Royal Worshipping

Apparently  many Americans seem to have forgotten that we fought two wars (the American Revolution and the War of 1812) to be free of the British Monarchy.  They seem to forget that the Constitution forbids monarchic titles and that the very core of Americanism is the essential equality of all people.

Two popular members of the British Monarchy, William and Kate (in England known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge), are visiting the U.S. on a trip which seems to be part tourist and part official.  To his credit, William Mountbatten-Windsor has made an attempt to establish his-self as a normal person burdened with being born to a symbolic position representing, at great expense, the nation of England.

A number of Americans have made fools of their selves by celebrity worship of these young people. Kate, who was not born to a "royal" bloodline, has distinguished herself by the way she has managed to fit into the role of wife to William. She has attempted to fill the role-model created by William's late mother, Diana, and appears to have begun to succeed. One major difference comes from the fact that their marriage seems to be based on romance instead of being arranged.

During the Twentieth Century European monarchies, and a few other monarchies, made an attempt to rehabilitate their images. Throughout history there have been other monarchs who attempted or even succeeded at being benign or even positive rulers.  However, the historical record has generally been filled with the logical result of devaluing the lives of the vast majority of people. The very concept of royalty should be repugnant to moral people, since it implies that one person should be valued more than others because some distant relative was able to gain power over the lives of other people, frequently by being a powerful criminal.

One highlight of their visit appears to have been the meeting of the royal couple with Lebron James, who treated them as fellow humans.  They were given a "photo op" with the NBA star, who posed with his arm around Kate's shoulders and joked with William about their relative shoe sizes,