Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr K
Why are and the media (and we?) so obsessed with all this royal crap? There are so many bigger issues, cost of living, climate change, nhs, war in Ukraine.
Yet many papers and news channels, not just tabloids, keep leading with Harry's book and the latest Royal self-indulgent twaddle.
E.g. the Torygraph has led on it for several days, despite their commentators saying ignore Harry! Hypocritical or what? Trying to distract from the real issues going on the country maybe?
Just another example why this country is going down the pan.
I never used to be particularly a republican or royalist. Used to think on balance they were worth it to the country , but that time has gone. We'd be better off without them, particularly now the only worthwhile Royal has gone.
|
There are so many reasons why the Monarchy should go. The construct is an historical anachronism. If you hold it up and apply a moral, ethical and societal analysis, it quickly falls apart. Why is it still here you might ask? Well, most people, for a variety of reasons, do not challenge its right & validity to exist and so it lives on, primarily through inertia.
Why might many not challenge the status quo? Well, as a context, we are brought up in a country that sells the monarch as a benign, benevolent and harmless entity. We are groomed to think that this is a necessary part of our society and so why would we challenge it? There is no education through our childhood that discusses the pros & cons of monarchy and encourages us to think objectively on the subject. Moreover, the PR machine that has been refined over centuries does a very good job. It is a well oiled machine which only in recent years, have the wheels started to come off it. The spin of the monarchy being a necessary presence in our lives, painted onto a backdrop of rose-tinted Empire nostalgia, simply encourages the majority not to even question things or ask the important questions.
So to the moral, ethical and societal issues:
- no one has the right to demand and receive deference from their fellow citizens. You could get away with it when you were a feudal overlord, ruling over indentured serfs but I would like to think we have moved on from this position.
- no one is born, appointed by God, to reign over a democratic society. You might have that personal delusion but tolerating it from such an individual is just ridiculous
- no one should have the power and privilege to intercept proposed laws before that are put to the Commons and make changes beneficial to the Crown
- no one should literally own the coastal seafloor so that they receive money from allowing the installation & use of wind power turbines
- the Crown is the keystone in the arch of our very real, and powerful, class system. It binds the system together and formalises the various tiers of society that engineer wealth, privilege and advantage for a small minority. This then perpetuates the "glass ceilings" that so many encounter when trying to rise through society. As long as you go to the "right" school, go to the "right" university and, ideally, comes from the "right" family, your prosperous future, and that of your children, is virtually guaranteed. The very opposite of a free meritocracy.
- I personally think that an individual whose personal wealth is approaching £1 billion should not assume the position of head of a Christian church whose primary teachings abhor obscene wealth.
- the demand we have to insist that children are born into a life where that must live in a privileged & gilded cage where they cannot not openly express opinions or defend their decision is perverse. Of course, when you do, as in Harry's case, you are hounded & demonised by the Right Wing press operating as a proxy for the "system"
- lastly, the current incarnation of the royal family is fast approaching a freak show: we have Andrew the nonce who, as far as we know, had his victim paid off by tax payer's money. It turns out that the Commons is not allow to debate the question of who paid off his victim. You then have the very weird spectacle of people who have queued for hours at Balmoral when the Royal Family walks past them as if they do not exist. What motivates people to do this?
In terms of replacing the head of state, let not perfection be the enemy of the good ...