The Monarchist Manifesto

Overview

The Monarchist Manifesto was written by Turkish philosopher Dr. Kadir Sadak as a response to the failure of democratic governments to limit and punish the horrific human rights abuses carried out by transnational corporations throughout the Sol system. Although many of its indivdual ideas were not new, having grown or diminished in political discource over the centuries, the Manifesto was unique in the synergy it created between its disparate concepts as well as its practical designs for a modern monarchal government. It quickly became one of the pillar documents of The Second Enlightenment, directly influencing the politics of thousands of colonial extrasolar colonial expeditions during The Great Diaspora, most notably the Stellar Monarchist League.

Contents

The Manifesto is split into five sections: Monopoly and Nature, The Five Regimes, Economics and Politics, Monarchy and Mixed Goverment, and finally Monarchist Guidelines.

Monopoly and Nature

The first section attacks Whig historiography, or the assumption that history is moving from an ignorant and oppresive past towards a more enlightened and glorious future. Sadak argues that the movement (discredited to the point of near oblivion by the first World Wars) had been revived by transnational corporations as a public relations tool to hide their atrocities. The world was better, the corporations claimed, even though you had no property, privacy, or pride.
Instead, Sadak postulated that history instead moved progressively towards either Monopoly or Entropy in all forms, be they physical, spiritual, economic, political, or cultural.
In the Manifesto, Monopoly (also referred to at times as homogenisation) was most easily seen in the natural tendency of any human institution to centralize its power. Wealth centralizes in the hands of elites, power centralizes in individuals (as seen in the Imperial Presidents of the United States) or oligarchs, and religious movements either disappear or merge. Its influence could be seen in streamlined processes and the reduction of every aspect of human life to commodified data points.
Entropy (also referred to as disorder or chaos) refers to the natural force of the universe that gradually dissolves the connections between any two or more elements. It represented both the heat death of the universe and the erosion of cultural institutions that guarded against tyranny (again Sadak used the Imperial Presidents of the United States as an example, citing how weak Congresses handed over power to the executive branch to sidestep their responsibilities). It would also be present in The Great Diaspora that he and other Second Enlightenment writers predicted would occur once extrasolar colonization became possible. Faced with increasingly oppressive power structures and uniform monocultures in the Sol system, humanity would spread across the stars in an explosion of diversity.
The ideal human institution was one that was able to set limits on both Monopoly and Entropy. It would need to be capable of diversity and creativity without descending into anarchy, while at the same time running efficiently without overcentralization and stagnation. Societies that swing too far in either direction will eventually collapse.

The Five Regimes

The second section explains Plato's theory of Five Regimes (democracy, oligarchy, timocracy, tyranny, and aristocracy) before providing a quick retelling of human history, providing examples of the five regimes and their evolutions in practice and meaning over the ages.

Economics and Politics

In the third and largest section, the Manifesto demonstrates how each of the Five Regimes is affected by monopoly and entropy through economics. The evolution of class consiousness and economic theory is told through excerpts from famous writers such as Adam Smith, Henry George, Karl Marx, Friedrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Nassim Taleb, and many others.

Democracy: A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Sadak argues that in democracies the public inevitably sells their political and economic power in return for emotional goals, unable to distinguish between the common people and elites. These elites continue to divide the people and siphon away power and property over time.

Tyranny: A form of government controlled by an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty.

Tyrannies (referencing governments controlled largely by one person) are too politically isolated and unstable, eventually delegating power and prestige to managers in return for legitimacy. These managers strip the ruler (autocrat or monarch) of powers over time, but share none in turn with the common people. Examples from history include how most traditional monarchies lost their power, but also includes failed revolutions that transition from powerful rulers to a ruling class of elites.

Timocracy: A form of government in which rulers are motivated by ambition or love of honor, but in practice limits the franchise to individuals who meet a specific standard such as land ownership or economic output.

In timocracies, no matter what standard is used for enfranchisement (typically property) the standard is eventually raised so high (typically as available land ownership is concentrated) that the vast majority of the nation is left without political power. Those few with the economic means to have political power enact laws that generally prevent anyone else from earning enfranchisement.

Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.

Oligarchies are unique in their ability to restrict new power structures developing, while at the same time inhibiting strong leaders from forcing change. In many ways they are the most stable form of government. For a time life in an oligarchy can appear to be desireable. Those with the most power and property meet to reach compromises on how the state should be run. There is representation by those who seem to have the most at stake in the system and no one individual can abuse the system freely. For a time the average quality of life is good, though unfortunately this does not last. The nation becomes the playground of competing dynastic families and their feuds, while the condition of the average man or woman is ignored or specifically exploited.

Oligarchy is like a serpent hidden in the tall grass, waiting to unleash its venom. Populists, bureaucrats, and landlords, whispering corruption into the ears of the common people, victims who can rarely percieve and identify the danger until it is too late.

— Dr. Kadir Sadak

To Sadak, oligarchs are the most animalistic and immoral leaders mankind could produce. Defining traits included sociopathy to their fellow man, a destructive disregard for the environment, cruelty and disloyalty in relations, ruthless ambition for the sake of pride, and zero-sum thinking. One had only to examine the actions of transnational corporations throughout the Sol sytem to be convinced. Air and water commodified, inhumane working conditions, constant surveillance, labor movements met with widespread murder and rape by private security forces, and entire space habitats depressurized. To elevate the oligarch is to debase humankind.
Each example shows, Sadak argues, that all forms of government eventually transform into oligarchy unless specific mechanisms are established to prevent this centralization (or minor diffusion with tyrannies) of power. When such laws exist they must be religiously adhered to. For while all other forms of government become oligarchies over time, these in turn eventually all lead to revolution and massive suffering.

