Letter: Does Britain really need a monarchy?

I think that the royal family of the United Kingdom gets far too much attention, whether it is about who in the family is disagreeing with another, or who is not telling family secrets, or what someone is wearing, or what a photograph looks like. There is also a larger question: does Britain really need a monarchy?

Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense” was not only an argument for American independence, but also an argument against monarchy. What Paine said then for Americans is just as relevant today for Britons and the subjects of other monarchs and royal families. The idea that one man or woman or family should have special privileges or honors, even if it no longer has as many powers as it once did, is a direct contradiction of the principle of equality on which republics are built.

I do not mean to say that the British monarchy is totally useless. It attracts tourists to Britain. It provides the British government some stability when parties vie for control of Parliament. It gives the nations of the British Commonwealth something around which to rally. But in the long run, monarchy in any country is unnecessary, expensive, obsolete, and even dangerous. The British might one day realize that they should trade their monarchy for a republic, as the Americans did in 1776.

Daniel Haulman, Montgomery

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Letter: Does Britain really need a monarchy?