Vorticity, I'm well familiar with that essay, and much of Scott Alexander's writing in general — I prefer How the West was Won for describing modern "universal culture" as "an alien entity from beyond the void which devoured its summoner and is proceeding to eat the rest of the world." You'll find me in the comments over at SSC occasionally under the name "Kevin C."
And since I apparently wasn't clear enough, I'm not, repeat, NOT in favor of "absolute monarchy", as that's too modern. I'm in favor of weak medieval kingship; not Louis XIV "L'état, c'est moi", but King John, forced by his lords to sign the Magna Carta. Or even better, many periods (mostly pre-Song) of Imperial China. A number of classical Chinese thinkers liken the Emperor to the north star — the pole star is essential to navigation; it's the starting point of feng shui, of orienting and laying out homes, buildings, streets, cities; the heavens revolve around it. But it serves this function, does all this, by not moving. That is to say, a proper monarch's role is more to hold power than to wield power; to serve as a human Schelling point around which society may be ordered, and a limit on upward ambition by keeping "the top" occupied. Otherwise, to quote Tolkien, "give me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you care to call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers."
And Bob, to answer where the "meaningful intersection between it and modern (American, at least) politics where excess friction could occur" lies, that's "identity politics". I should be more clear in defining terms with which people are unfamiliar, such as when I call myself a "kyriarchist". "Kyriarchy" is the term coined by feminist theologian Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza as the intersectionalist extension of the feminist concept of patriarchy beyond gender to other axes of privilege and oppression. To quote Wikipedia "Kyriarchy encompasses sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, economic injustice, colonialism, militarism, ethnocentrism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of dominating hierarchies in which the subordination of one person or group to another is internalized and institutionalized." So, when I say I'm a kyriarchist, I'm saying that I'm for all that: racist, sexist, et cetera.
"If you
wish to converse with me, define your
terms."
--Voltaire
And since I apparently wasn't clear enough, I'm not, repeat, NOT in favor of "absolute monarchy", as that's too modern. I'm in favor of weak medieval kingship; not Louis XIV "L'état, c'est moi", but King John, forced by his lords to sign the Magna Carta. Or even better, many periods (mostly pre-Song) of Imperial China. A number of classical Chinese thinkers liken the Emperor to the north star — the pole star is essential to navigation; it's the starting point of feng shui, of orienting and laying out homes, buildings, streets, cities; the heavens revolve around it. But it serves this function, does all this, by not moving. That is to say, a proper monarch's role is more to hold power than to wield power; to serve as a human Schelling point around which society may be ordered, and a limit on upward ambition by keeping "the top" occupied. Otherwise, to quote Tolkien, "give me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you care to call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers."
And Bob, to answer where the "meaningful intersection between it and modern (American, at least) politics where excess friction could occur" lies, that's "identity politics". I should be more clear in defining terms with which people are unfamiliar, such as when I call myself a "kyriarchist". "Kyriarchy" is the term coined by feminist theologian Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza as the intersectionalist extension of the feminist concept of patriarchy beyond gender to other axes of privilege and oppression. To quote Wikipedia "Kyriarchy encompasses sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, economic injustice, colonialism, militarism, ethnocentrism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of dominating hierarchies in which the subordination of one person or group to another is internalized and institutionalized." So, when I say I'm a kyriarchist, I'm saying that I'm for all that: racist, sexist, et cetera.
"If you
wish to converse with me, define your
terms."
--Voltaire