“There is no life without suffering. There is no love without suffering … You cannot have this perfect hedonistic life. It doesn’t exist, even if advertising, media, and everybody tells you so,” says Eduard Habsburg, the archduke of Austria and Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican.
He is from the royal line of the Habsburgs and author of “The Habsburg Way: 7 Rules for Turbulent Times.”
In this wide-ranging interview, we take a look at what it means to live a good life, and to die a good death. What is the value of faith, family, and traditional values? Is there something to learn from the ruling philosophy of the Habsburgs? What core principles unite America’s founding and the Habsburg approach?
Interview trailer:
Watch the full interview: https://www.theepochtimes.com/david-stockman-debt-default-the-doomsday-budget-machine-and-failed-fiscal-restraint-explained_5311019.html
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jan Jekielek: Ambassador Eduard Habsburg, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.
Eduard Habsburg: Thank you very much for having me on the show.
Mr. Jekielek: I am really enjoying reading your book, The Habsburg Way. Let’s start with this. In the U.S. and in Canada, and frankly in many places, when you think of aristocracy, you think of the Howard Zinn version of aristocracy. Basically, they are the people that made others suffer while they enjoyed all the luxuries of life. This is certainly not the picture that you get from reading The Habsburg Way, and I want to give you a chance to talk about that at the outset here.
Ambassador Habsburg: First of all, I’m very aware that the United States is built on the idea and on the myth of fighting tyrants and fighting against oppressors. Aristocracy has a bad rap in movies and in books. I try to make a case for seeing the positive sides of royalty in my book. What I’m saying is that I’m in the privileged position of having been able to meet the current kings of Europe, the grand dukes of Europe, and the current rulers when they were rulers in training.
These experiences led me to understand that these people, the ones I’ve met—I haven’t met the English, but I’ve met all the others, the Catholic ones—the people I’ve met were deeply humble servants that from their earliest childhood were taught to serve. They grew up getting to know every important player in their country, all the topics important for the country, all the fault lines, and the dangerous topics.
They were raised all of their childhood and their youth to serve. For instance, if your country has two languages, you try not to prefer one of those two. If your country has Protestants and Catholics, and you’re a Christian ruler, you try not to show your preference too strongly. You try to be balanced. You are acutely aware of which topics threaten the unity in your country.
But the most important topic of all and the great difference to the political leaders of today is that you’re in it for life. You cannot go on and then after a while say, “That’s it. I’m getting out of here and I’m finding a nice plum job where I earn millions and I will never have to bother with this country again.”
That’s a temptation in today’s political world. A monarch doesn’t do that. A monarch is in it for life. They know not only that their life is bound to their country and their responsibilities for the country, but they know that their children, their son or daughter that one day will take over, will have to live with the consequences of their decisions. This gives a totally different frame of mind.
Also, a monarch will have a different approach to a crisis, because a politician will be always tempted to say, “Which headline will help me get reelected in the election in one-and-a-half years, and which headline risks my career?” A monarch does not have this problem. Of course, that’s a danger in a way, but it’s also an advantage. You can really think about what is good for my country, and not what is good for my career. There’s a few strong arguments. No, not all rulers were always like this, but I can really and confidently assess that all current rulers in European monarchies that I have met are exactly like that.
Mr. Jekielek: That’s absolutely fascinating. I lived in Thailand for a while under the king that recently passed who was there for many, many decades. With so many coups and so many changes in government, it was actually the king that provided stability to the country every time. What you’re saying makes sense to me.
Ambassador Habsburg: