 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
The greatest field for snobbery is the Monarchy, which succeeds in doing more harm than most English people suppose. Few people can bring themselves to treat the opinions of a monarch with no more respect than they would show to those of a common mortal, and yet the education and surroundings of royalty are hardly such as to promote intelligence.
Source: Bertrand Russell: On snobbery (written in Dec. 30, 1931 and pub. in Mortals and Others, v.1, 1975
More info.: https://russell-j.com/SNOB.HTM
* a brief comment (Translated with DeepL.com)
Both the British Royal Family and the Japanese Imperial Family are constantly searching for ways to make the Royal Family and the Imperial Family more suitable for the modern age, and are gradually making improvements. One of the manifestations of this in the British Royal Family was Prince Charles' marriage to Diana, which ended unhappily (Diana's death in a car accident) as the wheels went out of gear due to Charles' infidelity and other factors. Efforts continued to be made to restore the reputation of the British Royal Family, but the proportion of the public who say that the British Royal Family should continue to exist continues to decline.
The Japanese Imperial Family has also followed the example of the British Royal Family, with Crown Prince Naruhito (now Emperor) marrying diplomat Masako (now Empress) and making efforts to democratise the Imperial Family. For a long time, Empress Masako was mentally challenged, but only recently has she been able to fulfil her imperial duties in a stable manner.
Japan is not a 'constitutional monarchy' but a 'constitutional democracy', but the 'Emperor (system) as a symbol' does exist. The Emperor is a symbol of the Japanese people, so if the people's ideas and feelings change, the Emperor's way of being needs to change as well. However, it is unfortunate that there are still political forces that emphasise (or deliberately ignore) the meaning of 'symbol of the people' and emphasise the 'an unbroken line of Emperors (Bansei-Ikkei)', and try to use the Emperor as a 'symbol of the state' instead of a 'symbol of the people'. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)