go out of her way to have the "Royal Baby Legitimacy Experience" (with plenty of bribes and negotiations under the table) on Dargonus. Which, barring some quarrels about not having him be born in the capitol world, worked very well in signifying the continuation of the dynasty etc etc.

But at the same time being an only child and heir presumptive kinda did mess him up in a way that definitely isn't helpful to making him want to be heir. Because Cas is very disdainful of hereditary nobility without merit, and inasmuch as Cas' protective shield of exceptionalism extends to her son, YM does on some level recognize he is the very type of person his mom would usually be bitching about after a long day at court. And so, like both his parents, he tends to draw on his origins as a form of self-justification but unlike his parents he doesn't yet have any big deeds to back up that self-belief and therefore deepens his own anxiety around failure because if he's not careful he rationalizes himself into being the thing he's scared of being.

Another "not helping" thing is that Cas learned how to be Rogue Trader by trial and error but doesn't really want YM to have to do that yet. So she gets big on him having a formal Noble Education so that he'll have a good base to work with, despite that fact that he is her and Marazhai in all the ways most calibrated to frustrate her and so doesn't take to hardly any of them. Not because he's not smart enough to grasp the material, but because neither of his parents had to sit in school like this and they turned out fine, so why should he care about Administratum procedures when he could be out in the Heathen Stars adventuring or something? The underside of this is also avoidance, in that failing these things are also a reflection on him so to get out of being "the Heir who tried and failed Administratum Procedures 101" its best to blow it off entirely. Which irritates his mom, because while she understands his wanting to go out and learn the hard way, the tedious shit is important too and its not boding well that it doesn't seem that he sees that. And thus the eternal war of "Im too good for this" and "I'm failing" continues eternal.

Having parents with very different timescales also doesn't help, nor does the fact that his mom and direct comparison point is kind of a fluke. Like on the one hand his young adult years mean nothing to Aeldari in total lifespan so he has time, on the other hand his mother was ruling a large chunk of the Independent Expanse by her early-to-mid thirties, Realspace Time. So being in his twenties and still not even having command of his own ship stings.

Making Marazhai more explicitly a Corsair Prince in my canon does offer a lot more when it comes to "what could've been" for YM. Because by the mere fact of his existence he was never going to be a bastard with nothing. There is a potential future (and one he'd probably like more) where he was just Cas' bastard and was Marazhai's heir presumptive. He wouldn't have the same cushy future job security for sure but the role might have fit his temperament better. Or he would just inherit a different flavor of parental issues and long to be a Rogue Trader's heir. Who knows.

Heir blues aside, YM also does have a perfectly calibrated "fucking with my parents" gene and makes it his business to cultivate a circle of "not necessarily harmful but personally irritating" set of friends and acquaintances to be on hand for social occasions where annoying either parent is the goal.

One of his "learning how the Administratum works" lessons was absolutely getting Jae the renewal of her Mercatum Tabular Rasa. It was a success....ignoring suspicious blood stains and the disappearance of a particularly annoying clerk.

During his eventual Gap Decade with Marazhai he probably gets some training from a Void Dreamer, a type of Aeldari Corsair Psyker that helps ships navigate both Warp and Webway. This solves one of the bigger problems in his life, being that he can't totally atrophy his abilities to the same extent as a Drukhari but following a Path like an Asuryani would send Marazhai into a fit. Void Dreamers, being adept at Warp travel, would be able to help him manage his senses during longer Warp Jumps without necessarily having to resort to violence.

[singular-yike]

Yello, do you think you can shed some light on the early Japanese Imperial Court and how that may relate to Devanagara? Trying to use google and wikipedia doesn't get me any good results.

Hmm, I'll admit there's not a lot that can be said here, if not purely because of how little we know of the Devanagaran Fujiwara dynasty, but we can still take a look at what connections we can draw.

As a side note though though I must admit that "early Japanese imperial court" is a rather vague term, so I'll just assume that you refer to the period around around the Heian period (794 to 1185), which is when the Fujiwara had the most sway over the court.

Origins of the Fujiwara

The Fujiwara has their origins in the Asuka period (592/593 to 710), with the court official and aristocrat Nakatomi no Kamatari (中臣 鎌足), who played a key role in the Taika Reforms.

Having been knowledge for his efforts, he was granted the new name Fujiwara by the emperor, starting the Fujiwara lineage.

The next major development came in the following Nara period (710 to 794), when the Fujiwara split into four houses:

The Northern House of Fujiwara (藤原北家)

The Southern House of Fujiwara (藤原南家)

The Ceremonials House of Fujiwara (藤原式家)

The Capital House of Fujiwara (藤原京家)

Sesshō and Kampaku

Now we can briefly check out the history of the Japanese imperial court, frankly it's not too important to this discussion, but I'd like to go over two court positions here: Sesshō and Kampaku.

Sesshō

Sesshō (摂政) was a temporary position given to a regent who acted in the stead of an emperor before he came of age or on behalf of the reigning Empress.

Prior to the Heian period, the position of sesshō was never granted to someone outside of the royal lineage.

For example, the first and most famous royal sesshō would be Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子), who served under Empress Suiko (推古天皇). (Though unlike most cases it's widely believed that Suiko was not powerless, and that she held considerable political power herself.)

Kampaku

The Kampaku (関白) was, in theory, the chief advisor to the Emperor, and is the highest nobility rank. Though as we'll soon see, it's much more than that.

The Fujiwara's Rise to Power

Now we fast forward to the Heian period, where we look at a member of the Northern House of Fujiwara, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (藤原良房).

Yoshifusa had a grandson who became the 56th Emperor Seiwa, using this tie and his own powerful position in court, he became the first Sesshō who was not a royal himself.

After the Yoshifusa's death, his adoptive son Fujiwara no Mototsune (藤原基経) invented the position of Kampaku, which effectively gave him power to continue acting as regent even after the emperor came of age. Using this position, he acted as regent for Emperor Seiwa, as well as the 3 emperors who would succeed him.

The Fujiwara would continue to maintain strong familial ties with the royal family through marrying their daughters into it, and thus the position of kampaku became an effectively hereditary title, passed down the head of the northern house.

Of course, the Fujiwara's reign by proxy would not last forever and their power would indeed wane, though I don't feel that's too relevant here, so I'll end the history lesson at that.

Fujiwara in Devanagara

It's difficult to speculate, especially since the information comes to us through Clause, but Chouki seems to claim that the Mugneri Taira clan are a branch of the ones from reality that escaped to Mugenri after the Jishō-Juei War (治承・寿永の乱).

Thus we can speculate that perhaps the Mugenri Fujiwara is a branch of the Fujiwara themselves.

Perhaps directly the descendants of the Northern House that decided to prolong their glory by similarly escaping to Mugenri and started their own dynasty, or one of the other branches who tried to use the northern branch as their claim to power in Mugneri.

Either way, it would seem that the Fujiwara cut out the middle-man position once they got into Mugenri, and ruled directly as monarchs themselves.

Other than that, there's not much more I can say that connects our history and that of Devanagara. Perhaps there are minor parallels to be drawn:

Like how the Devanagaran government seems to be modeled after that of the Ritsuryō system (律令制), used during the Heian period

Or how the Great Mirror is named after a historical tale of the same name which covers the golden days of Fujiwara rule.

Ultimately though, there's no major tie that really connect the two outside of the fact that they were both (once) dominated by a Fujiwara lineage, so this is all I have.

Conclusion

Admittedly Japanese history isn't really my forte, compared to Japanese mythology, and of course I'm a professional in neither, so it's more than possible that I've missed something.

Still, I think that should cover the most important link between the two. Anything else would have to wait until we potentially learn more about Devanagara. With any luck, BotC would shed more light on this topic soon~.

As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

[katarvitz]

Maclnir Commonwealth - Society and Culture

So here's the final part on the Maclnir Commonwealth, covering the culture that's developed over a few generations. Now, I'll be up front about two things here - There's one specific bit that I did pinch from Mass Effect. While I did plan upon replacing it with something more unique, I just rolled with it in the end in this case, given it fitted rather well, and nothing better came to mind. The other bit is that if this sounds like the Clans, that's kind of the point. Battletech is a story of failures and sad ironies. So, it seemed interesting to have a society with a huge collectivist bend end up in a somewhat similar state due to horseshoe theory. Not exact, but with some definite parallels that can be drawn. If you're interested, part 2 about their industry and military is here, and their history can be found here.



Society & Culture (Short):

Forged in the wake of ComStar’s trials and the tyranny of the Fiefdom’s leaders, the Maclnir Commonwealth is a power shaped more by trying to avoid past mistakes than anything else. Founded on a mix of collectivist ideals, the glory of individuals is sidelined to instead venerate groups or the nation as a whole, with a determined effort to strengthen the Commonwealth’s foundations. Life is short and brutal, yet it is offset by a genuinely earnest attempt to improve and support one another. This has seen many cultural qualities formed to prevent the potential rise of tyrants or even hereditary dynasties from ever arising to power again.

Every role in society is framed as a duty or task, from the rank of Princeps to basic labourers. While hierarchical in nature, careers are seen more as a path to lead individuals to where they are most suited in life. This is meant to avoid resentment arising between soldiers, administrators, and labourers, at least in theory. With children mainly raised in communal groups and efforts made to water down bloodlines connections, complete privacy is a rare luxury, and cronyism is seen as among the Commonwealth’s worst offences.

Noted for their gallows sense of humour, the Commonwealth’s people can be challenging to get on with at the best of times. This matter is hardly helped when accounting for their view of ruthlessness and subterfuge as virtues. Nevertheless, while capable of cold-blooded acts, any vicious display is only seen as worthwhile or even praiseworthy if it is essential and clearly beneficial. To do so otherwise is seen as wasteful and a sign of personal failure.

Society & Culture (Long):

Shaped by its twin origins, the Maclnir Commonwealth is a curious mix of neo-ComStar and post-Fiefdom values. Centuries of life under oppressive warrior individuals among the majority, and a clandestine and jaded group of soldiers among the other has given rise to a secretive collectivist society that seems contradictory at a glance. It prizes the wellbeing of the majority above the individual, but its leaders uphold subterfuge and ruthlessness as virtues. Its people regard armies as subservient to a civilian government, but they hold high prominence in their society. Coveting individual glory is deemed a sin, and yet there is a clear hierarchical structure with no shortage of specialists among their people. Much of this becomes far more coherent when viewed through the lens of the tyranny that shaped its people.

