I was published in the September 2008 issue of Liberty Magazine with an article titled “The Fall of a Royal House.”

Writing after the deposition of Nepal’s King Gyanendra, I examine whether removing an incompetent monarch and introducing democracy can resolve the country’s deeper problems.

I argue that Nepal’s poverty and dysfunction arise not merely from its political system but from a rigid, hierarchical, conformist, and deeply superstitious society. Democracy cannot create liberty or prosperity where individual judgment, personal responsibility, and respect for the individual remain weak. It risks becoming merely a new higher authority from which people expect solutions, while leaving the underlying culture unchanged.

The article appeared on pages 21–22 and concluded on page 26 of the September 2008 print issue.

Read “The Fall of a Royal House” in the September 2008 issue of Liberty Magazine (PDF) →