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> But Charles II was not keen. He had Knight arrested for suggesting that the king might benefit financially from such a calamity. ..aaand this kind of thing r

> But Charles II was not keen. He had Knight arrested for suggesting that the king might benefit financially from such a calamity. ..aaand this kind of thing reminds me why democracy, for all its imperfections, ain't so bad...

elthran 11y ago
Counter point, from the wiki article on Charles 2 >Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it If you want examples of monarchy being worse than democracy, you certainly have plenty of examples with the 2 Charles (There wasn't a civil war for no reason), but there are plenty of examples of democracy being worse than an autocratic system
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  I wouldn't say the Parliament of the 1600s was very democratic.
  - notahacker 11y ago
    But to be fair, if it was more democratic it would have been even more reflexively anti-Catholic at the time...
- Nr7 11y ago
  "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." - Winston Churchill
ant6n 11y ago
If only there were more actual democracies. I'm tired of a certain bizarro misdirection circus.
pjc50 11y ago
It was a turbulent time. England(+) had just emerged from a period of Puritan military dictatorship following the overthrow of Charles I. We went from an absolute monarch to a dictator to an absolute monarch to a limited monarchy in 1688. Arguably the UK wasn't a fully parliamentary democracy until the Parliament Act 1911. (+) Not the UK at this time!
- ZeroGravitas 11y ago
  Possibly more correct to say that "We went from a dictator who was also an absolute monarch, to a dictator who wasn't, to a dictator who was". But we do love a bit of heriditary military dictatorship here in the UK.
  - clock_tower 11y ago
    "Dictator" implies illegitimacy, unpredictability, or spontaneity -- coming to power by some sort of coup or political surprise. More importantly, it implies being entirely unfettered by law, custom, and the wills of one's subjects -- like the Roman dictators were -- which isn't even true of Cromwell, and certainly isn't true of the kings.
    - ZeroGravitas 11y ago
      You'll find in most definitions, people go out of their way to not lump Kings in with dictators. Because Kings are the dictators we like for some weird reason. And it usually leads to bizarre contortions. Even with your very specific definition, it pretty much applies to a whole bunch of kings. edit: hah, found a blatant example from dictionary.com Dictator: a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession. How weird that you escape the title "dictator" just by dictating that your kids will be the dictator after you!
      - desas 11y ago
        Not sure how well that worked for Richard Cromwell
clock_tower 11y ago
There are some thoughts that an aspiring absolute monarch should be very careful not to think; and wanting to make money off a natural disaster is pretty sleazy thinking anyways. I agree, though, that imprisonment probably isn't the right response...

elthran 11y ago

Counter point, from the wiki article on Charles 2 >Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it If you want examples of monarchy being worse than democracy, you certainly have plenty of examples with the 2 Charles (There wasn't a civil war for no reason), but there are plenty of examples of democracy being worse than an autocratic system

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
I wouldn't say the Parliament of the 1600s was very democratic.
- notahacker 11y ago
  But to be fair, if it was more democratic it would have been even more reflexively anti-Catholic at the time...
Nr7 11y ago
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." - Winston Churchill

ant6n 11y ago

If only there were more actual democracies. I'm tired of a certain bizarro misdirection circus.

pjc50 11y ago

It was a turbulent time. England(+) had just emerged from a period of Puritan military dictatorship following the overthrow of Charles I. We went from an absolute monarch to a dictator to an absolute monarch to a limited monarchy in 1688. Arguably the UK wasn't a fully parliamentary democracy until the Parliament Act 1911. (+) Not the UK at this time!

ZeroGravitas 11y ago
Possibly more correct to say that "We went from a dictator who was also an absolute monarch, to a dictator who wasn't, to a dictator who was". But we do love a bit of heriditary military dictatorship here in the UK.
- clock_tower 11y ago
  "Dictator" implies illegitimacy, unpredictability, or spontaneity -- coming to power by some sort of coup or political surprise. More importantly, it implies being entirely unfettered by law, custom, and the wills of one's subjects -- like the Roman dictators were -- which isn't even true of Cromwell, and certainly isn't true of the kings.
  - ZeroGravitas 11y ago
    You'll find in most definitions, people go out of their way to not lump Kings in with dictators. Because Kings are the dictators we like for some weird reason. And it usually leads to bizarre contortions. Even with your very specific definition, it pretty much applies to a whole bunch of kings. edit: hah, found a blatant example from dictionary.com Dictator: a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession. How weird that you escape the title "dictator" just by dictating that your kids will be the dictator after you!
    - desas 11y ago
      Not sure how well that worked for Richard Cromwell

clock_tower 11y ago

There are some thoughts that an aspiring absolute monarch should be very careful not to think; and wanting to make money off a natural disaster is pretty sleazy thinking anyways. I agree, though, that imprisonment probably isn't the right response...