The Escapist Diamond Jubilee 2012 Thread

[BlackStar42]

Do the English generally not care about the Royal Family? I always found absurd the attention Royal family stuff gets in the US (you should see the attention it gets on CNN), but I thought at the very least the English probably cared.

Anyways, the only way the Diamond Jubilee affects me is that all the news here will be reporting about it instead of covering actual news.

No-one I know cares all that much. Still, she does make sure we can't end up with President Blair or Cameron. She deserves a party just for that IMO.

 

[JoJo]

a lot of people, particularly younger ones going through a rebellious phase, tend to disagree.

That... Seriously don't even go there.

Just an observation mate, no need to get on my back about it, people do tend to get more conservative as they get older.

Also I hope that BNP crack in your previous post was a joke, there's a big difference between taking pride in your country (which has citizens of every ethnic origin) and being a racist arsehole who only likes "indigenous British people", I'm a quarter immigrant descended myself so I have no time for idiots like that.

 

[Zebidizy]

I'm Irish so I would rather celebrate a successful Al-Qaeda assassination on the Royal family, then the Queen's birthday. God how much I hate them so.

I second this..

 

[Raven's Nest]

a lot of people, particularly younger ones going through a rebellious phase, tend to disagree.

That... Seriously don't even go there.

Just an observation mate, no need to get on my back about it, people do tend to get more conservative as they get older.

Also I hope that BNP crack in your previous post was a joke, there's a big difference between taking pride in your country (which has citizens of every ethnic origin) and being a racist arsehole who only likes "indigenous British people", I'm a quarter immigrant descended myself so I have no time for idiots like that.

I don't mean to get on your back. It's just not right to dismiss a large majority of people's feelings about monarchy as childish. Which is what you seem to imply.

Interestingly enough, the only people I see on the streets of England wearing union jacks or the red cross flags are BNP supporters. There is of course a difference but that's my observation...

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I don't care all that much about the Monarchy, to be honest. They bring in tourists and act as an apolitical head of state, that's as far as I think about them.

I would say though that the requests (or hopes?) I see for the Royal Family to be killed every time a thread about them crops up are disturbing, in jest or not.

 

[anthony87]

I fail to see the need to celebrate and old woman who does nothing but cut ribbons, shake hands, get photos taken and refuse pints of Guinness.

Seriously, what's the point of the Royal Family other than "be the Royal Family"?

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I fail to see the need to celebrate and old woman who does nothing but cut ribbons, shake hands, get photos taken and refuse pints of Guinness.

Seriously, what's the point of the Royal Family other than "be the Royal Family"?

Tourism I guess? I really don't know.

OT:I'm gonna be watching the concert on monday, only really because it's got Madness and a few other awesome people in it. I'm not gonna be "celebrating" at all, because really I don't want to be celebrating some woman I've never met's job anniversary.

 

[JoJo]

a lot of people, particularly younger ones going through a rebellious phase, tend to disagree.

That... Seriously don't even go there.

Just an observation mate, no need to get on my back about it, people do tend to get more conservative as they get older.

Also I hope that BNP crack in your previous post was a joke, there's a big difference between taking pride in your country (which has citizens of every ethnic origin) and being a racist arsehole who only likes "indigenous British people", I'm a quarter immigrant descended myself so I have no time for idiots like that.

I don't mean to get on your back. It's just not right to dismiss a large majority of people's feelings about monarchy as childish. Which is what you seem to imply.

Interestingly enough, the only people I see on the streets of England wearing union jacks or the red cross flags are BNP supporters. There is of course a difference but that's my observation...

Out of the interest how do you someone randomly walking down the street wearing a flag is a BNP supporter? I doubt most of them wear BNP badges or BNP t-shirts. Almost every house in my road has put out British flags for this weekend and I can assure you most of us aren't BNP (usually Conservative or Lib dem).

 

[F'Angus]

Hurrah!

God Save The Queen!

 

[Liberaliter]

I fail to see the need to celebrate and old woman who does nothing but cut ribbons, shake hands, get photos taken and refuse pints of Guinness.

Seriously, what's the point of the Royal Family other than "be the Royal Family"?

To make the country lots of money of course.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I am disappointed by the number of British people who are not proud of having a Royal Family to serve like the peasants they are.
*Sneers down nose at filthy peasants*
Anyway I'm happy about us having a Royal Family, and proud of them. Feth what peons say, I have my royal loyalty.
Although, I'm not actually doing anything to celebrate. Don't need to. It's the thought that counts, and I think well of the Queen.

