Marakesh 𓅦 on Nostr: ...

quoting nevent1q…f8yl

> How very different we are today from our medieval forbears! We blindly follow any dictates coming from DC no matter how unconstitutional, immoral, or unlawful they are. We accept the “divine right of the state.” Anything it declares, any decree it passes, is now declared “law.” In modern times, we have entirely changed our definitions of traitor and rebel based on blind obedience. Today, anyone who does not follow a federal declaration is a traitor or rebel. In the Middle Ages, any ruler who went outside of law and tradition was a rebel and traitor and was to be resisted by law. Thus, a medieval peasant would say the greatest outlaws in America were not those of the Old Wild West but are its elected officials and judges of today.
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> If a man from the Middle Ages observed a citizen in a democracy, he would conclude we were all slaves. Slaves must obey the dictates of a master, while freemen contrast and compare their ruler’s actions to their law, contesting them as needed. He was a very different creature; “compromise” or a slow bus ride to totalitarianism was unknown to him.

–Jeb Smith
*Missing Monarchy: Correcting Misconceptions About The Middle Ages, Medieval Kingship, Democracy, and Liberty* (2024)