Remnant Institutions – British House of Lords and US Senate Part I

ArticleVBlog ^ | September 16th 2018 | Rodney Dodsworth

[Jacquerie]

The House of Lords.

There’s an unmistakable correlation between the decline of the British and American middle houses of government and the loss of liberty in their respective countries. Today’s House of Lords and the US Senate not only do not serve their ancient or intended purposes, they subvert them. These previously proud and distinct institutions which in times past were separated by a degree from the popular will, today give the patina of legitimacy to majoritarian tyranny that denies natural and societal rights.

This, the first of probably three squibs, begins with the British House of Lords (Lords) from antiquity to the 17th century. To American eyes the Lords is an oddity. Its composition and duties, unlike those fixed in the US Senate by a written Constitution, depend on the shifting sands of power between the three estates: Crown, Nobility, and Commons.

Pre-Norman. In the lore of Gothic Polity after Rome’s abandonment, the people elected their kings and his advisers. What evolved into Commons and Lords were originally one body, the Saxon Wittenagemot. This royal advisory council consisted of ecclesiastics, warrior noblemen, as well as a few attending commoners. Nothing passed in these nascent parliaments opposed by the warrior class.¹

Post-Norman. According to Algernon Sidney, the Norman conquest did not disrupt the sovereign power of the English people. William I was less a king by conquest, but rather by popular election. Like the Saxon kings, he accepted the Crown upon conditions offered. Thus, feudal England had always been governed by parliaments and elected and limited kings.²

Magna Charta (1215). Depending on which historian one reads, the root of “baron” was baro, which applied to all freemen, noble and non-noble alike... (cont.)

[Jacquerie]

The United States and Great Britain suffer from identical maladies – the decline of their “middle” institutions of government, their Senate and House of Lords. Where the latter originated in the time out of mind Saxon era, wise men with a keen sense of history purposely designed their Senate with the House of Lords in mind

[gattaca]

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[PGalt]

Scrolled past 20 FR headlines to find something worth reading this morning.

OUTSTANDING post, Jacquerie. Thank you, sir.

History/current context BUMP!

[Jacquerie]

Thank you very much!