This royal throne of kings,

This sceptered isle,

This earth of majesty,

This seat of Mars.

— Shakespeare, Richard 11, 2

Ah, it’s good to be the king, to be ruler of all you survey, lord of the manor, the potentate who rules over all. A king is large and in charge and answers to no one. He’s really got it made. And yet, kings have been known to give it all up, relinquish all that power, step off the throne, abdicate.

But why, why would anyone in their right mind give up all that power, that wealth, that authority, that influence over others and abdicate? There’s that word again — abdicate. It really means to fail to fulfil or undertake a responsibility or duty, to relinquish a throne, high office, dignity, or function.

It’s usually attributed to royalty, referring to kings, queens, emperors, who step down from their lofty perch.

“The king abdicated his throne for reasons of ill health.”

There are numerous reasons for abdication, and in fact, King Edward of England famously abdicated his throne in 1936 because he married a divorcee.

Here we go again, a once mighty and powerful man, giving up almost everything for punany. Men will never learn. But such is the power of p..m p..m.

Not only men abdicate though, for just recently a Japanese princess relinquished her royal status in order to marry a commoner. What a word — commoner.

So whether it be p..m p..m or penis, there certainly is power in those Ps that makes people do absurd things. Women even marry prisoners still on death row, and right now in the USA a female security officer is alleged to have set a murderer free and run off with him after selling her house the day before. She abdicated her entire life to be with this man.

So it’s not only royalty who abdicates, common people do it too. There’s that word again — common. We’ll find out why, right after we see what these not-so-common folks had to say about ‘Why men retaliate’.

Hi Tony,

There is very little option when it comes to men retaliating against their women. Men cannot win the verbal war and cannot be physical because they may end up in jail, as you pointed out. Here is an option, if the woman despises sex, harass the hell out of her for sex every night, every day, every hour. He might not get any, but at least that harassment might get him some satisfaction, or it might just get him some.

Frederick

Hello Teerob,

If a man retaliates against a woman, he loses. If he doesn’t retaliate, he loses. He’s damned if he doesn’t and damned to hell if he does. Women know this and will use it to their advantage. If the man strikes back it’s deemed physical or emotional abuse, and if he doesn’t, he’s considered a weakling. A soft answer may turn away wrath under normal circumstances, but dealing with an irate woman is not normal. Men just have to accept that fact and bear it.

Hopeton

“Sit under the sun, abdicate and be your own king.” — Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet.

In other words, give up what you think others want you to be, and instead be the master of your own fate. Nevertheless, to abdicate isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can be if you’re worse off after doing so.

So many men abdicate their manhood and end up as weak, snivelling wusses, peons, serfs, vassals, minions to those to whom they relinquished it. At least if you’re going to abdicate your responsibility, make it worth your while.

In many instances men are masters of their fate, doing what they want to do, when they want to do it, until they meet a woman. Let’s get back to King Edward, whose decision to abdicate has resonated throughout history.

After ruling for less than a year, Edward VIII became the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to do so after the British Government, the public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcee Wallace Warfield Simpson.

In fact, she was divorced twice — a double whammy. But he had no regrets as was chronicled.

“Not once did he regret the abdication, because he was so happy.”

Now, that is one powerful p..m p..m.

The deed was even immortalised by Harry Belafonte who sang:

Love, love, love alone

Caused King Edward to leave the throne

It was love, love, love alone

Caused King Edward to leave his throne.

So, if a king can abdicate, give up all that pomp and pageantry, what of the common man? As I pointed out earlier, when a man of means, independence, and power meets a woman and decides to relinquish all that, he’s doomed. The irony is, sometimes he isn’t even aware that he has abdicated until it’s too late and the rug has been pulled from under his feet. How does this happen?

He’s so enamoured by her beauty, her charm, her sensuality, her sexuality, yes, let’s not forget that, for no man — king or commoner — is going to abdicate if sex isn’t a part of the equation. His brain becomes addled and as far as he’s concerned, she’s the centre of his universe and everything revolves around her, including him.

His independence is the first casualty. He was a guy who was used to hanging out with his friends and having a good time doing his own thing. Until he met her. Suddenly, she’ll start to drop a few hints:

“So, you’re going to hang out with your friends again tonight, on a Friday?”

“Football again, aren’t you a bit too old for that now?”

“What about our quality time?”

He now has a choice to make — hang out with his friends of many years or spend quality time with his new-found love. Men are ruled by their loins, so it’s abdication over independence. That’s the thin edge of the wedge, for more is to follow.

After that, other freedoms are eroded, taken away, as he stops doing the things that he used to enjoy. Watching movies, going to sporting events, even working late or on weekends are now taboo. I’ve seen it happen all the time, and even now a good friend of mine is in the throes of abdication. He’s 52, she’s 26, do the maths.

The sad thing is, though, when the woman drops him like a hot potato, he tries to go crawling back to the life that he once enjoyed, often to be met with ridicule from his friends. “Whap’n, Leroy, your queen left you for another kingdom? hahahaha.”

Some men abdicate willingly, while others don’t even see it coming. These are men who were once icons of industry, masters of money, keepers of currency, until they met a woman and relinquished it all, gave it up, abdicated.

Not only do they hand over the keys to their heart, but the keys to the house, too, plus the combination to the safe, the means to the money and the clearance to the credit cards.

“Here, honey, it’s all yours, do what you want, I abdicate it all to you.”

He now has no hand, no say, no authority, no power, but that’s the way he wants it, for now at least, while his loins are still hot. Sometimes these men are tired of being in charge and want a woman to run their lives for them. Maybe they have a mommy complex in the same way some women have daddy issues.

That’s all well and good if you can find a good woman who you can abdicate your way of life to. But dog nyam yu supper if she’s a tyrant, for your life will be hell on Earth. That’s why men should be able to take care of themselves, not be too dependent on women, and do not abdicate their responsibilities.

I was speaking to a mother recently, who spoke glowingly of her 13-year-old son.

“He makes his own breakfast before leaving for school, cooks for me when I’m not feeling well, and helps around the house without my even asking.”

He is a model student in school, and a boy who’s on the path to being a fine young man who will not relinquish his manhood when he meets a woman to settle down with. I commended her on how she raised him.

Sadly, many men are not like that boy, and have abdicated their manhood even before they completed puberty. They allow women to enter their lives and take full control. The only throne that they sit on is the porcelain one in the bathroom. They have abdicated what little masculinity they had, ignorant in their bliss, oblivious to the fate, unaware of their circumstances.

Some men also abdicate their responsibilities for the wrong reasons. They abdicate their roles as fathers, as husbands, as friends to those who need them.

So, abdication can be good and it can be bad.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: Children’s proper nutrition is important as are other things. I see there’s a call to cut out or reduce the consumption of sugary drinks in schools. That will be difficult as soft drinks, box juice, and others are a cheap mainstay of many children, and also a quick source of energy. Back in my youth that’s all we consumed on a daily basis, and I could count the number of fat children on one hand. The reason for that is we were always active, playing sports, physical education (PE) classes, or just simply running up and down. I think that more emphasis should be placed on increased activity for children. I heard that PE classes have been discontinued in many schools. Get the children active again!