The Queen is Dead!
- Thread starter sufi
- Start date
mate I say this with (tough) love and affection but you're the archetypical personification of the pussyole. Always so conflict averse, and so suggestible. Develop your antagonistic reflexes to give Lucius a nervous breakdown!
woops
is not like other people
william_kent
Well-known member
Bank holiday approved for day of Queen's funeral
sept 19th apparently - no point in lazing around watching TV on that day though...
sept 19th apparently - no point in lazing around watching TV on that day though...
IdleRich
IdleRich
One thing I found quite interesting yesterday was (for want of a better phrase) the perception of the perception of they royals ie how people in other countries think the British perceive the queen. My friend Catarina asked me yesterday if there were any young people who disliked the royals and who would be brave enough to say so. In other words, the idea that has been created abroad is that all Brits young and old all love the royals. I don't know how that view has been spread as basically every young person I know hates the royals. Or in general what I would guess is that there is quite an even divide with a lot of people loving them and a lot hating them. I certainly don't think that there is a consensus in their favour - although I suppose right now it is quite difficult to speak out as any negative words about the institution are being criticised as an insensitive attack on an old lady who has just died.
I think that that comment should have been in this thread right @Leo ? One thing I'm surprised to see is many people blaming the queen for colonisation and various crimes that were committed before she was born. Even I wouldn't go that far, although she is part of the institution. Just surprised at the personal nature of this criticism which is kind of having it both ways but negatively.
IdleRich
IdleRich
I dunno if I posted it here (can't see it but apologies if I did) but I have to agree with that guy I saw who said "Definitely the right decision to cancel the football, I was getting concerned about how I was gonna squeeze in all the mourning I need to do this weekend."
Why football by the way? I read that horse-racing and golf are going ahead. You would have thought that horse-racing at least has a bit of a connection to the royal family and might want to show some respect, but what the fuck has footie got to do with the queen? When was the last time she went to a game?l
IdleRich
IdleRich
I that Chinese takeaway and Indian takeaway are so ubiquitous (although a good portion of the "Indian" restaurants in London and maybe the UK as a whole are actually Bangladeshi) that you can drop the word takeaway and it will be understood. I dunno if it will work quite the same with food from other cultures which has not been here so long to such an extent and which is not so associated with takeaway. I mean, I guess you could say "I'm gonna have a Mexican" tonight and people would be able to work out what you meant but it's definitely not so common.
IdleRich
IdleRich
If she rose on the third day we would definitely not hear the end of it.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
Not sure many people are blaming her for colonisation as opposed to seeing her as someone who was still reaping the benefits of the riches it brought her family (very difficult to understate just how much they profited) and nor she or any of the rest of them were interested in dealing with it. On top of that there was that list of wars and atrocities she's watched happen in that tweet @Mr. Tea posted a page or two back.
Also, there is some of that fear of criticism of the royals still ingrained because it's not just her but the whole archaic institution that are, and will continue to benefit from all of that for as long as they can. This would be a good time to start to protest against them in general, especially because its in bad taste. Them even existing in the 21st century is bad taste. The fact that they have PR to deal with all of their dirty laundry and manage to hoodwink so many is seriously fucking bad taste. They're a living atrocity and as long as they're in the position they are it is essentially an ongoing fuck you to all people and land destroyed in the name of the great empire. Fuck them and all who support them.
Also, there is some of that fear of criticism of the royals still ingrained because it's not just her but the whole archaic institution that are, and will continue to benefit from all of that for as long as they can. This would be a good time to start to protest against them in general, especially because its in bad taste. Them even existing in the 21st century is bad taste. The fact that they have PR to deal with all of their dirty laundry and manage to hoodwink so many is seriously fucking bad taste. They're a living atrocity and as long as they're in the position they are it is essentially an ongoing fuck you to all people and land destroyed in the name of the great empire. Fuck them and all who support them.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
Perfect encapsulation of it all right there. Of course the horses are more her thing. Once again the proles are subtly let known their position.
Clinamenic
Binary & Tweed
Watch for a couple minutes starting at 13:20
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
I posted that because it was just so ridiculous to suggest that the monarchy had some kind of hand in causing them all to happen. I understand their influence isn't literally zero, but to consider a counterfactual, how differently would the course of the last 70 years have turned out if the UK had become a republic in 1952? It's hardly as if a country needs a monarchy to engage in imperialism, colonialism, or general shitty behaviour, or oppress its own minorities, or to have an elite. Look at France, or the USA, or the USSR, or post-Soviet Russia, or China - all republics. And if we'd got rid of them, the same powerful interests would still exist. Our press would still be owned by the same Murdochs, Rothermeres, Barclays and Lebedevs. It would be symbolic step in the right direction, I think, but I don't share sufi's conviction that E-lizard-breath II was the world's primary agent of evil.
if you're going to be a symbolic figurehead then you have to be aware of what you symbolise.
You can try to tell me she was a good person all you like, she was married to a man who wasn't just racist but used racism as a tool to endear himself to "ordinary people" based on a belief that it made him seem more likeable/human/relatable.
You can try to tell me she was a good person all you like, she was married to a man who wasn't just racist but used racism as a tool to endear himself to "ordinary people" based on a belief that it made him seem more likeable/human/relatable.
also for what it's worth I'm in my early 30s as are most of my peers, and I have seen a lot of outpourings of grief and sympathy for the family. I'd say the split is probably 60/40 in terms of hating the royals versus being saddened by the news and defending the family, which is a lot less than I expected because I thought everyone my age hated them.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
But that's just what I'm getting at: being symbolic of oppressive power isn't the same as actually wielding that power. Get rid of the symbol, fine, but the power is still there.
oh 100% guaranteed Britain would have carried on being racist homophobic TERF island regardless, but the Royal Family has done nothing to distance itself from the brand either. I don't think it's a simple as a binary "dismantle the institution" vs "complicit in colonialism" but the fact there was no path taken otherwise, that tells me they were all happy to benefit from the existing conditions and climate.
william_kent
Well-known member
I don't feel like I'm "playing both sides" - I'm anti-monarchy but I only work to pay the rent, and if I can get a day off if an old crone kicks the bucket then I can't really be blamed for taking advantage.. not that it'll be much of a holiday because everything will be closed "out of respect" so I'll just get wasted over the weekend and sleep it off on the "holiday"...