Noblesse Oblige in Democratic Systems?
I was reading Gene Weingarten's insightful profile of Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau from the Washington Post magazine (Doonesbury's War, October 22) and came across this which might be the basis for a comparative politics writing prompt."Trudeau's time at Yale overlapped with George W. Bush's -- he knew him slightly and disliked him even then, largely for what he saw as a sense of smug entitlement ('all noblesse and no oblige')."
Noblesse oblige is often used when discussing British politics and political history. As a non-comparative question, you could ask your students to speculate how the British system would be different today if it lacked either "noblesse" or "oblige."
Another possible question could involve identifying the "noblesse" and "oblige" characteristics of the British state today. Or you could ask them to compare how the Thatcher and Blair governments expressed those values.
Comparative questions you could ask students might be to compare the "noblesse" characteristics of the British state with those of the Russian or Mexican state. Alternatively, you could ask them to compare how "noblesse oblige" is expressed in the British, Mexican, and/or Iranian states. I think one of the most interesting examples might be to compare the roles of "noblesse oblige" in the UK with its roles in China.
Within the context of your own curriculum, you can probably think up more and better examples. Then you could share them with us here. Just use the "Comments" link at the bottom of this entry.
See Learning to Give for historical background on Noblesse Oblige
posted by Ken Wedding @ 10:39 AM
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