The lives of enslaved people within the Fiefdom were a resource to its rulers and nothing more. Ruled by individuals seeking to carve out personal legacies in a tally of successful raids, those that stood out were cut down along with all beside them. The form this took did not matter, from signs of individual slaves displaying unusual strength or inherent frailty.  The former was a sign of potential resistance to ownership; the latter indicated that they should be culled then replaced with new servants. Indications of individual identity, even names, led to equally severe punishments. Friendships, communication and, in the extremely rare successful parenthood, needed to be hidden with the utmost skill and secrecy. Slave gangs cared more for guarding their weakest link above all else, to avoid drawing the wrath of those holding their chains.

Such a foundation of secrecy and fear was the closest approximation that the Fiefdom’s slaves held to any culture, and one that might have quickly imploded into violence upon gaining their freedom. To avoid infighting among larger gangs, ComStar actively fostered a sense of wider identity through work, strengthening links before rifts between them could emerge. The result of this effort is an environment where all are required to work from the day they can walk, but with a genuine ambition for overall improvement. Children are raised in apprenticeship environments, helping wherever they are tasked with learning, while the elderly take on any role they can fulfil. All work until they can work no longer, with no exceptions.

Although such a structure makes life harsh, it is somewhat offset by universally applied benefits. The same level of healthcare and education is universal among the populace and granted without cost. Decisions of civilian infrastructure expansion are made based upon what would benefit the area as a whole rather than any ruler or corporation. Rulers themselves, along with lacking a specific caste of nobles or bloodlines to coast into power on, live in the same level of wealth as the public and follow the same mandatory service in labour employment.

Yet perhaps the Commonwealth’s greatest strength stems from how each role within society is framed as a vital service. Rather than genuinely climbing a ladder, it is seen as travelling to where you are needed and making the absolute most of your skills. There is recognition in how some people are simply not cut out for certain roles, and there is little stigmata attached to this. Instead, finding a role that they excel in is considered more desirable than constantly pushing to rise to a higher position in society. This is reflected in how knowing an individual’s failings and limitations is considered more desirable than raw ambition, along with being able to counter them. This has led to some shortcomings, with members emphasising their existing strengths over challenging themselves, but it has also prevented glory hounds from attaining positions of power. Favouritism is further held in check by - should someone be promoted to a position beyond their skill - the fault being shared equally between the individual and those that granted them this power.

The effort to make leaders actively rise through the ranks is seen as beneficial but notably flawed. The experiences in rising up through the ranks based upon skill is seen as desirable, but the process is slow and ruling tenures tend to be markedly short. Equally, it is easy to have a leader end up in a position of power where they are set in older ways of thinking, or even lack the political guile required of such a ranking position. This final point was especially true of the Commonwealth’s first two leaders after ComStar withdrew some of its influence, resulting in disastrous favouritism displayed toward a few key sectors. Even after this was compensated for and new laws were written to actively limit their ability to make damaging choices based purely upon personal biases, it nevertheless remains a point of concern. Although the political system regarded as working as intended, there remains a constant flow of new laws to gradually reshape it on an almost daily basis.

It is not surprising that much of the Commonwealth’s society has been sculpted specifically to counter some arguable failings of both the Inner Sphere and Clans. Individual caste groups were abolished entirely, while hereditary ranks of power, or anything resembling a nobility, was shunned. Both were easily accomplished thanks to the Fifedom’s history, but were further exaggerated or quietly manipulated by the new arrivals. Many qualities, methods of thinking, checks and balances, were all actively shaped by ComStar as the new society formed. 

Where certain elements could not be stamped out, they were instead tempered by ComStar encouraging other aspects. A vengeful fury and ruthlessness had become second nature to so many slaves, barely held in check by a collective sense of unity. Because of this, it became a virtue within their society, but evolved into one that is seen as only a strength when paired with pragmatism and wisdom. This is an especially common lesson within the military. It might be a sign of ruthlessness to lord over easy victories and weak foes in a training match between mechwarriors; yet doing so accomplishes nothing more than proving they can outstrip those they have already surpassed.

The Commonwealth Guard itself is a cornerstone of civilian life, but it is ultimately judged in the same manner as any other position: It is a service in the name of a greater whole. Heavily influenced by Anastasius Focht’s leadership of the Com Guards, the military is utilised in humanitarian efforts as much as open warfare. This accomplishes the double role of both emphasising its role in supporting a government rather than ruling it, and furthering the outward impression of a bold knightly order. Interwoven as a core part of life within the Commonwealth, each citizen spends several years in its service after coming of age, to then either remain or be rotated back into civilian life.

Efforts both in civilian and military life celebrate group accomplishments or societal ones over individuals. This has led to individual privacy being a rare luxury, especially in the hive-like metropolises of the original factory cities. Although this could have easily been rectified, ComStar actively encouraged the structure, seeing it as beneficial. It was seen as both helping individuals to develop skills for secrecy through everyday life, but also to encourage expansion outward; using those ill-suited to such a lifestyle to either improve their existing worlds or colonizing further sites. Efforts have been made to continue this general attitude thanks to the outward momentum, turning something of a blind eye toward lesser damages among some of its populace.

Efforts to push for any expansion is helped substantially by the lack of long-term family ties among the Commonwealth’s society. Parents, and sometimes even grandparents, are known to those born, but there is little respect of association held to the dead. As with all things this links primarily back to their origins as slave labour, and being forced to leave the dead unremembered. Family links are watered down and the act of raising a child is shaped as a communal task. This is intended to help each person stand on their own, while also retaining the support of a stable childhood. It is for this reason that surnames do not reflect bloodlines or even locations so much as eras, with a number of honoured surnames taken and gifted depending upon the planetary season.

Their bizarre treatment of surnames is taken even a step further with honoured dead. Heroes of the Commonwealth lost in battle are stripped of their names or even basic identifiable facts, tying them to certain areas or individuals. Granted titles instead, their actions and personal choices are remembered. his is partially encouraged by ComStar’s use of Anastasius Focht and Victor Steiner-Davion’s lives as guiding stories, showing how the greatest of men can fail no matter their decisions, choices, and skills. At the same time is exemplifies how some can be redeemed after committing the greatest of mistakes. This use of historical figures has resulted in a bizarre semi-deification, borne of ancestor worship traces by newly gained slaves claimed shortly before ComStar’s invasion of the Fiefdom.

Some have argued that the Commonwealth has an unhealthy reflection upon life and death, thanks largely to their short lifespans. Even after nearly three generations, major population centres suffer from fleeting lives thanks to the unforgiving nature of their worlds. This has led to the depressing fact that an average lifespan of thirty-six years is a marked improvement. Along with constant toil, this has resulted in humour among the Commonwealth being typically dark if not outright gallows, which can easily rub outsiders the wrong way.

Unfortunately, while strong in industry and trade, the Commonwealth still has little to show for its arts or celebrate its artists. With few resources or even time dedicated to writers and creators, most major works of literature are reprints of those that ComStar bought with them. With no film industry or even the resources of printing industries, their sense of national identity remains limited mainly to outward expansion and propaganda. Nevertheless, there have been some minor efforts to correct this gradually. Chess is known and played, though poker is favoured as a national game of prestige, and learning it is a requirement in joining the military. Equally, theatre groups have become more common in recent decades, typically in outlying territories. These lack direct financing from governmental powers, however, and are a fringe movement.

Within the significant population centres, comedians are treated as a more highly-respected profession, to the point where jesters are still present on both Councils. This is largely thanks to their need to be knowledgeable on larger world subjects to make jokes, but understanding enough to make humorous observations on them. This is intended to humble members of both Councils, and give them new perspectives on ongoing troubles. In the event of their removal for criticisms, it is seen as a sign that a tyrant was among the Councils, unable to accept when their actions were openly judged.

Yet the single greatest irony of all is how Blakist theological elements have become integrated with the populace. Even with ComStar’s utter hostility toward the World of Blake, borderline machine worship is not uncommon among the Commonwealth’s settlements. Much of this stems from analogies used to kick-start education among engineers by ComStar teachers, especially those lacking even a basic grounding in science. Because of this, although science is upheld as an undeniable fact and prayer will not force a machine to work, giving thanks to their service is a familiar ritual. This is seen among mechwarriors as akin to thanking a favoured steed or recognising a fundamental part of life; but it has drawn alarming parallels with True Believer groups.

[collymore]

Why bother with masochistic, monarchically inured serf Brits? The cretins aren't worth it!

By Stanley Collymore

Trying to altruistically as well as ethically help these obviously white morons undoubtedly distinctively clearly attendant with their genocidal overseas kin, is significantly simply essentially, unquestionably the equivalent, however goodnaturedly of trying to do so, of essaying to literally put a ruddy great, blazing inferno out with the contents, of a watering can! So here's my main discourse on this topic! William Windsor quite literally that all of these like-minded, racists worship is both unwarrantedly, also immorally and unjustly a billionaire; unequivocally so, as he hasn't for a single second, very lawfully earned the money, that he abundantly has; and furthermore having acquired it is clearly biasedly, obviously unlike everyone else basically outside his actual hereditary and feudal family totally exempt, from simply paying Inheritance tax on these billions of Pounds that he has safely actually wantonly, but crucially been given!

So William simply ostentatiously spending three million Pounds Sterling for literally hyped up accommodation for a thoroughly paltry few quite randomly selected homeless persons is the actual least that he can do; and in reality, is undeniably merely loose change to him, just as far as he himself, or any generally, distinctlvely sensible, and really intelligent person is really concerned. But all the same, in an evidently inured irrefutably serf mindset and an unquestionably also feudally entrenched country, exactly like Britain, this rather puerile risibly patronizing gesture of William buys him excellent publicity, and actually that's clearly all that does matter to William and his crucially effectively veritably essential, and very Middle Ages mindset but simply fatuously implanted nevertheless in the 21st Century, hereditary family dynasty!

(C) Stanley V. Collymore 29 February 2024.

Author's Remarks: This monarchical family should be rather sensibly abolished with the equally quite useless and unnecessary House of Lords, as they're simply remnants of an outdated, class infested, non-meritocratic and a very corrupt feudal system whose totally rather noxious presence does not quite remotely so belong in a genuine democracy!

And what's equally baffling is that you very prized idiots clearly avidly supporting both of these societal obscenities are evidently irrefutably some of the worst critics of the Russian President Vladimir Putin that very obviously in marked contrast was elected, just as Joe Biden was. Doesn't necessarily mean, that either of them are actually any bloody good at what they do or try to, but, at least, they're there because the national electorate voted them into office. Evidently something that can't be said for the British monarchic system or the House of Lords.

Yet while you inured serf idiots are literally actually to a man and woman distinctively lambasting Putin or Biden you quite clearly and unquestionably rather idiotically allow an unelected man/woman to be obviously Head of State of the UK; a rather sickening state of affairs based solely on who he or she was born to. Utterly, and pathetically, most ridiculous! Yet additionally in the very apt and most puerile manner do amazingly quite ludicrously see yourselves, especially rather delusionally, despite your rampantly, obviously glaringly, distinctly intellectually challenged inabilities, as undoubtedly the sole members exclusively of some white master race entity. Lol!

