Is it good to have a monarchy?

[Levike]

If Romania were a monarchy then how would it be?

This is a question that I ask myself many times
since we once had a king "Regele Mihai".

During communism he and the queen were exiled
and now they returned to our country with their descendants.

Should Romania turn into a monarchy
where the royal family ( "familia regală" )
would play a similar role like the one in Sweden, England or Spain?

I mean like a symbol without any influence in politics.

Please post your opinions?
( In English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian or Romanian )

[Lur]

Avoid at all costs!

[JackFrost]

Canada shares a monarch with Britain. Symbolic in practice, but it has reserve powers that may be used under extreme circumstances at the monarch's or her governor general's discretion.

In my province, the Queen is seen as a vestige of British colonialism that tried over and over to stamp out the French-speaking minority groups throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Yeah, I'd vote to get rid of it without any qualms.

[Marah]

The idea of someone's blood being "higher" than yours is totally absurd. So yeah, I'm against monarchies.

[md0]

I detest all non-elected ruling elites, including the monarchy but also things like the Sénat(FR)/House of Lords(UK), even if they happen to pass laws I support. I also dislike the parliamentary system where the Prime Minister is not directly elected, but is the leader of the majority party in the parliament (like in Greece, where the decorative President isn't elected either).

But of course I am a hypocrite because I believe that Brussels should unilaterally assume control of Cyprus, no questions asked. But what I said still stands for states that are not FUBAR.

During communism he and the queen were exiled
and now they returned to our country with their descendants.

Hopefully without any property. If they still have immense wealth, tax them to death.

[JackFrost]

even if they happen to pass laws I support

It doesn't matter what they have to say. The other house is supreme basically.

Like, when a federal sales tax was passed by the House in the 1980s, the Senate blocked it. So, the PM just nominated more members on condition that they'd vote for it. Problem bypassed. At least the PM is elected somehow.

[md0]

Yet they are paid expenses and/or salaries to sit around and do nothing of value. Off with their seats.

[JackFrost]

Definitely. Letting them have their opinion is a pure waste of time. Like, shut up and pass the bills.

Won't be easy though. The constitution writers have made it very difficult to abolish the monarchy: a consent from both federal houses and ten provinces. The Senate, however, could be abolished or changed into an elected body of provinces (like the US, German, and Australian models) with a slightly more simple procedure: a consent from both federal houses and seven of ten provinces that contain at least 50% of the national population.

At this rate, I can't see how this system full of grandfather clauses would last very long. Like, Prince Edward Island, has four MPs. For an island of 145,000 people. The representation by the population is all fucked up. You know, the small provinces' population have been stable for almost 30 years whereas the central and western parts of the country are still growing faster (even faster for the western provinces). But that's a different topic, I guess, since we're just talking about the monarchy.

[Lur]

I hate monarchies with a passion.

[md0]

I count "central planning committees" as monarchies too.

Btw, I will go out on a limb and speculate that the vast majority of countries with "divine" Senates have it as a compromise, otherwise they will be still be absolute monarchies. No sane people will keep such a relic of the "people can't be trusted" mentality in their constitution if not at gunpoint.
But France, Canada, the UK etc are grown-up countries. It's time they abolish this bullshit, even if they are time waster rather than ruling elites.

[mōdgethanc]

In my province, the Queen is seen as a vestige of British colonialism

Good enough reason to get rid of it on its own if you ask me.

[Hoogstwaarschijnlijk]

I like having a monarchy, it's so much fun to have a king and a royal family! Rationally I think it's somewhat wrong but emotionally... I don't even mind when they have a bit political influence, I think it's good when a country has a constant factor, a family that everyone knows and has an opinion about. And they can provide you a colour to wear when there are Olympic Games and such.

[Lur]

The only people I know with that attitude towards monarchies are either Dutch (many of them) or right wing Spaniards.

I once shook hands with Juanca. I was 16. In restrospect, I should have punched him in the face. A golden opportunity, lost forever...

[Levike]

I would like to have a king here in Romania.

Something that would connect us and a good symbol.

I would love to have someone who would hold a speech on every holiday.

The last king is now like 100 years old ( a living munny )
but maybe his daughter "Principesa Margareta" would do the job.

"Regatul României" sounds better then just "România".

[md0]

The President can hold a speech every holiday. If they don't have anything better to do of course, eg solve the country's problems.

[mōdgethanc]

The only people I know with that attitude towards monarchies are either Dutch (many of them) or right wing Spaniards.

Scandinavians too, and Thais. Thais fucking love their king. Japanese too if emperors count.

I once shook hands with Juanca. I was 16. In restrospect, I should have punched him in the face. A golden opportunity, lost forever...

He's not so bad. One time he told off Hugo Chavez.

[md0]

The Emperor of Japan, Akihito, trolled his very own fanbase of right-wing nationalists by revealing he has Korean roots (of course they ultimately descent from the Goddess of Sun ). Monarchy is still not justified.

[Car]

And they can provide you a colour to wear when there are Olympic Games and such.

People from republics don't have any problems with that either.

I fail to understand how there still can be monarchies in modern, Western countries, TBH. I'm fine with indirectly elected politicians.

[Lur]

I once shook hands with Juanca. I was 16. In restrospect, I should have punched him in the face. A golden opportunity, lost forever...

He's not so bad. One time he told off Hugo Chavez.

Although Chávez kept interrupting them, he did so calling out Aznar fascist in public, which is actually close to the truth. It's no surprise he was told to shut up.

[ffrench]

The only people I know with that attitude towards monarchies are either Dutch (many of them) or right wing Spaniards.

Scandinavians too, and Thais. Thais fucking love their king. Japanese too if emperors count.

Thais aren't really allowed to not love their king though, are they.

I consider monarchies an anachronism anywhere, and although I've tried to weigh that against the risk of speaking about cultures I know next to nothing about, I simply cannot justify the existence of monarchies in our world.