Islands and the Son

How not to begin an article:

HERE, on an island that might be called Camelot, the winds of democracy have blown in like the waft from a landfill.

• a) Camelot was no island, unless you want to call it an island of beauty in a world of...hmph, you get the idea.
• b) Winds don't waft. Scents waft. So, is the air windy or wafty?
• c) The mixture of images leaves me trying to conceive of an island just offshore off a mainland dump. How silly.

But this is just nitpicking; the rest of the article is quite interesting. In fact, I dare say, fascinating. The island under discussion is Sark, a curious little spot of island planted in the middle of the English Channel. It sounds more than a little delightful:

Algernon Swinburne, the 19th century poet, called it a "small, sweet world of wave-encompassed wonder."

Sark has remained pretty much the same for 442 years, since Queen Elizabeth I declared it a noble fiefdom. Transport is by bicycle, horse-and-carriage or Wellington boots. When absolutely necessary, one may resort to one of the island's few tractors. But the neighbors, never frugal with opinions, tend to look up from their gardens and make case-by-case assessments of what constitutes necessity.

Charming, no? Even more interesting, it's one of the last few places around Europe that still operates on a feudal system.Landownership is divided among 40 "tenants." They are the descendants or successors of the 40 men with muskets recruited by the original seigneur, the ruling lord commissioned to defend the isle against pirates and buccaneers. Government administration is by fiat, with the island administrator, judge, constable and clerk appointed by the current seigneur, a 79-year-old former aeronautical engineer whose family has governed Sark since 1852. Or so it was governed until dips from England decided to move in, and have since protested the sales tithe taken by the seigneur. Anyone who purchases land must pay the seigneur a thirteenth of the sale price. To protest this, and under the guise of being "pro-democracy," the new English idiots have decided to try to upend the antiquated (but functional system) and reduce their tax burden, ignoring the fact that taxes on Sark, all told, are a sliver of what they are on the big island.

I could write no small amount more on this subject, but I'd rather not get steamed (and I do have other work to do). Instead, I'm going to hope that Sark goes democratic when it actually wants to, not when some legalistic invaders decide to appeal to EU regulations to force it upon the island. As anyone who has ever gotten involved in local politics can attest, in a democratic country, it's ridiculous. A benevolent, low-tax, non-welfare state feudal system sounds just about right to me.