"The Plague of Masters," XI.
"Ideology" can mean just a set of ideas or, more specifically, a set of ideas that serves a social purpose. Pro-status quo ideas arise spontaneously from oppressive relationships and act like a fog to prevent people from seeing the facts. Thus, when a particular group had been enslaved, then it came to be thought by some that members of that group had been inferior all along even though no one had thought this in the first place. The institution of monarchy generated the idea of the divine right of kings even though no one had said earlier, "God wants us to set up an institution called a monarchy!" So (I think) the order of events was: first, a particular social arrangement; secondly, spontaneous rationalization, even sanctification, of that arrangement; thirdly, more precisely formulated social theories. Verbally expressed ideas, words, did not come first. "In the beginning was the deed..."
Dominic Flandry observes and professionally assesses this process on many inhabited planets in the known galaxy. On Scotha, nobles are ambitious and commoners want to improve their lot, which they cannot do at home, so consequently Scothan society as a whole generates:
"...crusading fervor, a sense of holy racial destiny."
-Poul Anderson, "Tiger By The Tail" IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 241-276 AT p. 254.
On Unan Besar, Flandry effortlessly parodies Biocontrol ideology:
"'A social order which recognizes that worthiness is heritable, and allows every blood line to find its natural status under the benevolent guardianship of a truly scientific organization whose primary mission has always been to preserve the genetic and cultural heritage of Unan Besar from degradation and exploitation by basically inferior outsiders...'" (pp. 100-101)
A Biocontrol governor is impressed by Flandry's level of understanding! This governor's blindness to blatant irony is a sure sign of the vulnerability of his regime.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
As you know, I'm relatively indifferent merely about political FORMS. To me, what matters is whether a particular gov't, republic or monarchy, is accepted by the people it governs as legitimate. Next comes whether or not it governs too badly.
One thing I remember about Solu Bandang is that Flandry thought of him as a fat fool, BUT as one without many illusions. Which I understood to mean Bandang realized the precarious position the regime was in.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Someone can support a monarchy on grounds of legitimacy or pragmatism without buying into the ideology of divine right.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Of course I agree we can support a particular gov't for reasons of legitimacy and pragmatism, and usually for both. And support also means loyalty.
If I'm recalling correctly, the divine right of kinds was mostly a 16th/17th centuries thing. And was not the view of Medieval philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas. The Scholastics view of the state was basically that of legitimacy/pragmatism.
Ad astra! Sean
First sentence of the second paragraph of my second comment above: "KINGS," not "kinds." Gggggggrrrrrrrrrr
Sean
"Annointing" a king was of considerable importance. The Church stressed it, and also keeping succession in a legitimate bloodline.
Both were popular with Kings, and both tended to cut down on succession disputes.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, on both points. Legitimacy within a dynasty is an old idea, very old, and pre-Christian.
The formal anointing or coronation of a new king or emperor was a later idea, more closely associated with Christianity. We see that taking root in Carolingian Gaul, beginning with Cahrlemagne's coronation as Emperor in 800. And in England, I think Aethelstan, son of Edward the Elder, was the first to be crowned and calling himself King of England.
Interestingly, coronations as we know them began with the Eastern Roman Empire. If my recollection is correct, Marcian, successor of Theodosius II, was the first Emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch in AD 450.
And, as you said, both ideas were meant to discourage disputed successions and make for orderly transfers of power.
Ad astra! Sean
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