House

Nature, wild and untamed, is by and large a horrible place. That's why we need to create a garden, preferably with a wall to separate it from the untamed world beyond. However, this is not enough. We also need a place to shelter ourselves from the weather, especially during winter. We need a house, a comfortable and safe place to spend the nights and winters.

The house is the control center of our existence. It is from the comfort and security of our house that we direct our affairs. This is why the word house is also used to mean estate and dynasty. When we put our house in order, we are not merely cleaning the house. We are taking care of matters that need sorting out. This may be business related or strictly private.

Similarly, the house of Windsor is not merely a house, it is a dynasty. The head of this dynasty is the queen of England. Its members include the crown prince, the prince and their spouses as well as more distant relations.

We tend to think of dynasties as strictly confined to royalty. However, any family can operate as a dynasty, and there is much evidence in the form of folk lore and old religious texts to suggest that this was the normal mode of operation for most families in the past.

What is required for a dynasty is a house and loyalty to the head of the household. The house does not have to be directly owned by the head of the family. It may be a rented apartment. The key factor is loyalty. If it rests with the head of the family, as opposed to some other person or organization, we have a dynastic arrangement. In their strictest form, dynasties operate as independent kingdoms, with loyalty to the head of the family rather than the state.

What separates successful families from less successful ones is the way they operate relative to the state. Family members inside a dynasty do not feel obliged to pay respect to the state. On the contrary, they seek to own it and control it for themselves. A dynastic family in the publishing business will for instance seek control and ownership of the departments of culture and education. A family on welfare may seek to influence and control the bureaucratic process related to their welfare payouts.

Members of a dynasty will often proclaim loyalty to the state. They will encourage people to embrace the state and pay their taxes. However, they will only do this to the extent that they profit from it. Members of a dynasty with no ownership in the state apparatus have no reason to say anything publicly about the state.

By Vesahjr - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link