\nThinking about how via birthrate memes Shinzo Abe has left more of an impression than any other Japanese PM in my life
Thinking about how the role of Japanese Emperor isn’t so much to hold power in the country as to so thoroughly embody the nation that no one who merely holds power in the country can
I think this is generally the purpose and advantage of constitutional monarchy: to separate prestige from power. Thus in the UK the Queen is given all honour and respect, while the PM is treated as some government functionary, addressed not even as “Mister Prime Minister” but simply as “Prime Minister”. It’s healthier, because there’s always someone “higher” than the person who has the actual power.
This is one of the ways I think Taylor Swift would make a good Empress of America.
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