Aristocracy: A form of government ruled by the best in society, philosopher kings educated from birth to have the correct disposition to rule in justice

In order to prevent abuse by oligarchy, Sadak argued, mankind must re-embrace aristocracy. If the priviliged few will always exist, better that they exist on the terms set by society as a whole. The priviliged must be forbidden from hiding among their fellow citizens, marked by titles and chained with responsibility. Where an oligarch cares only for the next position of power and the wealth they can extract from it, an aritocrat is chained to a specific land and people. An oligarch has a fiduciary responsibility to their fellow oligarchs, an aristocrat is bound by oath and history to the betterment of society as a whole.

Mankind has rebelled against Aristocracy, detesting the idea that a priviliged few would rule over them. And yet no matter what path history takes it will always produce priviliged groups or individuals, and they are by nature few. If hypothetically mankind was capable of creating an economic and political system where all were truly treated equally, genetics would still privilege one individual over another. In intelligence, in strength, in dexterity, in expression, in stamina. Difference will always exist, and that creates advantage.

— Dr. Kadir Sadak

Sadak understood that these roles for aristocrats were far more ideals than historical fact. Most aristocrats over the milennia were simply property owners that had entrenched their position into local society. This was done in order to make themselves and their wealth untouchable. As wealth became more globalized, the few social benefits it gave almost entirely vanished. What scraps of it remained were thrown out during the digital age, when the wealthy could retreat to the most remote regions of the world in the final step of their transformation to pure oligarchs.
To counteract this the

Monarchy and Mixed Government

The public will always be vulnerable to exploitation by the elites, be they oligarchs or arisocrats. Therefore they need a higher power to ally themselves, the monarch. The monarch controls the military and the government, and can mediate in disputes when needed. When an aristocrat is guilty of grevious faults or crimes, the monarch has the power to remove them from power, assuming he has the support of the public. When the monarch is a tyrant, when he abuses his authority, the public and the aristocrats can resist. When the people are riled up to error through populism, the aristocrats and monarch are capable of wise leadership unmarred by the shadow of a future election.

— Dr. Kadir Sadak

The final section lays out a modern proposal for a consitutional monarchy, one where the three pillars of mixed government once again balance each other. The Monarch rules the country, the Aristocrats rule their lands, and the Public are empowered through the House of Commons. Each branch of government was to have its own special responsibilities and priviliges.
Priviliges and Responsibilities of the Monarch
The Monarch is both the head of government and the head of state. All land within the kingdom is owned by the crown, which is then leased either in large lots (typically to aristocrats) or small lots (typically the public). These land leases are passed down to the lease holder's heirs. It is the responsibility of the monarch to reward accomplishment in diverse fields with titles, slowly creating new aristocrats and dissolving old titles under special circumstances.

• The right direct the military as Commander in Chief, and to delegate this authority

• The right to dissolve the government, triggering new elections. Once used, this right cannot be used until the new term has passed.

• The right to audit any branch of government and to make this information public

• The right to audit any business, corporation, or charity and to make this information public

• The right to break up large corporations

• The right to award lands and titles

• The right to remove lands and titles for crimes or mismanagement, as long as they also have the support of a majority in both Houses or a supermajority in the House of Commons when dealing with Aristocrats convicted of crimes that violate their sworn duties

• The right of pardon

• The right to establish investigations into crimes or issues facing the kingdom

• The right to veto legislation

• The right to dismiss an override of monarchal veto by the House of Lords and Commons, by means of a public referendum

• The right to veto mergers between corporations

• The right to dissolve public sector unions (police, teacher, etc) if they impair the general welfare, but cannot stop the formation of new ones

• The right to nominate Lords Spiritual, Lords Scientific, and Lords Artistic to the House of Lords

• The right to override the House of Lords' rejection of nominated Lords Spritual, Lord Scientific and Lords Artistic with the support of the House of Commons

• The right to recieve a salary appropiate to their status, allowing for the grandeur and patronage expected of a monarch

Priviliges and Responsibilities of the Aristocrats

• The right to recieve and manage sufficient lands appropiate to their title

• The right to sit and vote in the House of Lords

• The right to audit any branch of government within their lands and to make this information public

• The right to audit any business, corporation, or charity within their lands and to make this information public

• The right to dissolve the government of any municipality within their lands, triggering new elections. Once used, this right cannot be used until the new term has passed.

• The right to overide the monarch's veto on legislation, as long as they also have the support of a majority in the House of Commons

• The right to vote on nominated Lords Spiritual, Lords Scientific, and Lords Artistic

• The right to recieve a salary large appropiate to their status, allowing for the grandeur and patronage expected of an aristocrat

• The right to vote on nominations to the high judicial courts

Priviliges and Responsibilities of the House of Commons

• The right to have all bills regarding taxation originate in the House of Commons

• The right to overide the monarch's veto on legislation, as long as they also have the support of a majority in the House of Lords

• The right to recieve a salary appropiate to their status, enough that citizens of any background can serve without worry

• The right to audit the monarch or any aristocrat by majority vote and to make this information public

• The right to nominate and vote new appointments to the high judicial courts

• The right to investigate pardons for quid pro quo and overule them by majority vote

• The right to override the dismissal by the House of Lords of Lord Spiritual, Artistic, and Scientific candidates with a supermajority vote

Type

Statement, Political (Manifesto)

Medium

Digital Recording, Text