What a great summer to be British.
The London Olympics were rightly regarded as a huge success, with a phenomenal performance from Team GB and British Paralympians already going great guns. These athletes push themselves to the limit and capitalise on years of sacrifice and dedication to reach the pinnacle of sporting excellence.
As their weary bodies take to the winner's podium, their hard-earned medals gleaming brightly on their chests, they turn to the side and sing a plodding song about an old woman.
"God Save The Queen"? Did the Queen just become the best human on the planet at a certain sport? Why is she getting praised? Shouldn't the athletes be singing "God Save the Funding of Regional Sports Projects"? Yeah, I know that that doesn't really fit with the melody, but you could probably sing it in a jazz-scat way?
Remember when the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee this year, when she floated down the Thames like an aquatic Mad Max? She had a concert in her own front garden featuring the best of the music world (and Will.I.Am). Stevie Wonder even changed the words to Isn't She Lovely to honour her. Does she smile? No, she sits there with a face like Robert De Niro after somebody threw a bag of manure at his mother. It seemed like the whole event was a huge pain for her, like she was dragged to a wedding where she didn't know anyone.
This is not a dig at the Queen personally. She just happened to be born into this world; she didn't do anything to be put in this position, which is exactly the point.
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The Jubilee was a highly organised outpouring of affection towards the Queen. Why? Because she was still alive. She had made it through 60 years of being our monarch. Congrats! It just goes to show what you can achieve with tremendous wealth, the best healthcare in the world and no real job.
Now I'm not saying the Queen hasn't got a job, she's not kicking back at Buckingham Palace smashing some punk online at Call of Duty, she has a job. She opens places, even if they have already been open for a few years. She visits places. When she visits places she sometimes opens things too (that's what you call multitasking). She opens and dissolves parliament (when the decision has already been made for her). What else... hmm... she puts on meals for specially selected guests when they are in the area (Come Dine with One?). Oh yeah, she waves to people too. Sometimes she waves to people whilst she opens places on her visits (take that, you lazy nurses!).
Surely in this tough modern society of economic uncertainty and flagrant tax-avoidance, the notion of a predestined ruling class seems quite ridiculous.
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Her job and actual work based skills would barely crack minimum wage in the real world, but we decided to pay her over £30million last year (she does have a lot of corgis to feed and buffets to put on).
The British monarchy is very much like the pop star Prince, all their greatest hits were in the past and all they are now is a symbol.
A symbol can be a powerful thing (just ask Batman), but what does the symbol represent? It represents an out-dated autocracy, a class-structure that doesn't define society the way it did. It shows that the smashing together of a few lucky chromosomes, not hard work, can give you everything in this world. Young people cannot aspire to head their state, because it is predestined due to some person's relative centuries ago decided to say, "Hey, look guys, God picked me to rule over the rest of you" and the other people replied "Yeah, cool".
The Royal Family do, however, bring in a lot of wonga to the country via tourism. But it's not like the tourists are coming to see actuals members of the royal family? The royals aren't putting on a cabaret act. People come to look at things that the royals have, like houses and shiny things. If we lost the royal family we could make the tourist money back easily by making Buckingham Palace the biggest casino/Laser Quest in the world.
The country has evolved in the 60 years since the Queen took the throne. From technology to travel, we have moved towards self-reliance rather than obedience. Church attendance is way down, divorces are increasing and people can get any information they want online as quickly as it takes a person to find their library card.
Society has changed. It doesn't matter if the Royal Family have a funky website or how much a young Prince claims to love dub step, the monarchy is just not relevant to the running of the country like it was, and it will never be again.
So what instead? A US-style Presidential model? Totalitarianism? An eating contest to decide who leads the country? I think, in this time of economic strife, people just want to see that if there is a job, any job; it is earned rather than predestined. The majority of the people in this country get where they are through hard work, why should they be ruled by a minority that gets everything handed to them?
Also, put David Bowie on all currency.
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Once the British had a wonderful reputation for being sophicated, that has long since gone. Once the British were economic super-stars, that has also long since gone. However, you still know how to make good government. The Queen as the head of state represents a 2,000 year continuity of the British people. You are very welcome to emigrate to a country that has corrupt power-seeking madmen as their head's of state while the Brits have a leader who has tirelessly worked and done a wonderful job, maintaining the UK's reputation while your politicians and their ilk embarrass you daily. so do please give it a rest.
