Re: 07.08d: Matters of State
Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:12 pm
Can we please stop OOC pretending that the ideal of feudalism is "a turd" designed only to oppress those not in power? You seem to be judging the system based solely on its worst historical implementations, which is about as fair as judging the ideal of a republic by north korea or haiti, or judging the ideal of communism by, well, any country that's claimed to implement it. By those standards, there are no governmental systems that aren't "turds" designed solely to oppress those not in power.
Consider, for example, the code of chivalry. That's a part of feudalism, and includes such concepts as "respect & defend those weaker than yourself", and "be generous". Yeah, really a great tool of oppression, isn't it? So, in your example of a king who doesn't care how his tax monies are raised... that's a king who's failed to live up to the ideals of feudalism.
Plus, this is a game, not real life. As Josh points out, in real life, we don't have leaders that are immortal, and supernaturally good at organizing people. That really skews the balance of what government systems are worth using; in the real world, I wouldn't advocate a feudal government, or a benevolent dictatorship, simply due to issues of transfer of power & finding competent leaders; in Amber, however, those issues are largely moot.
As for your "logic problems" - your laws are no better there. Yes, implementing a law that makes killing red headed children mandatory would, under your system, require a bit more effort from an amberite; they'd need to blackmail or mind control or replace with doppelgangers quite a number of people - say, Sadie, plus enough to have a majority in either your legislature or your supreme court. But there's nothing that would inherently prevent such a law from existing, and once created, it would be equally difficult to remove.
And the challenge laws? That's simply recognizing reality - consider the above case again. If you (and your allies) can't best one amberite trying to change Rebma, then Rebma is going to be changed. Which is why declaring yourself an independent state is such a dangerously bad idea - at least on paper, no other amberites are now in any way responsible for what happens to Rebma - you've just told your potential allies you're going home to play by yourself and they should shut up and stay out.
Consider, for example, the code of chivalry. That's a part of feudalism, and includes such concepts as "respect & defend those weaker than yourself", and "be generous". Yeah, really a great tool of oppression, isn't it? So, in your example of a king who doesn't care how his tax monies are raised... that's a king who's failed to live up to the ideals of feudalism.
Plus, this is a game, not real life. As Josh points out, in real life, we don't have leaders that are immortal, and supernaturally good at organizing people. That really skews the balance of what government systems are worth using; in the real world, I wouldn't advocate a feudal government, or a benevolent dictatorship, simply due to issues of transfer of power & finding competent leaders; in Amber, however, those issues are largely moot.
As for your "logic problems" - your laws are no better there. Yes, implementing a law that makes killing red headed children mandatory would, under your system, require a bit more effort from an amberite; they'd need to blackmail or mind control or replace with doppelgangers quite a number of people - say, Sadie, plus enough to have a majority in either your legislature or your supreme court. But there's nothing that would inherently prevent such a law from existing, and once created, it would be equally difficult to remove.
And the challenge laws? That's simply recognizing reality - consider the above case again. If you (and your allies) can't best one amberite trying to change Rebma, then Rebma is going to be changed. Which is why declaring yourself an independent state is such a dangerously bad idea - at least on paper, no other amberites are now in any way responsible for what happens to Rebma - you've just told your potential allies you're going home to play by yourself and they should shut up and stay out.