Why would it be unfair for our generation to kick the can of monarchy down the road for a future generation to deal with?
The “kicking the can down the road” metaphor is about leaving the hard but important task of abolishing the monarchy for future generations to sort out instead of grappling with it ourselves. Here are some reasons why that can be considered unfair:
9/14/20251 min read
1. Burden-shifting
-Most people today recognise real problems with monarchy (costs, lack of accountability, democratic legitimacy issues, systemic inequality). Postponing action effectively says: “we see the problem, but we’ll let our children or grandchildren deal with it”.
-That leaves them with the same (or worse) challenges, plus resentment toward earlier generations who had the chance to act but didn’t.
2. Entrenchment of institutions
-The longer monarchy continues, the more normalised, institutionalised, and difficult it becomes to change.
-That means our inaction makes the problem heavier for them, not lighter.
3. Lost golden opportunities for reform
-Delaying reform means missing the chance to reimagine or improve systems today in ways that could serve both our generation and the next.
-If monarchy is replaced with something more democratic or accountable, the benefits compound across time. By postponing, we rob future generations of those decades of fairer governance.
4. Moral responsibility
-If we already see an institution as outdated or unjust, then knowingly passing it along is a moral abdication. It’s like acknowledging a structural problem but deciding it’s “not our problem” because it’s uncomfortable to confront.
-Every generation inherits problems, but it’s also every generation’s responsibility to tackle the problems they know about rather than consciously leaving them behind.
5. Intergenerational fairness
-Future generations don’t get a say in the choices we make now. To intentionally leave them with a burden that we could address is to exercise our power at their expense.
-Fairness implies doing what we can to lighten their load, not add to it.
In short, it’s unfair because it compounds the difficulty, wastes opportunities, and passes the moral buck to people who don’t yet have a voice.
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