Quote of the Month

Writes American Monarchist:

The essence of elected government is that it gives power to those who are able to persuade the populace to give it to them. In an elected government, the chief prerequisites for power inevitably become such things as charm and a willingness to pander.

It is only to be expected that such people manage to quite thoroughly persuade that same populace that elected government is in their own best interests, against all the evidence.

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Our Wonderful New World

Writes “Mencius Moldbug” at his weblog Unqualified Reservations:

The US is the land of revolutionary democracy. It exports revolutionary democracy to Mexico and parts south - replacing the stable Spanish government that had kept the peace for so long. After its own little internal conflict over the Rights of Man, it terminates the French attempt to restore European government in Mexico. Result: chaos, murder, destruction. No country except the US achieves a democracy that is stable by American standards.

Writes Mr. Theodore Harvey at his weblog Royal World:

[A]s a reactionary monarchist who actually believes in real czars, I am sick of the modern world’s abuse of this ancient and noble title and don’t appreciate the irreverent reference to Yekaterinburg, perhaps the single definitive horror of the 20th century, which set the stage for all the others. America certainly does not need “czars” like Van Jones, but Russia does need a czar…or, to be specific, a czarina, since the current rightful claimant to the Imperial Throne is a woman, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.

Writes Mr. Daniel McAdams at the LRC Blog:

The Wilsonian anti-Habsburg hysteria, a suicidal strike on Western civilization itself, has produced nothing but totalitarianisms of the international socialist and national socialist variety as well as our own tyranny of majoritarianism and the cult of democratism. Millions dead and oceans of blood testify to the utter failure of the replacement to live up to its advertised promise of ending all wars and making the world safe.

National Constituent Assembly Dissolved

Two years short of eleven score years ago today, the National Constituent Assembly was dissolved.

Damascus

Seven dozen and seven years ago today, Ottoman forces abandoned Damascus.

The Hindenburg Line Broken

91 years ago today, the Allied Powers broke through the Hindenburg Line.

The Siege of Yorktown

Eleven score and eight years ago today, the Siege of Yorktown commenced.

T.S. Eliot

A dozen decades and a year ago today, T.S. Eliot was born.

Franco-American Alliance

Two centuries and thirty-three years ago today, the Continental Congress elected a delegation to secure a formal alliance with the Kingdom of France.

Lord Bolingbroke

331 years ago today (September 16 in the Julian Calendar), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, author of The Patriot King, was born.

United States Bill of Rights

Eleven score years ago today, the United States Congress proposed the Bill of Rights.

Rebel-French Alliance

Two centuries and thirty-three years ago today, the Continental Congress prepared instructions for negotiations with the Kingdom of France.

SCOTUS Established

Eleven score years ago today, the SCOTUS was established.

Bulgaria Withdraws

Five years short of eight dozen years ago today, the Kingdom of Bulgaria sought a ceasefire with the Allied Powers.

Central Powers Respond to Pope

Four score and a dozen years ago today, the Central Powers responded to the peace initiative of Pope Benedict XV.

Submarine Warfare Stops

91 years ago today, Imperial Germany ended her unrestricted submarine warfare.


Update: The date was a typo, it was supposed to be October 21.

French First Republic

Three years short of eleven score years ago today, the First French Republic was proclaimed.

Vive le Roi de la France!

"Causes of the Crisis"

Wladimir Kraus of the Mises Economics Blog tips us of a new blog on the causes of the financial crisis sponsored by the Critical Review Foundation, which publishes Critical Review.

Equality Debunked

The Ludwig von Mises Institute runs a piece by the late William Graham Sumner on equality.

Mad Government

The Mad Monarchist gives his thoughts on mad government.

Reflections on "Greater Europe"

Over at Taki's Magazine, Derek Turner reviews Christopher Caldwell's Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West.

The Siege of Toulon

Ten score, a dozen, and four years ago today, the Siege of Toulon commenced.

Habsburg President?

Members of the House of Habsburg are challenging the ban on their running for the presidential office of the “Republic of Austria.” So the Daily Telegraph reports.

Habsburg for President? I say Habsburg for Emperor!


H/T: Daniel McAdams of the LRC Blog

King Oscar II

Eight dozen, two score, and a year ago today, King Oscar II ascended the thrones of Sweden and Norway.

U.S. Constitution Signed

Eleven score and two years ago today, the federal Constitution of those United States was signed, and the Constitutional Convention dissolved, at Independence Hall in Phildelphia in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Jacobitism and Jeffersonianism

The Western Confucian posts on the relationship between Jacobitism and Jeffersonianism.

Buganda Loyalists in Kampala

NTV reports on the riots in Kampala in connection with the controversy of the King of Buganda:









In a BBC interview, the President of Uganda accuses the King of Buganda of trying to meddle in politics. Also, trials are reportedly under way.

The Daily Nation reported that the President of Uganda was to speak to the Parliament of Uganda today.


Elsewhere: Royal World, The Mad Monarchist

Mises-Habsburg Memo

The world is at war. The Hitlerite regime rules in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere. An Austrian nobleman is writing a memo in New York. He is writing to the head of a great dynasty. It is the twentieth day of April. The year is 1942.

Today, the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama publishes for the first time ever the memo of Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises to HIRH the Archduke Otto:

The best conceived and most desirable solution to the Austrian question is a monarchy with the legacy of the Habsburger tradition.

International Day of Democracy

Today is the International Day of Democracy. Adopted in late 2007, it is the second time this international day is celebrated.

In this Kingdom, the International Day of Democracy almost falls on the same day as Election Day, which is the second Monday of September.

