SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
Japan has passed legislation paving the way for 83-year-old Emperor Akihito to abdicate. The law sets the stage for the first abdication of a reigning monarch in two centuries, in a royal family which has a history stretching back 2,600 years.
[...] According to the 1947 Imperial House Law that regulates the line of imperial succession, the emperor cannot step down. The last Japanese monarch to abdicate was Emperor Kokaku, who left in favor of his son back in 1817.
Another issue the Japanese government will discuss is the continuity of the heirs, as women are not allowed to inherit the throne. Additionally, a woman from the imperial family who marries outside the family is then excluded. Akihito has another son, Prince Akishino, and a grandson, Hisahito, aged just 10. All the other members of the royal family are female.
Source: RT
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:24PM (3 children)
A bit like guys inheriting the right (via money) to rape and pay off the victim instead of being prosecuted. Or the power of rich-born kids to go to some poor country and sexually exploit the women there in exchange for the money the inherited and didn't need to work for. When did the last really rich guy go to the chair for murder, or to prison for rape?
Royalty is inherited, unjust power. Money often is basically the same shit under a different brand. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @01:43PM (2 children)
Exactly right! Maybe we should pass laws preventing people from inheriting money. Rich daddy dies, government takes all his assets, and distributes them among the poor. No more little rich bastards running around, exploiting all the rest of us!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:23PM (1 child)
Not sure if you are sarcastic or not. Explicitly not being sarcastic and trying to be a little between pitch-black and blazing-white, I'd like to see the inheritance beyond a certain threshold being strongly taxed, exact taxation also taking into account the age of the offspring; for minors, there should be some extra budget allowed to make sure they don't grow up in poverty. I think it is a strong driving factor for people to make sure their offspring is financially safe, and a home does have some sentimental value as well. If it is an ordinary house ("ordinary" still open for specification and to fight over), I think it should be OK to leave it to the kids. Or if the offspring wants to pursue a higher education, either the state should invest the newly collected tax to provide for a *decent* basic education for everyone plus free scholarship for capable students.
Not sure if this makes me a communist. I think, chances in live should be earned, and everyone should get the opportunity to earn them. I don't mind competition for adults.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:27PM
Above a certain point split it 50-50 between the kids and the taxman. We'd sure as hell pay off some government debts fast that way.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"