No wonder you lot essentially do prefer an unaccountable, feudal and very controlling dynasty ruling over you as you quite clearly can't bloody well think for yourselves; and moreover conspicuously simply daft as pig shit; you evidently, naturally do prefer your obviously perceived as, societal superiors to literally do your thinking for you and as well determine the opinions that you most definitely must have!

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

Your answer about the French revolution made me wonder something. Do you consider Napoleonic France a monarchy or a republic? I always thought of it as a monarchy but your answer makes it sound like you think it's a republic. What is your definition of a republic anyway?

another long one.

first, my definition of a republic: a government of the people, by the people, for the people. to put it another way, it's whenever the government of a nation is treated as a public matter. some key features are rule of law, mixed government, representative assemblies, civil service, consent of the governed, elected leadership, constitutional limits, institutional government, etc.

this is in contrast to what i'd consider a proper monarchy where the government of a nation is considered a /private/ matter. some key features are the divine right of kings, arbitrary rule by personal fiat, monarch essentially above the law since they are the source of the law, the theoretical belief that the nation is the personal property of the monarch and that the monarch has the right to give or take land as they pleased (regardless of whether this was practically possible or not), personal government/feudalism, hereditary rule, etc.

now it's important to keep in mind a republic can take many forms. on one end it can be a liberal direct democracy with universal suffrage and on the other end it can be an authoritarian aristocratic dictatorship with very limited suffrage. while the ideal republic is a balance of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy it can theoretically prefer any one of those forms of government at the expense of the others. and so with that in mind, sometimes the line between a republic and a monarchy can blur. and this question you're asking highlights the napoleonic empire as an example of just that.

napoleon himself definitely dressed like a monarch, he had his office for life, and he possessed a great deal of power but upon closer examination napoleonic france looks a lot more like a republic (according to what i said above) than a "true" monarchy. dressing like and styling yourself as a monarch doesn't make you one. nor does a life-term or having a lot of power. i often make the point that the president of the united states has a lot of power, more power than most actual living monarchs, and was also almost given a life-term.

meanwhile, napoleonic france placed a lot of emphasis on rule of law through numerous constitutions and popular consent through referendums. napoleon was literally elected emperor by the people through popular referendum. they had a mixed government with representative assemblies, even though they were very conservative and complicated and placed most power in the executive. in almost all aspects the napoleonic republic looks like a republic, albeit a very aristocratic one. but again, even america was originally designed to be an aristocratic republic. it's also important to remember that napoleon himself was a man of the revolution, who fought alongside republican forces, and even published pro-republican pamphlets and he always spoke of france in republican terms.

the only thing i would say that was actually pretty monarchical was his attempting to create a hereditary dynasty. that's a no-go in my book. but i give napoleon a pass because i think he was in exceptional circumstances. france was in complete turmoil. had been for years and would be for many more. there hadn't be any real stability for a long time. france was threatened internally and externally and there was always the risk that the bourbons would be restored. on top of this, they were barely emerging from a world in which hereditary leadership was the norm and their brief experimentation with other forms didn't go so well. so with all this in mind it's not that unreasonable to expect that he'd have tried to create some clear order of succession in the event that he suddenly died. i see it as an attempt to keep some stability in the government while it was in such a calamitous situation. i mean, he didn't even have any children when he established that constitution and wouldn't for years. so i have a hard time believing it was some cynical power-grab on his part. but yeah, i have a hard time blaming the guy considering his circumstances. so i give him a pass, though i generally oppose hereditary rule.

also, the question is about napoleonic france, not napoleon himself (though i stand by what i just said), and i would say that regardless of napoleon's attempt to create a hereditary dynasty napoleonic france itself never did. napoleon's son was titular empire for like a couple days but the french government never recognized him and eventually issued a proclamation that the laws would operate in the name of the french people, not napoleon ii. so i would argue the napoleonic republic was indeed a republic in every sense of the word up until the bourbon restoration.

[sailorgreywolf-german]

On the Holy Roman Empire

I have been thinking about the canon Germans, and the way that Holy Rome is a very interesting depiction given the history. But, the historical reality of the HRE is rather difficult to conceptualize, so I am going to do my best to explain the historical entity.

The Holy Roman Empire Historically

There is an old joke that the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, Roman, nor an empire. And to an extent this is true. The Empire was a secular body (in terms of not being ruled by a religious figure. No political body in the Middle Ages was truly secular), so not Holy. It also did not contain Rome for most of its existence. Nor did it conform to the modern understanding of empire because electors were able to ignore some dictates of the empire.

So, if the title is so misleading, why does it exist? Well, partially because the modern title of Holy Roman Empire is an amalgamation of a number of titles from across the many centuries that the empire existed. It is, to an extent, the best attempt to encapsulate all the claims made by the various emperors.

To reexamine the name, it in necessary to start with the first emperor. The title that Charlemagne was given by the Pope was Roman Emperor. The title from his coins and seals is: Imperator Augustus Romanum. This is the origin of the Holy Roman Emperor using the title “Roman.”

This is not Roman in the sense of containing Rome (or the Italian peninsula at all for that matter), but Roman in the sense of being the successor to the Roman empire. By claiming to be the Roman emperor, the German kings were laying claim to two things: 1. Authority in Europe. 2. Protection of the Church. 

The second point is vital, and is why the Pope performed the coronation in the middle ages. The empire isn’t Holy, but there is a large sacral component to the title. In being crowned by the Pope the emperor took the role of protecting the church.

And the third aspect is the most difficult to deal with, since it was a empire, but not at all in the way you might think. If empire conjures to mind a political structure where one person has unlimited authority over vast tracts of land and possibly colonies, then that is misleading. The authority of the Holy Roman Emperor was always, on some level, symbolic.

But in order to fully explain why it was so symbolic, it’s necessary to first discuss how one becomes Holy Roman Emperor. And in the process there are two important factors to consider: 1. The position was not hereditary. 2. The title did not stand on its own.

In the period after the collapse of the Carolingian dynasty, the position became an elected one. But, importantly, this is not elected in the modern sense, but rather, elected from his peers. The heads of the various German principalities and duchies elected someone to have the title of King of the Germans. 

This was a more substantive title that carried with it some obligation of support and homage from the other princes. It was the coronation in Rome that made someone the Holy Roman Emperor, which didn’t bring any additional men, resources or vassals.

That tradition was done away with by Maximilian I, the first Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, when he couldn’t campaign to Italy and instead had to request the Pope’s permission to be emperor from a distance. By that point both titles had effectively been compressed into one which gave the person who had it authority. But, by the Renaissance it no longer had nearly as much power as it did in the early middle ages.

But, this was not a hereditary title or position. The election meant that a select group of German princes and nobility chose the most qualified among them. In should be noted that this was not the Roman tradition. It was a uniquely German tradition. The Golden Bull of 1356 codified who the electors were, which meant some creative dynastic maneuvers to have a spot as an elector (like the Dukes of Austria using their positions as Kings of Bohemia and the Bavarian monarch becoming the Count Palatine).

But, if you were to look at the list of emperors, you’d notice them split by dynasty. Why does that happen if the title does not run in families? Well, the answer is that a current emperor could endorse his heir and have a higher likelihood of him being elected. But, it was also possible that if the heir was incompetent, the electors would choose someone else. Or if the heir was a girl - like Maria Theresa - there would be a whole crisis about who to elect.

Because of the election process, the title never existed on its own. To even be under consideration, the emperor already held a title - be it Duke of Saxony, Duke of Swabia, King of Bavaria, or Duke of Austria.  They had authority of their own before they were emperor, which further added to the additional imperial title being largely symbolic. The practical power came from their first title, not the imperial title.

The ability of the emperor to enforce their will was not grounded in their position as emperor. It was grounded on their ability to raise an army against electors who defied them. If they could not enforce their will, then their dictates meant nothing. This was most dramatically demonstrated by the elector of Saxony refusing to turn over Martin Luther no matter how much the Holy Roman Emperor insisted.

The Holy Roman Empire in Hetalia

So, with all of that in mind, the personification of the Holy Roman Empire is interesting because of what he represents. There is a pretty common view in the fandom that the personifications are tied to either land or people, but he proves that it is neither.

By nature of the construction of the Holy Roman Empire as a largely symbolic title attached to monarchs that held more practical titles, there is no part of the HRE that has land or people who would not be represented by another personification. As a personification, the Holy Roman Empire is a kind of abstraction. He represents an idea with a long tradition.

While I do not know if Hima’s thought process was grounded in all of this history, but portraying the HRE as the eternal child is actually refreshingly accurate. Because he is not grounded in an independent political entity, he cannot mature. So, he is stuck in the limbo of being a child.

The fact that the title was never held separately with other, more practically important, political titles also says a lot about HRE’s existence. He has no monarch, army, or land independent of another personification. So, he has a startling lack of agency. He is a child who is under the custody of whichever personification his emperor hails from. To add to that, being his guardian does led someone imperial prestige, so there is incentive to be the one who takes care of him. 

But he occupies a kind of personification limbo. He will always, by nature of what he represents, be stapled to another. The fortunes of his existence are very fickle, and he could be shuffled from one capital to another depending on the outcome of the elections. 

To fully appreciate his experience, imagine being a child of divorce, but instead of two parents deciding who takes care of you, it is a bunch of electors. And you have no ability to dictate your own preference in the process because you have no independent political representative of your own.

It is a kind of uncertainty that no other personification could experience. And you have to pity him to an extent.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

my man

my dude

why the fuck are you mourning queens death if monarchy is literally based on religious beliefs

mon·arch | ˈmänərk, ˈmäˌnärk | noun 1 a sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor: the reigning monarch | this followed an attempt by the deposed monarch to regain his throne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial. The succession of monarchs in many cases has been hereditical, often building dynastic periods. However, elective and self-proclaimed monarchies have also happened. Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often serve as the pool of persons to draw the monarch from and fill the constituting institutions (e.g. diet and court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements. [..] Monarchies are associated with hereditary reign, in which monarchs reign for life and the responsibilities and power of the position pass to their child or another member of their family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern-day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a royal family (called a dynasty when it continues for several generations), future monarchs are often trained for their expected future responsibilities as monarch. [..] Some monarchies are not hereditary. In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period. Four elective monarchies exist today: Cambodia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient. [..] A self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims the monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. There are examples of republican leaders who have proclaimed themselves monarchs: Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after having held the title of First Consul of the French Republic for five years from his seizing power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. President Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in 1976. Yuan Shikai, the first formal President of the Republic of China, crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived "Empire of China" a few years after the Republic of China was founded

Did you spot the religious basis? Cause I sure didn't.

if monarchy is

That "if" is doing a lot of work. It isn't, so...

