To whom should I be allied?
A hue boyish jingoism accompanying me to the recruiting office, this proved no problem. As a Catholic, "So help me God" made it essential. As time went on though, I was forced to wrestle with what was necessary to demonstrate allegiance to and serve ones country. In the end, the conclusion I made was that if only in words I had to offer my allegiance to a person whose servant I became by their birthright, yet who seemed to offer me little in return. On the contrary, they seemed to take.
Our ancestors have bequeathed a glorious legacy from which we should never cease to learn. This is across a spectrum including (not limited to) science, public service, diversification and cultural development. Ultimately, whether our ancestors liked it or not, as citizens this was seen to be to the greater good of a monarch who, to all intents and purposes was a figurehead. It is not to detract from their achievements to say that their actions, their discoveries, their hopes and dreams did little in the service of their sovereign leader. On the other hand they offered incalculable benefit to the whole country.
The monarch has been well catered for by social status, titles, grand palaces and wealth derived from us their subjects. Surrounded by such trappings, the sacrifices and achievements of our forefathers could mean little more to a monarch than something to contemplate. The monarch's surroundings distance them from an outside world of which they could have little understanding. We on the other hand feel daily the pride, the shame, the success and failure of our past, present and future actions. It has been the actions of the everyman and so it continues to be that makes up the events of our everyday lives
At the end of the first decade of the twenty first century we have a rich history. Reality dictates that that history is made up of the actions of many not one. We do not serve those that have gone before by continuing to swear an allegiance to a monarch. We offer no better service to them or ourselves than the duty to question what legacy we leave. When we ally ourselves to an ultimate, does that have to be someone in position by birthright and not the collective of our friends and relatives, our neighbours and colleagues? In reality this already happens and we see examples of this daily in the world around us. The soldier engaged in humanitarian work, the civil servant balancing the books, the policeman attempting to bring calm to the community and the judge with the challenge of administering law.
These are recognised public offices, yet anyone who takes them on swears an allegiance to the Crown not the state and by continuation the people. They are public servants, we as citizens are public servants. Whether we like it or not, we exist to serve each other. Moving on from a time where a figurehead is ultimate, not an elected head of state might be considered disrespectful to the sacrifice of those who have died in the name of King or Queen and country.
But we offer no higher recognition than the proud acknowledgement that what they did, what we do and what those who follow us will do is done not in the name of figurehead and country but people and country.
When someone enters public office they make an oath to offer the highest standards to those to whom they are responsible. They swear this oath to one entity. The allegiance of public servants is to the people and ours should be to them. An oath to a crown offers no outlet of accountability in either direction. When one lets the Crown down they let one person down and this limits their responsibility. Similarly when a public servant achieves success this is in the service of the Crown, limiting their chance of recognition. The time is now for us to make the oath in the name of the people. When we are wronged by those in public office they will know they have failed in their oath. When are righted by those in public office they can take heart in having lived up to what is expected of them and we as a people can reciprocate this with the pride of a nation.