[skaplun]

If George Washington declared himself king, you might be looking today at 30% unemployment like some of the euros

[kwhitefoot]

Most of the European states that have monarchs (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands for instance) are doing alright, Spain is an outlier.

[omginternets]

Let's not forget the UK.

[kwhitefoot]

I haven't forgotten the UK. It's where I come from. Unfortunately the saying: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there." applies.

So I sometimes try to avoid mentioning it, and especially anything to do with Brit royalty.

[omginternets]

I'm not sure what you're hinting at, but it sounds like the current state of UK politics has you exasperated.

Still, the UK is objectively doing alright these days, and objectively has a monarchy :)

[tehwebguy]

What is the point you were trying to make?

[skaplun]

"that the existence of government is just one small part."

I dont think you can qualify government as "just one small part". America would not be in the same place today without the decisions taken over time by its leaders. The same decisions would not be made under a different system of incentives for a leader like a monarchy/anarchy

[timthelion]

It wouldn't be the same place, but it would still have enjoyed the highest natural-resource to population ration of any nation in history. Coal, Iron, Oil, Natural Gas, Gold, Wood, Water, Arible land, Uranium, Aluminium, Copper, all in great supply. The only comparable nations I can think of are Australia and Brazil, and their relative wealth is rather well explained by the overall wealth gradient nearing the equator:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_and_wealth