And what would it even matter if it was? I also acknowledged Betty White's death. I have no idea what her religion was, if any. Sidney Poitier was approximately a deist.

What is even your point?

She was a significant, globally known and recognized public figure, someone's mother, someone's grandmother, someone's great grandmother. She worked for 70 years for her country, something she stated on day one and fulfilled right up until the end, and did so with what has always appeared to me to be grace and dignity, in a manner which I can't imagine almost anyone currently alive replicating.

Betty White was America’s grandmother. Elizabeth II was the UK’s grandmother.

We tout the superiority of secular humanist morality over religiously motivated morality, and yet we get this. I put up 20 posts of pictures of Muhammad, and I don’t get a single word. I do two posts of EIIR and it’s a problem.

If you don’t want to recognize her life and acknowledge her passing, that’s fine. That’s your prerogative. But I do. And this is my blog. So either scroll past or, well, I don’t much care what you do.

[nxmuzluv]

mexican empire — trivia

The empire (that is more formally known as the Second Mexican Empire) was started in 1864 by Emperor Armando, Jacqueline’s great-great-great-great grandfather. He was a lieutenant general within the Mexican army, and after he forced French forces out of Mexico and ordered their surrender, due to his wealth and influence (as he hailed from a Cuban-Mexican old money family), he declared himself emperor of Mexico due to his desire for the Mexican empire’s restoration.

During the reign of Jacqueline’s great-great grandfather—Emperor Gustavo Hernando—a socialist and wannabe dictator named Álvaro Angel Hernandez created an anti-monarchy “party” that wished to abolish the Mexican empire due to seeing the (then current) imperial family as corrupt. The party gained members, notoriety, and infamy throughout Mexico, and Álvaro had even gained some power over Mexico City and its neighboring territories. Álvaro seemingly went mad and randomly decided to storm the palace in an attempt to overthrow Emperor Gustavo. That attempt was unsuccessful, and Álvaro was tried with heavy treason and sentenced to death by hanging. His execution sparked the Guerra del Palacio (the War of the Palace), and the conflict lasted for three and a half years.

With the empire’s power, and with the help of Brazilian, Cuban, and later American troops, the Mexican empire defeated Álvaro’s party and prevented being replaced with an authoritarian, socialist regime. Since then, the War of the Palace has been the only civil war that the imperial family has had to face.

Mexico has one of the wealthiest imperial families in the world, having a net worth of $10.5 billion, and placing them at 5th on the list of wealthiest monarchs in the world. All of that money belongs to the emperor, and it stems from Mexico’s investments in the oil industry and agriculture, their various exports (such as beer, chocolate, chilis, and tomatoes), the support from the Mexican citizens, and from the emperor’s own investments into large scale banks around the world. The $10.5 billion will be split between the emperor’s immediate family (his daughters and his eldest daughter’s three children) upon his death.

Mexico became the first monarchy in the world to implement absolute primogeniture (meaning any child can assume the role of heir apparent to the throne regardless of their gender) in 1914. It was proposed by Emperor Gustavo after the birth of his three daughters after the birth of his eldest son. He was worried about the potential extinction of the dynasty if his son either died or was unable to marry or produce a male heir, and Gustavo’s own lack of another male heir only increased his worries. To ensure that the dynasty would live on, he proposed the idea of absolute primogeniture to the Mexican government.

His proposal was taken into question, as back then, women were seen as “unfit” monarchs and were seen as incapable of ruling a country. However, due to much pushing by the emperor over the course of eight months, by a vote of 71–63, absolute primogeniture was officially adopted in Mexico in regards to the empire’s line of succession. The empire received its first female heir apparent upon the birth of Crown Princess (now Empress) Victoria in 1967.

Since 1873, the empire of Mexico has also been known as the United Empire of Mexico (or the Imperio Unido de México) due to the numerous conquests ordered by Emperor Armando. Countries under the United Empire of Mexico include the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. From 1891 to 1959 (68 years), Cuba was also a part of the United Empire, and monarchs and their consorts held the titles of Emperor and Empress of Cuba.

The Second Mexican empire started off with a rather large amount of wealth, as its founder, Lieutenant General Armando José Enrique Velasco, hailed from a Mexican-Cuban old money family that was worth $16.4 billion ($302.5 billion in today’s money) by Armando’s father’s death in 1867. Upon his father’s death, the money was split between Armando and his brother, with both of them receiving $8.2 billion ($151.2 billion in today’s money). That fortune has been slightly diminished and restored over the years.

The Second Mexican Empire is an absolute, hereditary, and self-proclaimed monarchy. It was originally a semi-constitutional monarchy during Emperor Alphons’ reign, and during Emperor Fernando’s reign, it became a complete constitutional monarchy. The empire only became an absolute monarchy after its restoration. It is a self-proclaimed monarchy due to Emperor Armando declaring himself the emperor of Mexico after defeating the French.

Emperor Alphons—Armando’s eldest son—had the shortest reign of any Mexican monarch ever, as he only reigned for 11 years. He was known to be somewhat sickly from birth, and his sickness worsened later in his life, resulting in his early-ish death. Alphons was also said to be attractive during his youth and was quite the notorious playboy before he met his wife and consort, Josefina Ivette Isabel Correia, Lady Salvaterra, to whom he was distantly related to.

In his youth, Emperor Gustavo had quite the large selection of noble and royal ladies to choose from for marriage (or rather, for his parents to choose from). From that selection, he had wed Princess Helena Dorothea Maria Anna of Greece and Denmark, Viscountess Württemberg, a member of the Greek royal family and of the German noble House of Württemberg. However, they’re relationship was rocky and they seemed more like acquaintances than husband and wife, and just a year later, Gustavo and Princess Helena divorced. However, their marriage did bring the Mexican, Greek, and Danish royal/imperial families closer together, and it solidified their relationship for the next four generations. Princess Helena was never given the title of empress. A few months later, Gustavo married Agustina Natalia Sophia, Baroness of San Luis de la Paz, and the daughter of the Duke of Guanajuato.

Emperor José Manuel established the most international connections for the Mexican empire, ranking just below his son, Fernando. His marriage to Yoo Hyeryun, a middle class Korean native, was one of them, as well as his ally-ship with India, his friendships with the British, Greek, and Spanish royal families, and his push for exports and the offering of support to foreign allies. José Manuel also has the second longest reign of any monarch in Mexico, placing behind his son.

Emperor Fernando became the first Korean-Mexican to ascend to the imperial throne after his father’s death in 1960. He also has the longest reign of any Mexican monarch, and will uphold that title until his daughter can manage to surpass him.

Empress Victoria became Mexico’s first female regent in all its 139-year history, which caused her to also have the most viewed coronation since her father’s in 1960, amassing a total of 81.5 million people in Mexico and 24 million people worldwide. Meaning, a total of 105.5 million people had watched Victoria’s coronation. She also became the second mixed Korean to ascend to the Mexican throne.

Empress Agustina was known for introducing a lot of foreign customs to Mexico during her husband’s reign. She was known for her love of travel and for her interest in other (specifically European) cultures. She introduced the Scottish Lomond waltz to the Mexican imperial court, and had also introduced the concept of debutante balls to the country, as she established Empress Agustina’s Debutante Ball (Baile de Debutante de la Emperatriz Agustina) after attending Queen Charlotte’s Ball in London.

Dowager Empress Consuelo Teresa (or Yoo Hyeryun) became the first Korean woman to assume the title of empress (consort) of Mexico upon her husband’s ascension to the throne in 1928. She achieved massive notoriety due to this (and also due to her beauty), and further established positive connections between Mexico and South Korea. She also became known as the first commoner to marry into the imperial family, and became the first commoner to assume the title of empress consort. She is also the longest living empress in the empire’s history, being 102 years old by the events of Trigger Happy Havoc.

There had actually been a empress regent of Mexico prior to Victoria, although she wasn’t officially counted as a reigning empress like Victoria. Her name was Princess Josefina Maria Lupita, and she was Emperor Alphons’ older sister, and Emperor Armando’s first born child. Due to Mexico’s male preference primogeniture at the time, Josefina was misplaced at heir to the throne once her brother was born. She didn’t see it as an issue until she was in her thirties. Just a few months after Alphons was crowned, Josefina secretly mobilized a part of Mexico’s military, and had ordered them to storm her brother’s apartments within Chapultepec Castle

A few dozen were injured during that attempt of a “coup,” and two had died due to their injuries. Alphons originally thought that the attack was ordered by anti-royalists, but he later found out that it was ordered by his own sister. He was quick to declare war on Josefina, who was forced to flee to Costa Rica with the remainder of her troops. The war—which was named the “War of the Chrysanthemum”—lasted for only seven months, before it eventually came to a stalemate due to the intervention of the siblings’ mother. Alphons wanted to keep Josefina in Costa Rica, but was advised not to. After the war, the siblings never even looked at each other again, and Josefina moved out of Chapultepec Castle and into a separate estate

During the war, Josefina had triumphed over her brother for a short period of time (about a month or two) and had become Empress Josefina, and was “ruling” from Costa Rica. However, as she had never had a formal coronation and as she had an incredibly short reign, historians do not count Josefina as a true sovereign, and the title of “first empress regent of Mexico” officially goes to Victoria. Technically, however, it goes to Josefina

Emperor José Manuel’s brother, José Ramón, Jacqueline’s great-great uncle, had married Princess Alexandra-Beatrice of Battenberg, the youngest daughter of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and of Prince Louis of Battenberg. Alexandra-Beatrice—Jacqueline’s great-great aunt—was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, making the former queen of the United Kingdom Jacqueline’s great-great-great-great-great grandaunt.

Jacqueline’s great-aunt—Princess Valentina of Spain—is married to Prince Georgios of Greece and Denmark, Jacqueline’s uncle, and her title upon her marriage became Crown Princess Victoria of Greece and Spain. Crown Prince Georgios was formerly King George III of Greece, while Princess Valentina was Queen Valentina of Greece, the country’s first Spanish queen consort. However, Georgios only ruled for two years, and he abdicated the throne in favor of his younger brother, the now King Constantine II of Greece. Due to the marriage between Valentina and Georgios, however, that makes the Mexican imperial family relatives to the Greek royal family.

King Constantine II is Jacqueline’s great-uncle and his wife, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and Denmark, is her great-aunt. Crown Prince Pavlos is Jacqueline’s second cousin, once removed/uncle, and his wife—Crown Princess Marie-Chantal—is her aunt. Pavlos and Marie-Chantal’s five children are all Jacqueline’s second cousins. Furthermore, that makes Crystal Bienvenu (Jacqueline’s classmate) and her siblings Jacqueline’s third cousins (and they had no idea that they were that closely related).

