estate of the realm, n.All

The Estate of the realm (n.) have ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠private interest as their public affairs, not public affairs as their private interest.

The Estate of the realm (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the nation in miniature against the executive, and the executive amplified against the nation — oppositional and conservative at once.

The Estate of the realm (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the delegates of civil society to the state, as bureaucrats are the delegates of the state to civil society — always a transaction between two opposing wills.

The Estate of the realm (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the imagined nation — the nation as image, fantasy, representation — which abolishes the actual opposition between nation and executive.

The Estate of the realm (n.) give ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠political significance to the unofficial, unpolitical class — a contradiction in terms.

The Estate of the realm (n.) deal ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not with essentials but with trifling matters, and the passion even these arouse spends itself in party cravings for appointments to higher office.

The Estate of the realm (n.) preserve ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the state from the unorganised mass only by disorganising that very mass, which meanwhile enjoys the illusion of its own objectification.

The Estate of the realm (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the German word Stande, used for both social classes and political estates, preserves a unity they possessed in former times, which one should conclude no longer exists.