[mcg1969]

you can have a monarchy with very limited government and people living as they wish.

You have been smoking something. While of course this is true in theory, in practice do you honestly beleive that it a benevolent monarchy can be sustained?

There is no doubt that democractic societies are capable of oppression, but there is no superior way to achieve liberty when you take into account the realities of human sin. Constitutional protections help but they will only take you so far, particularly in a society with such an overwhelming majority (Islamic) like in Iraq.

[A. Pole]

While of course this is true in theory, in practice do you honestly beleive that it a benevolent monarchy can be sustained?

NO political system can be sustained. As Heraclitus said "Nothing endures but change."

And as a matter of historical facts, benevolent monarchies can last as long as benevolent republics, if not longer.

[Conservative til I die]

We were just having a discussion a few days ago about monarchy vs. democracy, from a Catholic perspective (the Church of course, historically preferring monarchy). Most of us came to a conclusion that we can't kneejerk one way or the other, that monarchy is automatically bad or that democracy is automatically good.

And further, democracy is a means to an end, not the end itself. With a democracy, people can either vote to be free or they can vote to not be free. Unfortunately, it seems the longer a democracy lasts, the less free it gets.