The Mexican imperial family is incredibly popular among its citizens, and is said to be well loved. They are known to be a very progressive, casual, down-to-earth, and friendly family to the Mexican public, royal watchers, and to foreigners. They are also known for their close relationship despite their large number of members.

Despite their close relationship now, the Mexican imperial family was known as very rigid, somewhat cold, and had a nearly distant family life up until Emperor Gustavo’s marriage to Baroness Agustina Natalia Sophia.

Although the empire was previously abolished in 2003, after society was restored following the events of The Tragedy, Mexico was significantly affected by the world’s societal collapse and by a devastating war between the country and Cuba caused by The Tragedy, and in an overwhelming 125–9 vote, the Mexican empire was restored, the imperial family was allowed back, and Emperor Fernando got his political power restored. However, six months later, he abdicated the throne in favor of his eldest daughter and Jacqueline’s mother, Victoria.

During the holiday season and before Christmas, the imperial family sends out cards with a portrait of the entire family—both the Mexican imperial family and the extended Bourbon-Perez/Spanish royal family—on the front. 1,000 cards are sent out to random households in Mexico and around the world every year, and all of them are personally signed by the emperor and empress. Only 50 cards are signed by other members of the family. This tradition started during the reign of Emperor Alphons in the late 1800s, and had increased in popularity during the reign of Emperor José Manuel.

Christmas portraits of the emperor’s immediate family and individual portraits of members of the imperial family are also released before Christmas, as well.

The children of the family also make Christmas cards, write messages in them, and sign them for the palace staff. The messages usually thank the staff for their hard work throughout the year. Jacqueline is known for tying each of her cards with gold, red, or green ribbons, and she’s known for gifting the staff with homemade cookies, as well.

There is a Christmas tree located in one of the imperial family’s winter residences, and before Christmas, the family makes decorations to hang from the tree, and they also hang home baked cookies—that are mainly baked by Jacqueline—from it, as well. Additionally, the oldest or youngest child gets to place the star/angel on top (it depends on the year).

On Christmas Eve, a formal dinner is held at the family’s winter residence and includes only the family members and their close guests (such as friends and government officials with close connections to the imperial family).

Also on Christmas Eve, the imperial family usually plays soccer/football on the grounds of their winter residence. This tradition was started by Emperor Gustavo in the early 1900s. Currently, Prince Alejandro and Empress Victoria have won the most games. The imperial family also plays Monopoly on Christmas Eve, which was started by Prince Alejandro.

Alejandro and Jacqueline also skate on the pond on the grounds of the family’s winter residence on Christmas Eve, which was turned into an ice skating rink at Emperor Daniel’s request when his children were young. Additionally, the imperial family also plays ice hockey. In regards to that, Jacqueline and her teams have won the most games.

The Mexican imperial family usually attends church service at the Catedral Metropolitana on a Sunday before Christmas. On Christmas Day, they attend church again, no matter what day it is, and that service is a much more public event due to it taking place on Christmas Day. During service, the emperor and empress’s Christmas speeches are broadcasted throughout the country, and tens of millions of Mexican citizens either watch or listen in. After service, the imperial family has a carriage procession through Mexico City, and that night, a final Christmas ball is held. Following the ball, the family usually watches Christmas movies at their winter residence, as well as a late night rerun of the emperor and empress’s Christmas broadcast.

Christmas is one of the imperial family’s favorite holidays, along with Independence Day, Day of the Dead, and Chuseok.

The imperial family combines a lot of Christmas traditions from different countries during the holiday season. Of course, there are mainly Mexican, Spanish, Korean, and British traditions, but there are also German and Scottish traditions mixed in, as well.

Mexico is known for sending numerous equestrians, sailors, surfers, soccer players, and runners to the Olympics, most of which have medaled. Members of the imperial family who have competed in the Olympics include: Emperor Alphons’ second son, who competed in equestrianism and won bronze, Emperor Gustavo’s youngest son, who competed in sailing and placed fourth, Empress Victoria, who competed in equestrianism and tennis and won silver and gold, Princess Luisa, Victoria’s younger sister, who competed in swimming and won gold, Prince Alejandro, Victoria’s eldest son, who competed at both the summer and winter Olympics and won gold in figure skating and gold in equestrianism, Princess Jacqueline, who competed in figure skating and won gold, as well, Princess Isabel, Victoria’s other younger sister, who competed in snowboarding and won bronze, and Princess Catalina Anita, who competed in gymnastics and track and won gold and bronze.

Like the United Kingdom, the Mexican empire has an established social season as well. It starts on February 1st with the state opening of Parliament, and it ends on December 9th with Empress Agustina’s Debutante Ball. In between, events like flower shows, opera performances, sports tournaments, society galas, a dog show, and an imperial derby are held. A five month break also occurs in between July and December. The social season was also introduced by Empress Agustina, but it didn’t become widespread until Emperor José Manuel’s reign.

Mexico is also known for its classic original operas, productions, and various opera singers. The annual opera performance at the Gran Teatro Nacional is one of the most anticipated events during the social season, and it is one of Dowager Empress Consuelo Teresa, Emperor Fernando, Empress Catalina-Beatriz, Empress Victoria, and Victoria’s children’s favorite event during the season.

Mexico also has quite the large amount of painters and photographers. Two of the most renowned painters and photographers are Lady Magdalena de la Cerda, a member of the aristocratic la Cerda family and a famous landscape, surrealist, and portrait artist, and Guillermo Hernandez-Mendez, a photographer famous for his landscape shots and creativity. Both of them work for the imperial family, and they usually create the family’s portraits.

Mexico is also known for its incredibly strong military. It’s head is, of course, the current monarch of the empire. Emperor José Manuel had extensive military knowledge and training, which he passed on to his sons, the future Emperor Fernando included. Fernando passed that military knowledge onto his eldest daughter and heir apparent, the future Empress Victoria, who further strengthened Mexico’s military just like her father and grandfather had done.

Dowager Empress Consuelo Teresa introduced the Korean holiday of Chuseok and the celebration of doljanchi to the imperial family upon her marriage to Emperor José Manuel. Since Emperor Fernando’s doljanchi in 1937, almost every member of the imperial family has also had one. Unlike other holidays, banquets are not held for Chuseok. Instead, smaller family dinners/potlucks are held in the family’s summer palaces, and they also get the chance to speak to their extended family in Korea.

The family’s main residence—Chapultepec Castle—is lit up with colored lights for various occasions. Some of those occasions include Independence Day, the birthdays of members of the imperial family, the births of members of the imperial family, and coronations. The lighting of Chapultepec Castle was introduced by Empress Catalina-Beatriz and started after the birth of Empress Victoria in 1967, and it has been done ever since.

Other traditions include the public lighting of the Christmas tree in front of Chapultepec Castle, and the ringing of the Catedral Metropolitana bells once an imperial baby has been born and during an imperial wedding.

The title of Prince/Princess of Tijuana is a title given to the heirs to the throne of Mexico. It was created in the early 1900s by Emperor Alphons as an 18th birthday gift for his eldest son, the future Emperor Gustavo. Since then, there have been five Princes of Tijuana and two Princesses of Tijuana. The title of Duke/Duchess of Bourbon-Perez is a title given to the current monarch and their spouse, and it was created by Dowager Empress Consuelo Teresa upon her eldest son’s ascension to the imperial throne. The title of Earl/Countess of Bourbon-Perez was created by Emperor Fernando upon his eldest daughter’s marriage in 1988.

Upon Victoria's ascension to the Mexican throne, Prince Alejandro—Jacqueline’s older brother—became the new crown prince of Mexico, and he also received the titles of Prince of Tijuana (a title given to the heirs to the imperial throne) and Earl of Bourbon-Perez. Jacqueline also moved up a spot in the line of succession, going from fourth to third.

Most of the members of the imperial family have married/have been engaged to people with noble/aristocratic titles. Only five members have not done so, with those being: Emperor José Manuel, who married Yoo Hyeryun, a Korean woman hailing from a middle class family, Crown Prince Alejandro, who got engaged to Vivienne Young, a woman hailing from an old moneyed Peranakan family, Princess Isabel, who married Stephanos Alexander Onasis, a Greek commoner, Prince Maximilliano, Emperor Fernando’s younger brother, who married Bianca Rosalia Rodriguez, a Cuban commoner, and Princess Alejandra of Spain, who married Hernando Enrique Torres, an Ecuadorian commoner hailing from a wealthy oil family.

The Mexican imperial family has a total of 19 residences. They have nine residences in Mexico, and 10 residences in other countries (such as Cuba, the United Kingdom, and Spain).

[warsofasoiaf]

Can you explain the monarchy of the Byzantine Empire? Was it elective or hereditary?

The problem with the Byzantine Empire is that there was no codified form of succession, and plenty of emperors came to power in all sorts of fun ways. 

In peacetime, an Emperor might pick a favored relative and confer imperial titles upon them, such as Kaisar, or even crowning them as a co-emperor so that the purple would automatically revert to them. It wasn’t uncommon, for example, for an emperor to crown their young son as co-emperor, despite the fact that said son would be doing no emperor-ing of any kind. Those children who were born when the Emperor was ruling, in the Purple Chamber, were given the title “Porphyrogénnētos” literally born in the purple, and were seen as having a greater right to rulership. A regent might also be a co-emperor to an infant ruler, so say for example Emperor ChronicallyUnlucky names his infant son QuiteUnfortunate as co-emperor, then slips on a banana peel and falls out a window because he refused to listen to time-traveling OSHA regulations. QuiteUnfortunate becomes the new emperor, and his regent, Uncle Nepoticide, is named as regent. Nepoticide would probably immediately have the baby smothered in his crib, chalk it up as a case of crib death after bribing the physician, then name his son You-Know-Where-This-Is-Going as co-emperor.

But, there were also electoral procedures High-ranking officials sat on the council and they could vote when the succession was in doubt, this was the case for Emperor Anastaisus and how Justin the swineherd became Justin I (though it was really more like Justin the palace guard commander became Justin I, that’s not as catchy though), after essentially taking bribes used to secure his support since he controlled the palace to bribe the council to vote for him. Typically though, the council knew who the Emperor intended as heir and usually confirmed the Emperor’s intent since typically naming them to the position of co-Emperor was a move done with the consent of the council.

Not confused enough? Good, because those were considered ideal circumstances. In crises, or when an Emperor badly botched a military campaign or handling droughts and plagues or something or other, the troops might revolt, proclaim their strategos as the new Emperor and attempt to depose the Emperor, either by capturing the royal person or seizing the palace. Several different troops could do this, as could different noble factions, most of whom had their own private armies as well, which could mean a bunch of barracks emperors duking it out for who gets control. You might know this as the Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire, but this happened in the Byzantine Empire too. This is also why Belisarius, when the Goths offered to make him Emperor of the West, was not seen as something strange or bizarre, because such things had happened before in Roman history. After all, one of the principal powers of the Roman Emperor was imperium, the right of military command. The Emperor was the imperator, and in the Byzantine Empire, that title was maintained as the autokrator. 

And of course, we cannot rule out good old-fashioned intrigue, such as the absolutely splendid Anna Dalassene using every trick in the trade to get Alexios out of the city so he could become the ruler and founder of the Komnenos ruling dynasty.

This is abbreviated by the way, there was so much complex and bizarre stuff rolling around regarding Byzantine and Roman succession that historians have made it their entire careers to explain it. There are books written about how complex the politics of these empires were, even some that talk about early republican methods (though we wouldn’t mistake them for anything resembling republican democracy today) that came into effect. So don’t worry about it being as clear as mud, that’s just how it is.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[the-archlich]

Was Liu Bei actually descended from the Han or was that just something he made up?

Honestly, who cares?

He claimed to be descended from Emperor Jing. Maybe that was true, maybe it was just a family legend. Everyone likes having a famous ancestor and if you're a Liu you can pick anyone you want.

SGZ 32 (his biography) presents the claim. Most people seem to accept it uncritically. I think that's a mistake but it doesn't really matter.

The real question is: what is the practical relevance of this claim? Did it do anything for Liu Bei and if not, does it even matter? That quickly becomes a matter of opinion. I'll start with things I think we can safely call factual.

The most immediate use for such a claim is, of course, to present Liu Bei as a genuine scion of Han's founding line, which in turn allows him and his supporters to claim some form of legal legitimacy for their state. Guangwu, Han's second founder, was only distantly related to the previous ruling branch and Liu Bei's claim set him in the same mold. This is the same justification later used by Sima Rui at the dawn of Eastern Jin. It's as good an argument as any other he could have made.

It may have also earned him some good will from people he needed favors from; particularly in Jing. Liu Biao also claimed to be descended from Emperor Jing and although this wouldn't make him at all closely related to Liu Bei (Emperor Jing died 302 years before Liu Bei was born), it was a foot in the door. It likely garnered him some popular support by allowing him to claim a closer connection to Liu Biao and the distant Han emperor than he really had, though that is just speculation. Evidently he was able to leverage it enough that he was allowed to adopt Kou Feng, a distant imperial relative on his mother's side; such adoptions were typically only done between family members so we can see Liu Bei presenting himself as a matrilineal uncle by virtue of his distant heritage.

The question remains, did any of that matter? It probably was of some use in Jing (as stated above), and in that case it doesn't matter if it's true or not. It was a way for Liu Bei to inject himself into the local affairs and society, a way to get this foot in the door. That's a job it does just as well whether it's true or false.

The idea of dynastic legitimacy is a bigger question. One of the core arguments for Shu's legitimacy was that Liu Bei was a Han scion and - as the last Han scion with any power - it was up to him to restore the dynasty just like Guangwu. That argument, of course, relies upon Liu Bei's claim being true.

But I'm not convinced that matters either. Whatever arguments the scholars in Wei, Wu, and Shu put forward, they're ultimately just that well-known velvet glove over the iron fist. The founders of these states were warlords, people who came to power purely through force of arms and sought to take control of more land in the same fashion.

Court scholars loved to debate questions of legitimacy and succession. Maybe some of them actually even care. But I'm a cynical man and never believe that politicians buy into their own bullshit (unless they're full-on crazy). Liu Bei and his court knew that the story was just a piece of propaganda they needed to help prop up their argument. True? False? That's irrelevant. The truth doesn't matter in such a situation.

And while it's fun for scholars to debate questions of dynastic legitimacy, I haven't seen any evidence that this claim gained Liu Bei any significant support. There weren't significant defections from Wei and Wu in the name of the "rightful emperor." I'm sure you can dig up a couple edge cases, but defections by the like of Meng Da, Huang Quan, and many leaders in Nanzhong show that this claim did not particularly inspire loyalty.

As a thought exercise, I'll also note that Liu Zhang was still alive and that Sun Quan named him as Inspector of Yi in opposition to Liu Bei. Liu Zhang was also a Han scion, as much as Liu Bei was. And he only lost control of Yi because Liu Bei betrayed him. He had as much right to the Han throne as Liu Bei himself did.

Anyway. Was it true or not? I can't see how it matters. You might as well accept the story as presented in SGZ 32; it doesn't make a crumb of difference one way or another. The entire concept of dynastic legitimacy is invented to justify rule by a hereditary military dictatorship; the Divine Right of Kings with more paperwork. One is as legitimate as the next.

[gaylorlyrics]

the last great american dynasty

Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny

Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis

Rebekah is Rebekah “Betty” Semple West Pierce a sculptor, and philanthropist born on April 17, 1915 in St. Louis. She also composed music, one of many similarities between her and Taylor.

Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name, and money

Bill refers to William Hale "Bill" Harkness, the grandson of David Harkness who invested with John Rockefeller in Standard Oil. When David died he left what would today be over a billion dollars to Bill’s father, who was also named William Harkness. Eventually Bill inherited what would today be approximately $185M dollars from his father (approx 70% of this wealth was from Standard Oil shares).

And the town said "How did a middle class divorcée do it?"

In 1939 Rebekah married Dickson Pierce, descendent of President Franklin Pierce. However they divorced in 1946, and then in 1947 she married Bill. Her father was a stockbroker, and her grandfather started a trust company - so she wasn’t exactly middle class, but her wealth was significantly less than the wealth of the Harkness family.

The wedding was charming, if a little gauche There's only so far new money goes They picked out a home and called it "Holiday House"

Holiday House was built on Watch Hill in Rhode Island by Mrs. George Grant Snowden who, contrary to the song, named it Holiday House. Seems like this house has been having raucous 4th of July parties for a long time - at least according to this NYTimes article from July 6, 1941:

Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud

The language here mirrors that of the first verse - “the wedding was charming, if a little gauche”.

The doctor had told him to settle down

Bill died in August (interesting!!!!) 1954 of a heart attack - he had also had a heart attack the year prior, but that one was obviously not fatal. He and Rebekah had one child together named Edith who eventually committed suicide at the age of 34. 

It must have been her fault his heart gave out

This line calls attention to how women are frequently blamed for, well, everything. Something that is explored more in mad woman.

And they said "There goes the last great American dynasty" Who knows, if she never showed up what could've been There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything

The chorus and the title of this song seems to come from the title of a book about Rebekah called “Blue Blood: How Rebekah Harkness, One of the Richest Women in the World, Destroyed a Great American Family” written by Craig Unger. The from cover of the book reads “The story of Rebekah Harkness and how one of the richest families in the world descended into drugs, madness, suicide, and violence”. [Also, interesting that the background of the cover I found looks a lot like the blue/pink in the Lover cover!]

The chorus also references “mad woman”, another track on folklore. This song subverts the idea of a mad woman. The title and subtitle of Blue Blood use Rebekah as a scapegoat for everything that went wrong, blaming her solely for violence, drugs, mental illness, and loss. It uses several classic, sexist tropes of a gold-digger, a “crazy” woman, and the whore. However, in this song Rebekah is not taking the blame or feeling guilt about what is happening - she is having a marvelous time.

Another interesting thing is changing “great American family” - family is defined as “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household” - to the word “great American dynasty” - dynasty is defined as “a line of hereditary rulers of a country.” I find this specifically interesting because dynasty, unlike family, acknowledges a long lineage of people and decisions that lead to this outcome, as opposed to placing all the responsibility and blame on Rebekah, who only entered the picture at the tail end of this story. The title of Blue Blood has no accountability for the people who were involved with the dynasty before - framing it as if David Harkness didn’t choose to leave his wealth to his lineage, as if Bill Harkness did not choose to marry Rebekah, and as if the wealth Bill inherited wasn’t already diminished by 81.5% from what the family’s original wealth was (as passed down from David Harkness to Bill’s father).

However, Taylor is changing the narrative here to give Rebekah a more joyful way to be remembered.

Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever Flew in all the Bitch Pack friends from the city

Rebekah and her fellow debutantes formed a group called the Bitch Pack and were known for causing a scene at parties, doing strip teases on the tables or putting mineral oil in the punch, which acts as a laxative.

Taylor is drawing a parallel here to her famous squad days, when her and her group of girl friends were constantly under fire from the internet/press.

Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names

Rumor has it that Rebekah cleaned her pool with Dom Perignon. Being a socialite and one of the richest women in America, she frequently kept high profile/famous/successful company - hence the “big names”. Stories of her involve J.D. Salinger, Alvin Ailey, and Andy Warhol, to name a few. However, swimming in champaign is also a metaphor or the carefree life of the rich and famous - something that she used in This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, from Reputation, where Taylor describes a similar scene:

It was so nice throwing big parties

Jumping to the pool from the balcony 

Everyone swimming in a champagne sea 

And there are no rules when you show up here 

Bass beat rattling the chandelier

Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year

Another interesting tidbit is that the house where The Great Gatsby (1974) was filmed is the Rosecliff Mansion in Rhode Island, about 1 hour away from Holiday House.

And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet

Rebekah married twice more after Bill’s death, once in 1961 and once in 1974. As a life long dancer, she spent the majority of her time and energy founding (in 1964) and developing The Harkness Ballet Foundation, which still exists today as The Harkness Foundation for Dance. As part of this endeavor she also established a ballet training school and the Harkness Theater. She paid for everything for the company, from teachers to housing to plastic surgery. The company went on tour and performed at the White House, although it had a generally negative critical reception. At the peak of the company’s success Rebekah abandoned the project and started a different company

And losing on card game bets with Dalí

Although I couldn’t find anything specifically referencing a card game, Rebekah was good friends with Salvadore Dali. Here they are pictured holding a press conference together.

A portion of Rebekah’s ashes are in a $250,000 urn created by Dali called “The Chalice of Life”. The urn was designed to spin, so that Rebekah could always be dancing.

And they said "There goes the last great American dynasty" Who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything They say she was seen on occasion Pacing the rocks staring out at the midnight sea And in a feud with her neighbor She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green

According to the NYTimes, Rebekah dyed her neighbors cat green 

Fifty years is a long time Holiday House sat quietly on that beach Free of women with madness Their men and bad habits, and then it was bought by me

Weeee the classic Taylor Swift storytelling twist! This is a great flex by Taylor to just casually drop in a reminder that she is a rich woman who has made her own money and can buy whatever she wants. The phrasing of this also let’s us know that the house is no longer free of women (plural, more than one woman) with madness (we’ll hear more about being a mad woman later in the album), their (possessive, something owned or bought) men, and their bad habits (bearding?). Taylor is admitting to having all of these things. Who knows, if I never showed up what could've been There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen I had a marvelous time ruining everything I had a marvelous time Ruining everything A marvelous time Ruining everything A marvelous time I had a marvelous time

This makes me think of the line at the end of Miss Americana - “Sorry I was loud in my house. That I bought. With the songs that I wrote about my life.” 

