By Carey Wedler
A new meme has been making the rounds on the Internet, alluding to the American government as “the crown.” While at first glance this may appear confusing considering America is a “democracy” (or “republic,” depending on who you ask), the ‘If it pleases the crown’ meme is actually making a radical point.
The United States was born out of resistance to monarchy; to excessive taxation, restrictions on trade, and the imposing policies that came with having a “crown.” According to popular American nationalist mythology, the American Revolution changed all this, spawning a nation of free, brave, and independent individuals.
Never mind that at the same time this “Republican” (or Democratic, depending on who you ask) government was slaughtering and exploiting indigenous people and codifying slavery into law. Never mind that corruption and abuses of power reared their ugly heads before the ink had even dried on the Constitution; the constitutional convention was held in secret, George Washington crushed a tax rebellion, and 2nd president of the United States John Adams limited speech critical of the government and attempted to pack the Supreme Court for political reasons at the turn of the 19th century.
Regardless of the huge extent of misconduct, inefficiency, and violence the American government has routinely committed and continues to commit in 2017, it still enjoys a safe space in most Americans’ hearts as the best form of government “we” could hope to achieve.
‘If it pleases the crown,’ however, turns this notion on its head. The formula of the meme is simple: it begins with ‘If it pleases the crown’ and is followed by an articulation of an absurd government policy that violates freedom on a fundamental level:
The meme “[s]hows how we are in fact not “free people”. We must ask permission and pay for all that we do, seemingly never really seceding from Britain,” said Cathy Higgs, a Facebook user, when explaining the meme in a thread discussing its meaning. Another user, Mike Paster, agreed, noting the meme presents “the idea that there isn’t much difference between a Monarchy and the American Empire.”
Though the meme is an explicit reference to monarchy, it arguably tackles the fundamental nature of government as a whole: that whether it is a monarchy, democracy, republic, or dictatorship, individuals must ask permission from a central authority to engage in otherwise non-violent behavior.
“It’s comparing the current style of governing in the U.S. to the draconian style of governing practiced by 16th-century Britain, where the common people [were] not citizens, but subjects, which are essentially slaves,” said Rob Gore.
“We’re subjects, and like good subjects, we ask permission first,” added Humberto Misteroni.
This permission is often contradictory because, as the meme demonstrates, those asking permission are the ones financing the authority of the institutions they must ask permission from in the first place.
Two examples of this dynamic are parking enforcement and the DMV. In the case of the former, parking enforcement agents, whose salaries are funded by taxpayers, patrol the streets (paid for by taxpayers) in cars funded by taxpayers, only to charge taxpayers additional fines for parking. In the case of the latter, car owners must pay fines and fees to obtain permission to operate their own property, all in exchange for a slip of paper or sticker — the absence of which yields further fines and fees from government employees whose salaries come from those paying the fines and fees.
As meme maker Ryan Butcher observed, “Those memes beautifully mock the ridiculousness of unnecessary ‘revenue generation’ laws. I love how they highlight the ‘no victim no crime’ mentality that many people abide by.”
“To me, it’s a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that we must ask an arbitrary governing official for permission to do mundane things and then, often pay for the ‘right,’” said Amanda Carrol, another Facebook user describing the meme.
Activist Michael Heise agreed with that assessment, adding that “It’s not just things that require licensing, but also matters of privacy…It’s highlighting how unfree we are.”
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On that note, the meme also references what happens if any given action does not please the crown — and how privacy is sacrificed to implement “the crown’s” wishes:
In doing so, this meme illustrates the fundamental violence inherent to the State; that if the “crown” does not approve, it reserves and exercises its authority to point guns at individuals as a means to control their behavior.
As Dylan Hock observed in the thread, the memes are increasingly timely. “[The memes] make me laugh. Most I’ve seen so far seem on point, considering the fascist nature the country is slipping into more and more,” he said.
It appears the meme will continue to gain popularity whether it pleases the crown or not.
“If it Pleases the Crown” I would like to have my freedom returned without you watching and listening to on me.
If it Pleases the Crown…so true…sick of having to pay fees and get permission to use my own property…
You don’t own any property of any kind, none of us do, we ourselves are owned property through our birth certificates, through the government, up to the IMF, we lose the trail there so probably where all control goes back to for the NWO, the Vatican. We are 14th amendment slaves floating on the laws of the sea.
That is a meme that I will not be using, since it implies that monarchy is some sort of despotic system of semi-slavery. For the American system to function properly, at least half of the voters must be wise and honorable – something that has proven false time after time. For a monarchy to function properly, only one person must be wise and honorable. Changing that one person is possible – changing half the population is not.
America worships democracy and tries to spread it around the world – even if it takes bombs and bullets to do it. America will overthrow the elected leader of another democracy and install their own puppet in the name of “democracy”.
No one is ever held accountable in a democracy. Those elected just say, “I’m only doing what the people elected me to do,” and the voters shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, I guess that’s what the majority wants – maybe next time.”
Democracy (including republics) are fatally flawed. It was truly a noble effort, and I have nothing but admiration for the Founding Fathers who gave it their best but mistakenly gave mankind undeserved credit for wisdom, morality, and honor. No, I’ll take “the Crown” over the failed experiment of democracy.