 

[Woodsey]

I'm not giving a fuck.

Scratch that, I AM giving a fuck because they've taken two fucking bank holidays for the fucking thing and so I can't get a fucking book I fucking need from Amazon for my fucking A-Level English revision until fucking Wednesday.

Other then that, don't really give a fuck.

I do find it incredibly amusing that anyone actually cares. I'd happily wear a crown and a sparkly dress for 60 years and do some waving at random people, but I'm pretty sure the only prize I'd get is a trip to a mental hospital.

As soon as their balance sheet says the tourism they bring in and the jobs they provide aren't above the amount it costs to keep them, they can go.

And British Prime Ministers are innocent of this... how exactly? The presidential system doesn't make you evil you know. If you think the fact that they have presidential systems is the problem you're incredibly naive.

Yeah but it helped us avoid President Blair.

Blair was quite recognisably a presidential PM, and it's not that outlandish to suggest that, relatively speaking, his time in office granted him more power than a US President gets to wield. (Within their own countries, obviously.)

 

[Raven's Nest]

Out of the interest how do you someone randomly walking down the street wearing a flag is a BNP supporter? I doubt most of them wear BNP badges or BNP t-shirts. Almost every house in my road has put out British flags for this weekend and I can assure you most of us aren't BNP (usually Conservative or Lib dem).

Depends where you live, I usually see them because I live in a very multi-cultural city (Milton Keynes)... Here, they are lined up on the high street swearing at a procession of Sikhs as they enter a temple or counter protesting some muslim cause. Don't get me wrong, I hate the BNP too and I don't like seeing them spout there bullshit wearing the nation's colours as a symbol but they do. And it taints it for everyone else.

 

[doggy go 7]

To all the anti-royalists in this thread, may this video help explain how very wrong you are. Oh so very, very wrong.
<youtube=bhyYgnhhKFw>

I disagree with the monarchy in princible, but I don't activly want to get rid of them for this precise reason. Thus, I just completely ignore, because they don't fucking matter, they do no good, but they do no bad either.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Long live the queen I say! She deserves that 83% approval rating!

 

[Gabanuka]

If only England had hosted Eurovision this year, we would of been centre of the globe what with this and the Olympics!

Spoiler: Remember, no matter how hard it may get

 

[doggy go 7]

And British Prime Ministers are innocent of this... how exactly? The presidential system doesn't make you evil you know. If you think the fact that they have presidential systems is the problem you're incredibly naive.

Yeah but it helped us avoid President Blair.

Because the president of england and the Prime Minister of england would be completely different things. Obviously.

Hell, if we got rid of the queen (which we won't), the leader would probably still be called the Prime Minister. Either way, the power that person would have would be exactly the same.

 

[Hoplon]

I understand hereditary power wouldn't be gone with the abolition of the monarchy, but why have hereditary power that doesn't need to be there?

It can be argued that in one instance it can be useful for such a system. That instance being massive natural disaster such as a plague in which is it not limited to the poor, democratic systems break down pretty quickly in such situations, hereditary systems don't nearly so much since you don't have to be elected to have any power, just have the right parents.

A pretty specialised set of circumstances these days but in days past this sort of thing happened a lot which was why they where the prevailing systems.

Also I am a terrible person to ask "need to be there" I don't think any of these systems need to be there, We have the data connection to do proper Anarchy, no centralised control at all.

 

[Plinglebob]

For a head of state, I'd much rather have a hereditary monarch who is above party politics and gives a good excuse to have a piss up every 10 or so years compared to an elected President. One of the sad things about Britain is that unlike a lot of countries there's never much of an opportunity to get together and celebrate as a nation and at least the Royal family give us that. I say God Save the Queen and may she keep on living until Charles pegs it.

Also, Prince Philip is awesome!

 

[Hoplon]

And British Prime Ministers are innocent of this... how exactly? The presidential system doesn't make you evil you know. If you think the fact that they have presidential systems is the problem you're incredibly naive.

Yeah but it helped us avoid President Blair.

Because the president of england and the Prime Minister of england would be completely different things. Obviously.

Hell, if we got rid of the queen (which we won't), the leader would probably still be called the Prime Minister. Either way, the power that person would have would be exactly the same.

Yes, since one would be a political leader and the other the head of state.