Taylor, like Rebekah, is used to being blamed for everything and causing a scene. Even her purchase of Holiday House caused considerable backlash and commotion - with the governor creating a tax in 2015 (two years after Taylor purchased the house) called the “Taylor Swift tax” on homes worth over $1M dollars - something that affected many people in Rhode Island, especially those with large houses and vacation homes. All Taylor did was buy a house to live in (with her money, that she got from writing songs about her life), and she was immediately brought under fire.

However, like she did with Rebekah’s story, Taylor is flipping that narrative and focusing on how much fun she is having instead.

[objectofdesire2020]

HISTORICAL CONTEXT - What was the Meiji period?

The Meiji period dated from 1868 and lasted until 1912, during which Japan underwent significant cultural, social and political changes. This period witnessed the end of the Shogunate rule, which had been the hereditary military dictatorship of Japan between the years 1192-1867. The Shogunate rule was replaced by the rule of the Emperor Meiji, Prince Mutsuhito, who came to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 122nd emperor. The 220-year old Isolationism policy in the Edo period, also known as Sakoku, had come to an end. 

The ‘Meiji’ means the ‘enlightened one’ and the motto was ‘enrich the country and strengthen the military.’ 

The American commodore Matthew Perry had led a military and diplomatic expedition to Japan and had opened up the country to foreign trade. There were a number of contributing factors that drove the West on this expedition: 

The growing commerce between America and China.

The presence of American whalers in the waters off Japan.

The increasing monopolisation of potential coaling stations by the British and French in Asia.

Perhaps the most important factor however, was what the author Edward Said discussed in his book Orientalism (1978). These Asian nations were considered ‘backwards’ and in need of being saved, and therefore the West imposed political control on these nations to save them. In doing so, the West asserted their cultural and political domination over the East and established an image of superiority. 

Japan sought to reach the same technological and modern advancements of other nations to remove this ‘backward’ association and develop its reputation as a militarily, financially and culturally power nation on an international level. Japan adopted the slogan Bunmei Kaika, which translates as ‘civilisation and enlightenment’ and refers to its process of aggressive modernisation.

In 1868, the Meiji issued a charter oath that declared: ‘evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based on the just laws of nature.’

In essence, the reference to ‘evil customs of the past’ is simply to everything in the past.

Examples include the removal of the samurai’s top knot. 

There were radical social, economic and political shifts during this 44 year-long ‘Meiji restoration’ period. 

A highly centralised bureaucratic government.

The Emperor was expected to accept advice from the group that had overthrew the former shogun, which in turn allowed a small number of able and patriotic young men from the Samurai, who emerged to control and establish the new political system.

In 1869, these hundreds of semi-independent feudal lords had been asked to give up their domains, which were later abolished and transformed into prefectures of a unified state.

A constitution establishing an elected parliament. 

The rights and powers of the hereditary lords were limited.

New standardised tax laws were established. 

A well-developed transport and communication system. 

The start of the railroads in Japan began with the locomotives brought to Japan by both Matthew Perry and then by Russia in 1853. 

The intellectual movement Rangaku; known as ‘Dutch learnings’, was the source of Japan’s Western knowledge which also included technological information - notably Tanaka Hisashige (1799-1881) used this knowledge to create numerous inventions such as the Myriad year Clock in 1851.

The first commercial railway lined opened between Shimbashi and Yokohma in 1872, and in 1893 Japan had made their first steam locomotive. It was carrying 2 million passengers by 1880. 

Industries boomed:

A coal mine was founded in 1869 and operated at first with British assistance, in which it operated over 8 mines. 

The textile industry soared, and indicates the clearest pattern of cooperation between the private sector and the state. Government had responsibility over the wooden manufacturer.

In 1880, silk provided 43% of Japan’s export trade. 

A highly educated and enlightened population, that was no longer limited by feudal class restrictions.

Previously, school had only been available to children in higher classes, yet it became available to children across all classes, in a more Western-based education system. 

The intellectual movement Rangaku, had come from Dutch traders in Dejima. 

In 1871, the Japanese government established a Ministry of Education, with the aim of both improving the standard of living and dissolving class identities.

An increasingly growing industrial sector based on latest technology.

In 1870, Japan underwent an Industrial Revolution, which first appeared in textiles; including both silk and cotton, which had been traditionally made in home workshops in rural areas. 

By the 1890s, the textile industry began to dominate the home markets and successful began to compete with British products in both China and India. 

This was a means of catching up with the West, and to equalise in status and reputation diplomatically. 

Urban life and society transformed:

New architectural styles for public institution buildings and family homes emerged. They were built in brick rather than traditional wood.

Urban populations had the means and leisure to support a new mass culture, and their search became known as Ukiyo-e, which means ‘the floating world.’ This concept encompassed an ideal world of fashion, popular entertainment and the discovery of aesthetic qualities in everyday life, actions and objects - the equivalent to the ‘roaring 20s’.

A popular entertainment district was Yoshiwara. 

Classes became equal:

The Samurai lost their class privileges - they were allowed to wear two swords; one shorter than the other, and were allowed to behead a commoner than had offended them. 

The Daimyo no longer received money from the domains they owned but instead the government invested in them and provided them with pensions - allowed many to chance occupations to farmers, business owners and trades people.

Farmers had ownership of their land and had to pay a 3% land tax.  

Social discrimination had ended and people were at liberty to practise any religion. 

Women were given the same rights as men - right to equal pay, choose their own occupation and spouse, and could inherit and own property using their own name. Despite this notion of equality, women were not treated as equals to men - they did not obtain the right to vote until 1946. 

Interest in spreading diplomacy:

Japan’s Iwakura mission in 1871, witnessed the voyage of Japanese statesmen and scholars across both Europe and America, with the objective of spreading awareness of Japan’s newly reinstated Imperial dynasty and equally to explore Western modern industrial, political and education systems.

Hope to strengthen Japan and to remain a sovereign nation in the eyes of the Western colonising powers, and also importantly make itself a colonising power. 

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Unification of Germany, pt.1 An overview of European nationalism-stirred and suppressed (1803-1848)

-Romantic nationalism was in full swing within 19th century Europe.  An outgrowth of the French Revolution and largely spurred on in the wake of initial French successes during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).  One of the places this sense of nationalism was felt most was in the German speaking states of Central Europe.  At the time, this was a collection of multiple states of varying sizes, an outgrowth of the ancient Holy Roman Empire with the two largest states of the time being the Kingdom of Prussia and the Hapsburg Austria.  

-Traditionally since the Middle Ages, the Archduchy of Austria run by the Hapsburg dynasty had wielded the most power and authority becoming identified with the nominal title of Holy Roman Emperor.  in 1806, following Austria’s defeat at the hands of Napoleon’s First French Empire and creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a rump collection of French satellite states in the western region of German speaking territory.  The Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II dissolved the Holy Roman Empire officially.  Instead he created officially the Austrian Empire, out of the Archduchy of Austria and its territory elsewhere in Central Europe.  Francis II became Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

-Prussia had long sought to supplant Austria as the leading state in German lands and in the 18th century under Frederick the Great had attempted to do just that.  Despite its hard earned military reputation by the Napoleonic era, Prussia was outdated and overtly bureaucratic in its structure and tactics.  It also hadn’t fought war continuously for some time and was lead by old generations of generals.  1806 saw them taking on France largely by itself, following its resentment of French influence in German speaking territory.  It proved to be an eye opening experience, within a month Napoleon defeated the bulk of Prussia’s army and occupied its capital, Berlin.  In 1807, it finally surrendered and gave away a lot of territory in the process.  Prussia was also forced to suffer an occupation by French troops.  In the interim it began to reform its armies.  Along with Austria, both nations rose up against Napoleon following the French retreat from Russia in 1812.  By 1813, uniting with other Allied nations, they drove Napoleon from Germany following the October 1813 Battle of Leipzig, a key moment in the cultural memory of 19th century German peoples.  1814 saw Napoleon’s abdication and 1815 his brief return where he was finally defeated by a combined Anglo-Dutch-Prussian force at Waterloo.

-From that point on, the Congress of Vienna, orchestrated by Austrian Foreign Minister and later Chancellor, Klemens von Metternich sought to redraw Europe’s map to maintain a balance of power.  Which weakened France and increased Austrian, Russian and Prussian power as a counterweight on the continent.  German national feelings were stirred by the revolutionary ideas of the French Revolution which had shaken the monarchies of old, this coupled with resentment of French interference in their territory, signaled nationalism in its first throes.

  -Metternich was convinced that expressions of nationalism would inevitably lead to the disorder of the French Revolution and to an inversion of the “natural order” of monarchical rule, this became the de-facto conservative position in Europe of the time, pro-monarchy where as a liberal position was to take the nationalist cause.  One in which peoples united by ethnic and cultural ties of language, religion, tradition and geography would unite into a modern nation state, given to self-determination and possibly one that promoted the people en masse having a say in their governance rather coming from a monarch.  Metternich was keenly aware in the multi-ethnic Austrian Empire of just how delicate a balance needed to be maintained, Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians and Romanians all were under the Hapsburg umbrella and all had some level of nationalist stirring as a result of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

-The response of Metternich and other conservative reactionaries was to suppress the development of free press, closing newspaper and magazine publications that promoted ideas of nationalism, be they German or any other.  Metternich himself was German and the the Germans de-facto ran much of Austria’s bureaucracy, but the notion of a united Germany, possibly bereft of a monarch, was abhorrent to his sensibilities.  He proposed also maintained a robust domestic spying apparatus to jail any potential liberal or nationalist ideas that could oppose the monarchy.  Which in turn fueled more anti-monarchical sentiment.  

-Metternich had also orchestrated the Austrian dominated German Confederation to succeed the Confederation of the Rhine & Holy Roman Empire.  The idea was that the 39 German states that were members would be unified in association against foreign attack, mainly aimed against France but all the states would retain their autonomy with Austria largely dictating events.  Though an expanded Prussia also commanded influence which with France out of the way for now, saw the old Austro-Prussian rivalry again simmer underneath the veneer of unity.  No member state could leave the association and its laws were ultimately limiting to its member states, again for the sake of unity.  

-Metternich proposed the Congress system in which the major powers of Europe would work in the so called Concert of Europe to suppress nationalist and liberal ideas that undermined the status quo.  This involved a series of diplomatic summits from 1814 in Vienna until 1826 in St. Petersburg.  The included the Holy Alliance of the Austria, Prussia & Russia maintaining their imperial partitions of Poland, suppressing a revolt in Spain in 1820 as well as Italian revolts during this era.  The Quintuple Alliance of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain and a “reformed” Bourbon France also sought to maintain this balance of power through consultation.  

