Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Absolutism
Absolutism in our American society is definetely viewed as evil. Although we have been conditioned to think in this manner, absolutism can have many advantages compared to a democracy. Our society is conditioned to think of naturalism as evil for a few reasons, war is one of them. Throughout the history of time the US has been at war with absolutist countries. Many of these countries are in a time of great despair before absolutist power takes over. This is because of the weak economy and the need for a quick government to be established without alot of complications. What can be less complicated than absolutism? One man descides everything and what he says goes. This is one of the advantages of absolutism. In our society today descisions, laws and rulings often take an extremely long time because of our democratized government. Everybody has to have their hand in on the descision, everyone must approve everything, everyone must make changes, and nobody can ever agree on anything. For these reasons our government is comlicated and judgements and descisions can take a very long time. In an absolutistic government the descisions are made immediately and without questioning or adjustment. This is clearly and extremely efficient means of government. On the other hand it is hard to find an absolutist leader that hasnt been driven crazy with power. Everything always seems to begin well, but as time goes on they begin to take advantage of their power and make drastic descisions that may not be in the best interest of anyone but themselves. For this reason, I dont believe that absolutism is the right form of government for any society. Although it may seem tempting, in time everything goes wrong in an absolutist government. Just looking at history i cant think that it would work out.
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I would have to Agree with you completely that absolutism does not belong in any country in todays day in age. However, when it comes to saying that everything goes wrong when an absolutist leader takes over is a stretch for me.
ReplyDeleteone example that comes to mind immediately upon hearing absolutism is louis XIV. while at the end of his rein France was in a state of despair i do not think that everything went wrong. Several great discoveries were made during this time and the Arts flourished.
While today absolutism is considered evil, in the 17th and 18th century it helped attribute great things to society.
First of all, it is necessary to realize the current zeitgeist when viewing absolutism. Living in America and being raised on the ideas of "democracy" and "individuality," obviously absolutism will be judged as evil since it contradicts that which we were forced to accept. Rather than listening to the voices of the people and acknowledging that everybody is different, absolute monarchs assumed that their opinion was best for all so it was implemented over the "uniform" population.
ReplyDeleteYet, one must take a closer look at our so-called democracy in order to attain a better perspective of people from past cultures. Our political system is not a true democracy, but rather a representative democracy. That being said, there are people who are completely overlooked in political processes. Our votes do not directly elect a president, but they are mediated through the electoral college. Our opinions are not necessarily heard; we rely on a figure that we hope will take most of our ideas into consideration. Gerrymandering is one way to bypass the interests of a particular group. Also, the representatives we trust can be easily swayed by donations and constituent interests. After all, the representatives goal is to stay in office and many will do anything necessary to foster its fruition. Even today power corrupts our politicians (i.e. Blagojevich), it is not merely a 16th/17th century phenomenon. Of course I could go on...
My point is Americans are taught through the media, their families, and a biased educational system that OUR democracy is the best possible political system and it is more than okay to shove it down everyone else's throat. I am neither suggesting that I can come up with a better political system nor that other systems are superior to ours. It is clear that our idea of a democracy is inundated with flaws, but numerous people continue to praise and condone it. Why is this? A large part of me thinks it is because we are taught to be “patriotic” democracy lovers, and some of us just do not know any better. Others may realize the weaknesses of our representative democracy but they fall back on various notions: "it is the best we can do right now," "other systems are not feasible or practical," "there is nothing I can do about it."
Therefore, who is to say that the people under absolute rule are so much different than modern-day Americans? I do not approve of absolutism, however I believe there needs to be a deeper understanding of the political climate and economic situations at that time. Additionally, the lack of adequate transportation and wide-spread media (i.e. television, internet, etc.) would have made it difficult for everyone to be well-informed about political issues and how the system worked. This brings me to the thought that absolutism is NOT evil, but it was more or less the "best" system for that time period (much like our current representative democracy?).
I definitely agree with your statement that absolutist government can have its advantages. Things can get done in a much quicker fashion under one powerful leader. It is for that very reason that in the Roman Republic the senate would give emergency powers to the Consul in times of distress. Without all the red tape to cut through, policies can be put in place that can stop crises much faster. We have also seen many great engineering, artwork and other technological advances come out of absolutist government. In theory an absolutist government with a just leader is probably the most effective of any governmental form. The problem of course is that individual leaders tend to become power hungry and end up causing problems for the people they rule over. That is why over time philosopher and other great thinkers started to come up with other ways of governing, and as a result absolutism is fading from the global scene.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutism could work out to be a great form of government, just like communism could. The fact is that no government works out how it should. Just as stated in a previous comment, democracy does not perfectly represent all people. However, this is a fact we must face and that is why there a policies and systems established is democracy that allow problems to be fixed when they arise. Though some people still find a way to cheat the system, the majority of the representatives in our government genuinely care about the well being of all people; whether a democrat or republican, all want the best for our country.
ReplyDeleteBack to the subject of absolutism; it is ridiculous to say that decisions need to be made quickly. In some special cases a decision has to be made on the spot, but in most cases it works out better to debate the topic. This will ensure that the best choice has been made, and that the majority of the people will be satisfied. Government is meant for the people, but it is very easy for an absolutist government to take advantage and exploit the people. That is why a decision proses, like the system of checks and balances, is a necessity to protect the best interest of the people.
Written by Spencer N
ReplyDeleteAbsolutism can work for a government; it just depends on the state of the country. Take for example Louis XIV, his country was in extreme turmoil with regards to power and he settled that dispute. There was no religious or political center in France and this was causing a battle for power. When Louis XIV started that, “France, I’m France” he left no doubt as to who the leader of France was. This allowed for the conflicts amongst the others to stop as they were no longer fighting over power, because there was none to be had. This affirmation of absolutism saved countless lives or a religious battle for power. Ultimately I agree with you in the fact that I can’t end well. With regards to Louis XIV, under his control France became a powerful country, however also under his control it became weak. His inability to recognize that the wars that brought his country to light were tearing it apart led to his downfall, this is what happens to most absolutist. They achieve what they rallied their supporters around, and then fail to adapt to the new situation. Caesar and the Qin Dynasty are examples of this.
Pertaining to one of the comments, absolutism could work in today’s society. As I said earlier, absolutism can work for a government it just depends on the state of the country. Countries are still fighting over political and religious power just as they did when Louis XIV took over. Absolutism can work; it just takes the right leader.
"In an absolutistic government the decisions are made immediately and without questioning or adjustment. This is clearly and extremely efficient means of government."
ReplyDeleteEfficient, but good? Generally, it is a good idea to think about major decisions for a while, especially those like laws that will affect a whole country. Also, it is good to have a system of checks and balances, especially spread out over a large number of people because it (in theory) decreases the chances that corruption will taint legislative decisions.