Today I have the inexplicable whim to blog about the Royal Family and the controversy theresurrounding. So here goes. Please note that, as always, everything I say in this post is nothing more than the subjective opinion of a teenager with internet access, and you shouldn't take anything I say too seriously.
As far as the abstract concept of a royal family goes, I hate it. I am as vehemently opposed to the class system and the power of the birth lottery as the most radical of socialists. I don't even care about the money they have so much, as material inequality is pretty much unavoidable, but the status thing I can barely stand. The fact that we in Britain are supposed to be so reverent and loyal to people who achieved nothing more than being born to parents who were born to parents who were born to parents whose ancestors won some battle centuries ago grinds my stubbornly egalitarian gears. I don't consider the Queen to be superior to me or anyone else in the middle or working class, and if I'm going to ask God to save someone in song, I'd much rather it were Stephen Fry or Chris Colfer or some such awesome person.
That aside, what of the Royal Family we have today? Do I want them all cast into the North Sea?
I've actually blogged about this before, and I don't consider the modern British Royals to be much of a problem.
The reason for this is that the Royals are no longer considered our divine overlords. While they still, technically, have the same status, they have none of the power they had in times of old. Yes, the United Kingdom is not as democratic as I would like it to be, but that has nothing to do the Royals and everything to do with corrupt politicians and a completely immoral banking sector. If you think about it, the Royals have more or less the same status as the rest of us. They are taxed by the government, ridiculed by the media and gossiped about by the public, and can't do anything about it. They are, really, little more than a convenient source of income for parliament, and an effective tourist-magnet.
Officially, yes, all power in parliament is derived from the Monarch. But as we all know, this is nothing more than a ceremonial procedure. It's both slightly bizarre and slightly irksome that the Queen has to sign all our bills and permit every government to form, but no monarch today would be stupid enough to try and wield that power for real. I think that kind of ceremonial power is a fair exchange for the amount of revenue the royals generate for us.
Besides, a lot of people like the royals. In fact, the majority of Brits find Liz and Co endearing to a certain degree. It's probably unfair to get rid of them based on a dogmatic principle of mine.
So, that's a vague summary of what I feel vis-a-vis the House of Windsor.
Until next time.
As far as the abstract concept of a royal family goes, I hate it. I am as vehemently opposed to the class system and the power of the birth lottery as the most radical of socialists. I don't even care about the money they have so much, as material inequality is pretty much unavoidable, but the status thing I can barely stand. The fact that we in Britain are supposed to be so reverent and loyal to people who achieved nothing more than being born to parents who were born to parents who were born to parents whose ancestors won some battle centuries ago grinds my stubbornly egalitarian gears. I don't consider the Queen to be superior to me or anyone else in the middle or working class, and if I'm going to ask God to save someone in song, I'd much rather it were Stephen Fry or Chris Colfer or some such awesome person.
That aside, what of the Royal Family we have today? Do I want them all cast into the North Sea?
I've actually blogged about this before, and I don't consider the modern British Royals to be much of a problem.
The reason for this is that the Royals are no longer considered our divine overlords. While they still, technically, have the same status, they have none of the power they had in times of old. Yes, the United Kingdom is not as democratic as I would like it to be, but that has nothing to do the Royals and everything to do with corrupt politicians and a completely immoral banking sector. If you think about it, the Royals have more or less the same status as the rest of us. They are taxed by the government, ridiculed by the media and gossiped about by the public, and can't do anything about it. They are, really, little more than a convenient source of income for parliament, and an effective tourist-magnet.
Officially, yes, all power in parliament is derived from the Monarch. But as we all know, this is nothing more than a ceremonial procedure. It's both slightly bizarre and slightly irksome that the Queen has to sign all our bills and permit every government to form, but no monarch today would be stupid enough to try and wield that power for real. I think that kind of ceremonial power is a fair exchange for the amount of revenue the royals generate for us.
Besides, a lot of people like the royals. In fact, the majority of Brits find Liz and Co endearing to a certain degree. It's probably unfair to get rid of them based on a dogmatic principle of mine.
So, that's a vague summary of what I feel vis-a-vis the House of Windsor.
Until next time.
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