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Yet I somehow think constitutional monarchies work. There is a reason (I don't know what) that the european ones are in the western richer + generally strong an
by haunter 4y ago
Yet I somehow think constitutional monarchies work. There is a reason (I don't know what) that the european ones are in the western richer + generally strong and high functioning democratic countries (Spain, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg).
- epilys 4y agoThe reason is actually well known. It even has a name: imperialism.
- jeroenhd 4y agoThe Netherlands were practically bankrupt after the second world war, as was most of Europe. This, together with the fact that much of Asia was in a similar situation, has led to the exceptional wealth America quickly attained in a short period of time, as they were the only major industrial power left. The colonies were no longer making much profit for the few years after WW2 either, to the point where Suriname got ejected more than it got liberated from imperial rule. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Luxembourg never even had colonies of note to get rich off (unless you count European wars as colonies). Oil and natural gas together with heavy investment from the USA were more important to the western countries' current wealth than anything else. The USSR messing up the once powerful economies of eastern Europe also helped drive down competition, as did the unrest in most of Asia. Having some infrastructure and political designs from the height of imperial power sure helped, but imperialism is hardly the reason these countries are as rich as they are today. In fact, Spain and Portugal were much stronger and richer countries during the height of colonial rule yet they are comparatively poor to both north-west-European and the Scandinavian states today.
- AlecSchueler 4y agoI don't think the separate is as strong as you suggest. Most of the world was ravaged by World War 2 but the Marshall Plan was designed to assist the previously imperial nations only.
- edgyquant 4y agoColonial empires were a net drag on the economies of these nations.
- mkl95 4y agoConstitutional monarchies are good for stability, at the expense of political freedom. They make sense for Spain and the UK since they are internally unstable, but not so much for Norway and similar countries that are on "cruise control".
- pestatije 4y ago[flagged]
- dang 4y agoCould you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
- pestatije 4y agoFuck off...the guy said Spain is a highly functioning democracy, i'm just biting his flamebait
- dang 4y agoWe need people to follow the rules regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. Otherwise we end up in a downward spiral: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=downward%20spiral%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor....