Our current president, who appears to have monarchial ambitions, has supporters who are ready unabashedly to advocate for monarchy, out loud and unrestrained. One of those advocates for "monarchy" is Curtis Yarvin. I was pleased to see that Danielle Allen, a professor at Harvard, has been willing to take on Yarvin and his argument in favor of jettisoning our system of democratic self-government in favor of a frank, out-front "monarchy." The New York Times had a nice write-up on the debate.
Does this seem outlandish to you? I mean, advocating for "monarchy" in America? Well, maybe we should take seriously the idea that some people are willing to mount a revolution in favor of "monarchy." Professor Allen certainly takes that possibility seriously!
I am providing you with a link to Allen's May 7, 2025, column in The Wall Street Journal, "Why I Debated Curtis Yarvin At Harvard." If you can't get access to that column in The Journal, paywall protections being what they are, try this link, which will take you to a website maintained by Harvard. Allen says, among other things - I am citing to the column in The Wall Street Journal - that "we have allowed political parties to capture our institutions, and to govern for their own sake rather than the public good." Supposing that this is true (and there is some legitimacy to such a claim), "Monarchy" is not the answer - at least according to Allen. Instead, she says, "we need to renovate our democratic institutions, starting with party reform."
Allen and I, in other words, are singing the same tune. I published a blog posting just a few days ago that I titled, "Is The Party Over?" We can't expect the Democratic Party, or any other political party, to carry the full weight of what we generally call, "Democracy," though I like to call our system "Self-Government." I think my phrasing sends the right message. If we want to preserve the kind of democratic self-government established after the American Revolution - our "Democracy" - we need to get involved in government "ourselves."
Here is another way to put it: "We, the people," are supposed to be "running the place."
WE are supposed to be in charge, not some "Monarch!"
If we aren't "running the place," or if we aren't doing that in any effective way, then that's on us, and we'd better hop to the task of getting on top of our responsibilities. If we don't.... Well, check that image at the top of this blog posting. Somebody who looks just like that might want to fill the vacuum.
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