-However, in the Ottoman Empire, nationalism was afoot in the Balkan states, first manifest in Serbia which got de-facto independence following a series of revolts (1804-1813) & (1815).  Then in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829), the success of these movements which included Russian and later Franco-British support weakened both the Ottoman Empire and inspired the nationalist movements of Europe, despite Metternich’s hopes to suppress the very flames his supposed partners has fanned.

-The divergent foreign policy ambitions of the major European powers began to undermine Metternich’s Congress system.  Russia in particular sought to expand its territory and influence into the Balkans at the expense of the Ottomans, namely with control over Constantinople itself.  This coupled with the religious solidarity of their Balkan coreligionists of the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith showed the cracks in the Metternich’s plans.  Britain and France likewise began to somewhat temper their old animosity with increased opposition to Russian expansion into the Balkans and in Central Asia. 

-Another blow came in 1830 with the Belgian Revolution which separated Belgium from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.  Austria, Prussia and Russia remained unified in their opposition to the partition of the Netherlands fearful of any further revolution.  Meanwhile, France which faced its own revolution that year had a new more liberal monarchy installed, sought to support it, since the revolution was largely made of the Catholic and Francophone Walloon people of the southern Netherlands.  Britain was wary of French intentions to annex Belgium, but realized none of the other Great Powers were willing to intervene following French support to the Belgians and supported the establishment of a neutral Belgium.  This lead to the 1830 London Conference, in which ultimately all five Great Powers agreed to recognize and independent and neutral Belgium which was to be respected by and guaranteed by the signatories of the agreement.  The Netherlands wouldn’t agree to the protocol until 1839 which saw the recognize Belgian independence.

-Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali Pasha, Wali (governor) of Ottoman Egypt had been in effect independent from the Turks since the Napoleonic Wars and in the 1830′s with resentment over his losses in supporting the Turks against the Greeks, he sought compensation with control over the Levant, leading to military victories over the Ottomans proper, who saw Ali as further destabilizing the status quo, he was creating an Egyptian nationalism at the expense of Turkish rule and stability.  The 1840 Oriental Crisis saw Austria, Prussia, Russia & Britain support the Ottomans and negotiate an arbitration.  Only France, then in the throes of conquering the Regency of Algiers (Algeria) sought to support Egypt and Ali because it weakened Ottoman influence and expanded French colonialism in North Africa.  This lead to yet another split in the rival ambitions and cooperation of the Great Powers.  Eventually a London conference settled the matter for Egypt and the Ottomans.  Ali and his descendants would be hereditary rulers of Egypt & Sudan, in exchange for him withdrawing his armies from the Levant and Crete.  The Ottomans agreed to this position.  However, this gave way to the Rhine Crisis involving tension over French claims to territory against the German Confederation, ultimately it was resolved diplomatically but underpinned the ongoing precarious situation in Europe.

-In Europe, including the German Confederation many rapid social and technological changes were occurring.  Political ideologies like socialism and later communism were gaining some level of popularity among the industrial and rural working classes.  While an increasing middle class bourgeoisie with capitalist aspirations also took hold with increased economic power and independence.  While these classes were in philosophical competition with each other, the desire for increased constitutional rights for many if not all the populace were raising their collective voices.  Universities throughout German territories were becoming hotbeds of discussion for German nationalism or at the very least calls for constitutional and political reform, the suppression of Metternich and his partners was increasingly fragile and dwindling in its effectiveness to drown out the cries of revolution.  These cries across Germany and Europe more broadly resulting from a kaleidoscope of shifting and colliding ideologies, influences and peoples of varying backgrounds was coming to a tipping point on the horizon...1848...

[friendship-korea-japan]

8.9. Class discrimination ended

Question 8: About the shift of Korea › 9. Class discrimination ended

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8.9. Class discrimination ended

The class discrimination between the Yangban, sangmin (law-abiding citizens) and lowly people, which had existed from the Goryeo to the Joseon periods, completely disappeared by 1945.

  Following the Goryeo era, Korea had a strict class system. The royal family, ranked highest, owned vast lands and lived in a palace without working in public office.  

  Next were the civil and military officials (Yangban), who received land and salary according to their status. While civil officials were employed based on the result of the Gwageo examination, the offspring of the high-ranking officials could become officials just by succession. The Yangbans did not have to pay taxes and did not engage in physical work or military service. They just learned Confucianism, took charge of politics and led a luxurious life. The Yangban class was followed by the middle class, which included technical experts such as interpreters, doctors and station officials, as well as working-level officials in the administration. Common people were divided into sanghan (law-abiding citizens) and lowly people. The majority of law-abiding citizens were peasants. In addition to paying taxes, they were obliged to provide local specialties as tributes and were also frequently mobilized for labor services. While they technically had the right to take the Gwageo examination, it was in practice impossible for them to do so, as they were too busy with farming and labor service to have time for learning.

  The lowly people included gwaldae (performers), mugyeok (mu corresponds to women and gyeok corresponds to men), prostitutes and baekjeong (such as butchers). While some consider them to be part of the law-abiding people, they were presumably treated as lowly people in reality. The slaves were ranked as the lowest among them. The slaves were subject to complete subordination. They were owned by others; they had no surname; they had no right as humans; and they were treated as assets, being sold, bought, donated, pledged as a collateral or inherited.

  At that time, the main form of assets was not land but slaves, and they were passed down from the owners to their children. If either the father or the mother belonged to the lowly people class, he or she was in the same class. Even if a slave was freed, the freedom continued only for one generation, while the freed slave’s descendants were returned to slavery.

  Regarding this class system, “III. Social change and the unrest of the class system”, “Chapter VIII, Latter period of the Joseon era” in Korean History I describes the population size and ratio by class. According to this document, the populations of different social classes in Daegu, Gyeongsang Province in 1858 were as follows (source: pp. 198 and 199 of Yangban by MIYAJIMA Hiroshi).

Yangban: 7.4% in 1690 → 48.6% in 1858

Sangmin: 49.5% in 1690→ 20.1% in 1858

Slaves: 43.1% in 1690 → 31.3% in 1858

   It seems that the middle-class and the gwaldae people were included in the sangmin category above, but we are not exactly sure about it.

  As for the ratio of the Yangban, sangmin and lowly people, the percentage of the Yangban rose over time. In Daegu, Gyeongsang Province, the percentage of the Yangban class, which was 7.4% in 1690, accounted for 48.6%, namely nearly half of the population, in the final years of the Joseon era. Members of the Yangban class considered working as shameful, did not engage in military service, and led a luxurious life as rulers. The slaves, not recognized as humans and owned by others or the government offices, did not pay taxes or accomplish military services. It seems quite logical that a country where 48% of the population led a luxurious life without working, and nearly 80% (48.6+31.3=79.9%) of the population did not pay taxes or join military service, should decline and become incapable of maintaining autonomy. 18 years before the Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity was concluded in 1876, Korea was so rapidly declining that it had already become almost incapable of remaining independent.

  Besides, we have found the following description in an article entitled “Toward an egalitarian society”, “Step for modernization” in p. 198 of History Textbook of Korea.

[ The radical reformists tried to build a modern society by launching the Gapsin Coup, abolishing the hierarchy based on lineage and establishing the equal rights of people. Hereditary slavery was abolished in 1886.] 

  However, this description is not based on fact. This was because, according to History Textbook of Korea, in 1894, eight years after 1886 (when the hereditary slavery is supposed to have been abolished), Kim Hong-jip’s government proclaimed during the Gabo Reform that it would “socially defeat the Public and Private Slavery Act”. In other words, the class system, which the Kim Ok-gyun administration tried to abolish in 1884 through the Gapsin Coup, had survived and was still in place as of 1894, ten years later.

  It was King Gojong of Korea, as well as members of the government linked to the royal family by lineage, who dwelled on the slaves owned by the Yangban class, that defeated the Kim Ok-gyun and Kim Hong-jip administrations which had tried to abolish the class system and build a modern state, and killed the protagonists of the reform. The policy for the emancipation of slaves was not enforced by the subsequent lineage-based administration. As the members of the lineage-based administration of the day came from the Yangban class, they supposedly acted together against the emancipation.

  We have found the following description about the dismantling of the class system on pp. 94-96 of “Section II. A major shift in the history of civilization”, Story of the Republic of Korea.

[ At that moment, Korea started to go through a fateful shift that would never be reversed. […] First, the class system was dismantled. The equality of all people came true.

[…]

That was because Japan became the new ruler of Korea. Japan was based on neutral power freed from such class divisions as Yangban and ordinary people. Rather, it was inadmissible for Japan that a specific group of people should discriminate others based on class.

[…]

During the Joseon era, the baekjeong were the professionals who slaughtered cattle and pigs and made straw sandals using leather, but they were not treated as ordinary humans. […] However, when the Japanese administration proceeded to the establishment of the family register, they also forced the baekjeong to register. During the colonial days, they had surnames and Bon-gwan (legal domicile and place of origin of the predecessor of the paternal ancestor). Finally, the children of the baekjeong class started to attend school. […] Then, the Yangban rose in revolt. […] It is known that harsh demonstrations by the Yangban occurred in Yecheon area, Gyeongsang Province. During the Joseon era, the Yangban were called the defending soldiers of the state, and if they proceeded to demonstration, even the state could not do anything significant against them. However, this was not the case for the rulers from abroad. The demonstrators of the Yangban class were rapidly suppressed by the police organization of the Government-General of Korea.]

  In November 1905, when the Japanese Residency-General of Korea was set up following the second Japan–Korea Treaty, Duke Ito Hirobumi became the first Resident-General of Korea and resigned in June 1909. Therefore, it is possible to say that the legal abolition of the class system was the legacy of Resident-General Ito.

  Moreover, by 1945, when the Japanese rule came to an end, class discrimination had completely disappeared from Korea. It was now possible for all Koreans to act freely with their own will and ability.

  While the disappearance of the Joseon dynasty due to the annexation of Korea by Japan was an unpardonable event for the privileged ruling class including the Yangban, it was likely welcomed by the oppressed people because it meant emancipation from the class system. However, as most of the people freed from the class system were illiterate, it was possible that they could not describe that, and that only a history of anti-Japanese sentiment was passed down by those in the ruling class who were capable of keeping records.  

   In addition, we believe that Korea saw drastic improvement in various issues and that the foundation for the development of today’s Korea was established during the period of Japanese rule. This is because the class system, which had lasted for around 1,000 years since before the Goryeo era, was abolished, the Yangban class, which accounted for the majority of the population, started to work, and the slaves and commoners were allowed to act freely.