There is a multi-culti flyer from the government, as there was for the local election two years ago, published by the Royal Municipal and Regional Department. The flyer this year comes in the “two offical Norwegian variants,” three Sami variants, Arabic, English, Serbo-Croatian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Somali, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Can someone please explain to me how people who need their voting rights and voting procedure explained to them in the language of their choice are supposed to understand what they are voting on?

Also, this year, there was a drive to get extra many people to vote in the Church elections, which were set for the same day as the parliamentary election. Can someone please explain to these people that the Church is not meant to be a democracy?

Baron von Ungern-Sternberg

A dozen years short of a century ago today, Baron Roman Nickolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg was “tried” and executed by the Bolsheviks.

Trenches at the Western Front

95 years ago today, the first trenches were dug at the Western Front.

The Siege of Savannah

Eleven and a half score years ago today, as a precursor to the Siege of Savannah, General Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Comte d'Estaing captured some British ships.

Election Day in Norway

In honor of Election Day in Norway, John Stossel is brought to you:

Russia Declared Republic

Four score and a dozen years ago today, Russia was declared a republic.

Mercer Interviews Gottfried

Over at Taki's Magazine, Prof. Paul Edward Gottfried gives an interview to Ms. Ilana Mercer.

Schiff on Gold

Over at Taki's Magazine, Peter Schiff ponders gold's rise above USD 1000.

H.L. Mencken

A dozen decades and nine years ago today, H.L. Mencken, known for not having a very high opinion of democracy, was born.

A quote of choice:

Democracy is the theory that intelligence is dangerous. It assumes that no idea can be safe until those who can't understand it have approved it.

Below you will find an audio recording of a Mencken interview:



Highlights from the 2008 HL Mencken Club meeting:



The 2009 meeting is scheduled for Halloween weekend.

Some more quotes:

Vienna 1683

Three centuries and two baker's dozen years ago today, the Battle of Vienna commenced.

The Guillotine's Last Fall

32 years ago today, the French Fifth Republic performed execution by the guillotine for the last time.

When will we see the retirment of the legacy of the French Revolution as well?

Austro-Hungarian Dissolution

A dozen years short of a century ago today, the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The great and late Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn remarked that having the Treaty of Versailles signed on the 5^th anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination was distasteful. One might say that it also was distasteful to have the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye signed on the 21^st anniversary of the assassination of the consort of Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary.

Empress-Queen Assassinated

Nine years short of a dozen decades ago today, the Empress-Queen of Austria-Hungary was assassinated at the hands of Luigi Lucheni.

United States vs. Austria-Hungary

Five years short of a century ago today, the United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing demanded Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Konstantin Dumba recalled.

Independent Brazil

A baker's dozen years short of two centuries ago today, the future Emperor Dom Pedro I proclaimed the independence of Brazil.

The Marquis de la Fayette

A quarter of a millennium and two years ago today, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de la Fayette was born.

Letter from the U.S. Minister

Seven score and six years ago today, the United States Minister to the United Kingdom, Charles Francis Adams, Sr., threatened the United Kingdom if she were to help those Confederate States of America.

The First Continental Congress

A year short of two centuries and three dozen years ago today, the first Continental Congress convened.

World War II

70 years ago today, His Britannic Majesty declared war on Hitler's Germany.

There is little doubt – if any – that the Great War and its aftermath were more or less the direct cause of the situation the world was in at the time.

The Great War put an end to the Old European Order, but we can also say that World War II cemented the new order and the end of the old world.

There is of course no doubt that the end of Hitler and his regime was a good thing – contrary to what can be said about the end of the regime the Great War gave us. However, not all is that rosy. One of the many things that arose out of the ashes of World War Two was that a large part of the former Habsburg Empire was left under the Stalinist boot.

Over at Taki's Magazine, Mr. Patrick J. Buchanan offers his perspective.

Over at the Beacon Blog, Dr. Robert Higgs does so too.

The Treaty of Paris

Eleven score and six years ago today, His Britannic Majesty recognized each single of those 13 United States of America.

Pope Benedict XV

Ninety-five years ago today, Giacomo Cardinal della Chiesa ascended to the papacy as Pope Benedict XV.

Benedict XV called the Great War the “suicide of Europe,” and he worked to bring peace.

Lord Halsbury

Nine score and six years ago today, the 1^st Earl of Halsbury – a leading opponent of the Parliament Act 1911 – was born.

Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Professor Dr. Dr. Hans-Hermann Hoppe is 60 years old today. Happy birthday!

A collection of essays has been published in honor of the occasion. It contains a section on democracy with four essays.

We cite here from the works of Hoppe:

From the vantage point of elementary economic theory and in light of historical evidence, then, a revisionist view of modern history results. The Whig theory of history, according to which mankind marches continually forward toward ever higher levels of progress, is incorrect. From the viewpoint of those who prefer less exploitation over more and who value farsightedness and individual responsibility above shortsightedness and irresponsibility, the historic transition from monarchy to democracy represents not progress but civilizational decline.

And:

[D]emocracy is worse than monarchy at keeping the size and reach of the state in check.

Joseph Roth

Five years short of a dozen decades ago today, Joseph Roth was born.

Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien passed away three dozen years ago today. The great writer wrote in a letter to Christopher Tolkien:

My political beliefs lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) – or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy ... Give me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you care to call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers.

Mr. Theodore Harvey has a collection of links and yours truly did a piece a few years ago; The Return of the King.

Olive Branch Petition Rejected

Half a dozen years short of a dozen score years ago today, His Britannic Majesty refused the Olive Branch Petition.

Christian August Selmer

A dozen decades ago today, Christian August Selmer, Norwegian Prime Minister of King Oscar II, who fought with His Majesty against the usurping Parliament during the “constitutional crisis” of the 1880s, passed away.