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Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

nytimes.com

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Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#111

Post by msh »

systemtest wrote: post #9
moogly wrote: post #4

I propose a deal: Let the man rest in exchange for the abolishment of the constitutional monarchy. Symbolic or not, it's outmoded and incongruent with modern egalitarian society. The list of constitutional monarchies is rather embarrassingly long (37 countries).

Nothing wrong with a constitutional monarchy. You get all the benefits from democratically chosen representatives without the downside of the 4-year moodswings. The monarch will always choose what is best for the country instead of what is best for the currently ruling party. It looks at long-term vision instead of just the 4-year term. It takes care of continuity instead of the "this will not be my problem in 6 mont…

What are they supposed to choose? The monarch of my country makes no political choices.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#112

Post by Tomte »

msh wrote: post #110
twblalock wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you honestly believe that the Queen should have stepped in? That would have been totally undemocratic, and it would have undermined constitutional part of constitutional monarchy.

The Brits don't have a constitution or a constitutional monarchy.

Sure they do. Just not a single written document with a big heading "Constitution".

Sweden is kind-of in the middle. They have their constitution written, but in four documents.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#113

Post by ajuc »

afandian wrote: post #107
ajuc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pope can actually make decisions with consequences.

They only have consequences because enough people imbue the symbol with significance.

He's a CEO of an organization with more than 400 000 people in middle management (priests) alone (and they have to listen to his orders or lose their status or even be sued before a special court).

He can make state decisions (small state, but still).

Not comparable to strictly ceremonial function of Japan's emperor.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#114

Post by simonbyrne »

gumby wrote: post #80
moogly wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I am cynical but are you sure they didn't vote against it because they like "traditions", pretty parades and hand-waving and think princes and princesses are quaint and fun and secretly in their hearts they wish they could be one? I do live in a 1000-year-old constitutional monarchy after all and that's the pro arguments I tend to hear. "Good for tourism" is another one.

Cynical you may be, but your case doesn't apply to Australia (I can understand your perspective though!). The Australian constitutional referendum was cleverly constructed to keep the monarchy. TWO republican options were offered in order to split the republican side, and both were engineered for short-term aggrandizement of politicians rather than give the country a sound constitution. So a "first, do no harm" strat…

Actually, only one option was offered at the referendum [1] (president selected by 2/3 majority of parliament). Various options were considered at an earlier constitutional convention, but only 1 was on the ballot.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_republic_referendum...

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#115

Post by timje1 »

hristov wrote: post #53

One interesting factoid that the new york times did not mention is that while it was common for emperors to resign before the meiji restoration, a lot of those resignations probably were not voluntary. The Japanese emperors are the longest reigning royal dynasty in the world, having reigned for the entire known history of the nation. But perhaps heir secret is that they did not have much power most of the time. Durin…

Quick FYI - factoid: a false fact that is repeated often enough to become accepted as true.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#116

Post by guard-of-terra »

littletimmy wrote: post #51
moogly wrote: post #4

I propose a deal: Let the man rest in exchange for the abolishment of the constitutional monarchy. Symbolic or not, it's outmoded and incongruent with modern egalitarian society. The list of constitutional monarchies is rather embarrassingly long (37 countries).

Ordinary people do seem to like their royalty. The endless fascination that the people of Japan have with their Emperor, the British have with their royal family, among other examples, shows that people do find it comforting to see a familiar face at the helm of the nation. Sort of like a representative of the national will. And "modern egalitarian society"? Please. The only reason democracy works in the US is that t…

> There was not (and will never be) any egalitarian civilization on earth.

What about Switzerland?

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#117

Post by sverige »

daemin wrote: post #106
celticninja wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if he skips it and William is crowned instead?

That would only occur if Prince Charles was dead.

Not true. He divorced and remarried which makes him ineligible for the crown.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#118

Post by cgriswald »

timje1 wrote: post #115
hristov wrote: post #53

One interesting factoid that the new york times did not mention is that while it was common for emperors to resign before the meiji restoration, a lot of those resignations probably were not voluntary. The Japanese emperors are the longest reigning royal dynasty in the world, having reigned for the entire known history of the nation. But perhaps heir secret is that they did not have much power most of the time. Durin…

Quick FYI - factoid: a false fact that is repeated often enough to become accepted as true.

Your little factoid is an example of the definition of factoid you're describing. But there are other definitions of factoid and I suspect the most common one is along the lines "small tidbit of information".

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#119

Post by gonvaled »

ptaipale wrote: post #89
ajuc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pope can actually make decisions with consequences.

Yes, the pope can actually make decisions with consequences, but as Stalin put it, "The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" Well, he doesn't have any, the power comes through his symbolic position.

Stalin was probably undervaluing religious zealotry.

Re: Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Throne

#120

Post by afandian »

ajuc wrote: post #113
afandian wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They only have consequences because enough people imbue the symbol with significance.

He's a CEO of an organization with more than 400 000 people in middle management (priests) alone (and they have to listen to his orders or lose their status or even be sued before a special court). He can make state decisions (small state, but still). Not comparable to strictly ceremonial function of Japan's emperor.

Things like state decisions are direct but limited.

But decisions like the Roman Catholic Church's policy on contraception has only devastated as many lives as it has because those people choose to believe in the symbol.

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