Except your Crown is a reptilian, blood-drinking pedophile whose alien bloodline secures this depravity for eternity. That pretty much puts your “wise and honorable” silliness to bed.
I would attempt a reasoned reply, but you are clearly more interested in making points for cleverness. Nothing else for me to add here. By the way, your use of “your Crown” is also incorrect. My family has been in America since the early 1700’s.
You should have stayed with your reptile queen, you’re a piss poor excuse for an American.
Not sure I buy the ‘reptile alien’ theory, but the elites are definitely blood drinking, baby liver eating, murdering, child torturing pedophiles…..and secret society members, and crooked thieves, and a narcissistic waste of physical space in this realm.
All true. I have no problem with the reptile part, having seen them myself. (Don’t advise this for the faint of heart.) It’s obvious they instilled their filthy habits on their minion humans who call themselves “elite” to keep them addicted to blood and obedient. They want us to feel defeated, when in reality the elite are heading for the fiery pit. All the volcanoes going off are Gaia’s way of making room.
Interesting perspective, but how do we guarantee we get philosopher kings?
Guarantee? There is no such thing in life, so let’s look at reality (i.e., not guarantees of philosopher kings or blood-drinking alien monsters). Take a look at the Mad Monarchist blog (yesterday’s post is a great place to start) madmonarchist(dot)blogspot(dot)com
Before most monarchies were effectively neutered by becoming little more than figureheads, there was a real incentive to do what was genuinely best for the nation. After all, it would be passed down to the next generation, so the “pillage while you can” incentive that infects politicians doesn’t really apply. If you look at incentive and motivation when comparing monarchy with democracy, you’ll understand my preference for monarchy. This is coming from someone (me) who was a fairly radical libertarian in the late 1960’s, has been a delegate to the Republican Convention, a county-level candidate, campaign treasurer for several large (and successful) campaigns, and currently has a national role with the Constitution Party. I’ve made a very comfortable living for the past 22 years with political campaigns as my customers. Bottom line is that I’m no novice to how government and politics really works – and doesn’t work.
A good analogy would be comparing one who owns his home vs. one who rents. Another way to look at it is to think of a monarch as the CEO of a corporation in which all stock is owned by the CEO’s family – it is his responsibility to do what is in the long term best interest of the nation, and he has a tremendous incentive to do so. He is able to make unpopular decisions that all understand are best, but may not be comfortable with.
Certainly, not all monarchs are good, and some real stinkers come along once in a while. Can we not say the same, only more so, applies to democracies? Despite popular misconception, no monarch ever ruled for long without the consent of the governed to at least some extent. A bad monarch can be changed, and it has happened a number of times throughout history. When half of the voters become morally corrupt, the country is going to die. There is no way to change the mob.
Look at monarchy not through the lens of fairy tales and Hollywood, but as a realistic way of governing a nation. Throughout history, monarchy has been the longest lasting, most successful and stable form of government. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than mob rule? Definitely.
this is an insightful article, but as most libertarian/constitutionalist analysts miss is the point the Founders afforded, yet we ignore. A WELL REGULATED MILITIA. It was set forth to keep all the magistrates as humble servants, not lording masters. Only Edwin Vieiera seems to adequately articulate this point of ignorance we all share. I implore we all go to NewsWithViews dot com and find EV’s work. Without it, even the best anarchoVol or minarchist set ups will implode eventually.
Worth repeating – hefty taxes added to “purchase” of car w/ earned income which is already taxed, or it won’t be registered (taxed again). In GA, taxes applied even from private Joe-seller who parks beater in yard w/ cardboard sign. Add also, required state liability insurance . . . for lawful drivers that is. All demands so we have transportation to work and can file numerous pages on April 15th. Rinse and repeat again.
If it PLEASES the CROWN stop taxing the tea, the cars, the roads, the pay check, the bikes, the food, the hotels, the planes, home upgrades, please do not tax the air that we breath.
AND
IF it doesn’t please the crown…!
Here in Colorado the little crown taxes the pay check and everything else the big crown taxes. Horse scat.
Direct TAXATION is THEFT.
Fine, it’s a form of satire, however and unfortunately, the great bulk of the American public are woefully ignorant and have foolish beliefs that a meme like this one encourages, instead of educating. Today in a great number of countries making up the British Commonwealth, there is always a reference to the Crown in everyday affairs. All criminal cases are the Crown vs the accused, All government owned lands are called Crown lands. Such language is a historical part of many of today’s Constitutional Monarchies. If you compare the types of Democratic political systems in the World today, you will note that Constitutional Monarchies are the best form of democratic governance there is. Certain republics have shown the World what dysfunction really is. In a Constitutional Monarchy there is a living Constitution in the form of the Monarch, an entity who brings a sense of continuation of the State, no matter who currently has the power. The Monarch represents the authority, while the parliament and cabinet represent the power. The separation of the two was a stroke of genius and took place over centuries of governing. It has now been honed to its present position at the top of all democratic forms of government. Please don’t give a mistaken idea to millions of uneducated Americans.
I guess no one is going to be saying God Save the Queen any time soon…
President Trump won that debate
Infowars… where you should get your news
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