Robin Hood: Prince of Patriots

Fightin Words ^ | December 15, 2009 | Walter Scott Hudson

[Walter Scott Hudson]

I find it interesting that the English folk hero Robin Hood is best known as a thief. Given his tendency to dispense loot to the poor, Hood’s thievery may seem iconic and exemplary to those who advocate the kind of “redistributive justice” spoken of by President Barrack Obama. However, when one delves deeper into the folklore, Hood seems far more iconic of something entirely different.

We must acknowledge folklore is never definitive. There is no canon, so to speak. Folklore evolves, grows, and takes on new dimensions. The earliest known references to Robin Hood suggest him to have been a commoner with no real political bent aside from an affinity for the lower classes. This version might rightly be considered somewhat analogous to modern “progressives.” However, later visions portray Hood as Robin of Loxley, a disenfranchised nobleman, a loyalist forced into exile amidst a treasonous regime. This latter characterization raises an interesting challenge to the description of Hood’s occupation as simply “stealing from the rich to give to the poor.”

Contemporary visions of Hood show him to be an outlaw only from the perspective of an illegitimate government. Hood does not steal from the “rich” arbitrarily. He targets those who have taken up with a usurper and directly profited from a pilfer of the masses. The treasonous Prince John persecutes his subjects for hunting “the King’s deer,” declaring all natural resources the property of the government. The people’s crops and wares are seized through taxation, leaving them cold and hungry. Hood works to restore the people’s capacity to provide for themselves. He does not do so singlehandedly or without cost to those he aids. He asks them to serve in the cause of their own freedom, even unto death. Also noteworthy is Hood’s eventual mediation between the classes. Hood has no malice toward the upper class, his class. Indeed, he acts in the name of King Richard the Lionheart. He acts to restore what is considered, in the context of his time and country, proper government. He becomes a hero and kin of both the people and their king. Given these qualities, does not Robin Hood seem more like a modern tea party patriot than a thieving advocate of socialism?

[autumnraine]

Never thought of it this way and it is an excellent twist.

[Migraine]

does not Robin Hood seem more like a modern tea party patriot than a thieving advocate of socialism

Yes and no. No, in that individual conservative actors have not yet gone out and stolen money or goods for redistribution. Yes, in that conservatives ADVOCATE for govt policies which will allow people to keep more of their hardearned moolah.

Here's the other yes: we are beginning to see INFORMATION stolen and given to the information-starved. Climate change scammers' e-mails stolen and divulged; ACORN chicanery stolen on video and disseminated. The holy grail information remains locked as though in the Tower of London: the birth certificate (original long form), the Columbia U records and writings, the Occidental records, the passport records, adoption papers, etc. We need Robin Hood to steal these and distribute them to the information-starved, too.

How's that?

[SnakeDoctor]

I've long thought Robin Hood was among the most misunderstood stories out there. Robin Hood stole from the government (Prince John, Sherriff of Nottingham) and gave to the people ... not from the rich to the poor. Robin Hood was a tax cutter.

Looking forward to the Russell Crowe/ Ridley Scott movie in May ...

SnakeDoc

[Daveinyork]

Forget Crowe. Watch Richard Todd.

[Gumdrop]

I have always thought (and written on this site previously) that Robin Hood represents a conservative viewpoint. He rallied his men against the outrageous conduct of the all- powerful bad King John and his Sheriff of Nottingham who could always find some reason for excessive taxation. Robin Hood was loyal to King Richard who represented the best of English chivalry.

Robin Hood believed in allowing the poor peasants to keep their well-earned animals and grain, not to have everything they worked for be confiscagted by the central government of the King.

The Republicans ought to show some gumption and overturn the notion that Robin Hood represents progressives - just the opposite is true!!!!!!!

How about calling Dingy Harry and Nancy Pelosi the agents of the Sheriff of Nottingham!!!

[SnakeDoctor]

I’d take Crowe over almost anybody. Perfect casting for Robin Hood.

SnakeDoc