Hell, I’d take a monarchy over socialism any day of the week, if it came down to that. Monarchies at least have some benefits to them to go along with the downsides, while socialism has none.
I quite agree, though possibly not for the same reason.
The purpose of good government is to provide a civil society, one in which the people can live their lives generally unmolested by the government, with security of property and individual rights.
Such a system is not inherently incompatible with absolute monarchy, and it is also not always provided by a democracy where people elect their rulers, as we can see around us every day.
The basic reason the idea of civil society and rule of law have become so entangled with the idea of democracy, when they are not inherently the same, is that civil society and rule of law under an absolute monarch requires an unusually wise, able and good king. Even if he isn’t seduced by the corruption of absolute power, he IS going to die, and the chance that his successor will be as good is pretty much nil.
Democracy is so far the only system of government that has been proven to be able to maintain civil society and rule of law for any significant period of time.