Today, America is run by a financial and political aristocracy. Bush H, Bush W, with Bush J in the background. Clinton W, and Clinton H following as Sec for State. Romney Snr ran for president, advised his son not to run unless he had big personal income - son runs on big personal income. A few outsiders get in - Obama for example - after joining this aristocracy, but it remains a fairly small group of insiders. It is reinforced by a gross lobbying system. This is why America cannot grip its essential problem: that a middle class with decreasing power has to fund both a parasite wealthy class and an increasing number of poor dependents. The growing 'rentier' class in America have managed to persuade the rest that they are 'job creators'.
Having an hereditary principle in British politics embodied by someone who has no political power paradoxically neutralises this. The Queen no longer stands for the glamour of the aristocracy, but the validity of all social classes. This is one reason why upward social mobility is greater in Britain than in America. It's not the main reason, but it's a factor.
This is either a) completely rubbish or b) incredibly depressing if true. If this is true then basically as a country full of fantastic museum, interesting cities, attractive countryside, decent (but not great) beaches, and tonnes of culture the ONLY thing that brings the tourists in is the Queen. If that's true then we don't deserve a bloody tourism industry.
When a human lacks conscience, he will supplant that lacking with Over or Under such that "Entitlement" and such Disagreements may spin forever and a day and hopefully never arriving at its truthful destination, Disagreement being the Wages of The Bookie, The Bookie being the only One who profits from Disagreement, the lucky devil because Humanity exist on disagreements and little else.
Even the term 'royal' is degrading to those that aren't, as if they are meant to praise and be subject to those that allegedly are. It's an ingrained, inculcated psychosis of a quaint and delusional comfort zone, in which the sense of 'British-ness' derives from feudalistic ages...the British have still yet to throw off the chains of abhorrent legacy of priviledge and position.
Other Western countries have their own derivative, but based on nothing more than wealth, which gives power and position, rather than the sense of heredity which the British plebeian snobbishly subjects themself to. Royalty is nothing more than when a Poodle heads the wolfpack!
As for Cromwell, you have to view his rule in the context of the times, laws were made by the landed aristocracy and the rich to protect the landed aristocracy and the rich, the poor were just cannon fodder to be blown away in wars of succession or greed. Was the autocratic rule of a king any more democratic and law abiding than that of the Puritans, hardly, people were gaoled and tortured and killed merely for not bowing and scraping to the devine authority of the king.
We have freedoms today because our forefathers fought against the absolute power being in the hands of one man, it took hundreds of years to get the few right we have today, would you give them up and restore the devine right of kings?
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and nowhere is that more true than today's excuse for European democracy where decisions are made by unelected unrepresentative unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels, every bit as bad as rule by kings.
Even in a democracy the alternative seems to be an oligarchy.
The big advantage of a hereditary, constitutional monarchy is that they know their place.
That's the joke.
This establishment not only brings tourists but far more importantly provides an image of stability to an extent that one has the feeling you know who to phone if things go wrong with you deposits in London. Stability is what you need if you are depositing money off shore.
The state Britain is in right now she probably needs the Monarchy more than ever as she is queen of 16 nations and head of a World Wide Commonwealth that we are just re-discovering as our relationship with the corrupt EU falters.
What is this worth? Its clearly worth trillions because the world still puts trillions through London daily, despite the actions of Labour who acted like wreckers and others. YahwehnewsCom
No monarchy must mean an American or French style of presidency, which is a strawman, why not any of the presidencies that do much of the existing job with real consent and without the cost.
If it aint broke don't fix it mentality means what exactly ? Is it like having a classic Morris Minor and refusing to buy an EcoPolo because, well they have exactly the same number of wheels.
Royalists are in love, it is irrational and futile but idol worship makers the worshipper feel better than their peers.
Total tosh. I've never met anyone in Britain who's stated they 'love' the monarchy, but most of us know that Queen (and the future King) is a much better Head Of State than any slimy fly-by-night politician could ever be.