Oh come on Godders. Has someone made a bet with you that you can't start X amount of threads in X amount of days, or something..?
This was a very serious question based on the events of today in which people seemed to get some sort of perverse pleasure from observing the joy of some and the despair of others. Anyway somebody has to try and get us all away from stupid endless speculation about who might or might not sign for the Saints when nobody has a clue what will happen. Anyway if I didn't do this then I would probably bugger off for the summer like Channon Walks on H2O. Come to think of it I shall be buggering of for most of the summer so you could see it as me making up for all the threads I won't be able to post when I am away! As a staunch republican I do not want to be around for all the street parties and the other Royalty grovelling activities.
Time to pretentiously quote some Tool lyrics: "Eye on the TV 'cause tragedy thrills me Whatever flavour It happens to be, like... Killed by the husband Drowned by the ocean Shot by his own son She used the poison in his tea And kissed him goodbye That's my kind of story It's no fun 'til someone dies Don't look at me like I am a monster Frown out your one face But with the other Stare like a junkie Into the TV Stare like a zombie While the mother Holds her child Watches him die Hands to the sky crying Why, oh why? 'cause I need to watch things die From a distance Vicariously, I live while the whole world dies You all need it too, don't lie" In short, we all have this perverse side which enjoys watching the struggle of others from a safe distance.
Football is an entertainment sport, therefore it is by default, voyeuristic. There you go, there's your serious answer. Onto the more interesting bit in your recent post: you'll have to forgive me because I took you to be a fan of the Monarchy in the worst forelock tugging way. I am totally and completely sorry for misjudging you, Godders. I knew we had more than football in common. I went holiday during the Silver Jubilee back in the 1970s. I'm hoping to be out of the way when the country goes fawning again.
The monarchy is quite clearly pointless, but it just seems too irrelevant to get worked up about it. I've had debates with people about it before, but I quickly lose interest because I frankly don't care. It's the same as the gay marriage debate - obviously there's no sensible reason to deny marriage to gay people, but the institution of marriage is so utterly pointless nowadays that I can't see how anyone, gay or not, could get so riled up about it. You know what annoys me far more than those things? People who go on and on whining about those things. They're not important issues.
I'd presume the economy would (if it could speak) have something to say about that. The Royal Family maintain interest in England for many tourists. The income they generate is pretty respectable for something so irrelevant.
They also cost £40 million a year in taxes. I don't know how it balances out overall. Also, I don't know if the continuing existence of the Royal Family actually generates that much tourism. It could be argued that the things that those tourists come to see (the palaces, castles and various other related attractions) would still generate significant interest even if the monarchy were to cease to be. The tourists, I imagine, are mostly attracted by the historical aspects.
A republican who lives in Windsor? A bit odd, that. Like living in mid Wales, then saying you don't like countryside.
I'll have you know that Windsor is a hotbed of republicanism. As we speak I am constructing a guillotine in my garden shed so that when the revolution comes I shall be ready and just like the Lord High Executioner in the Mikado I have my very own little list and at the top is anyone who was educated at Eton. We shall put an end to Toffs who think they were born to rule.
That is three of us then ready to cereate the English Republic. No more of this Kingdom nonsense. Vive la révolution!
I think the attraction for places like Buckingham Palace (which you can go in) would decrease substantially if there was no Royal Family. They would simply be relics from the past, rather than a working part of modern Britain. As well as the tourist aspect of the Royal Family, there's also the intangible but still highly positive impact of giving the country an opportunity to unite and celebrate, events like the Royal Wedding, the Queen's Jubilee this year, etc, etc. I sincerely doubt any president could unite the UK in celebration in such a way.
Peculiarly, it doesn't seem to hurt the French Royal Palaces one little bit, and anyone can walk right into them and look around, take pictures, etc... On the one or two occasions that I have visited Versailles, the palace and gardens have been packed with tourists. Personally, I like the French attitude. They [French State] say... I own this, therefore I can walk around it and view it. Of course, the admission price is to generate money and to help keep the maintenance costs down. Fair enough. We [GB State] own all the palaces, pay for all the maintenance, and yet we don't have access to them. I am not anti Elizabeth Windsor [or Saxe-Coburg], I am anti-Monarchy. I would want no harm at all to come to any member of the family [stop breeding please, but no guillotine for me thanks], I just want them to pick a palace, and one that they can maintain themselves. Go and live in it, and let's not hear too much from them again. They can be patrons of as many charities, and open as many fetes as they like, and they can be paid to do so. I just don't want an unelectable head of my country, whether that head is purely symbolic or not. As Godders says... Vive la révolution! But without the head chopping..!
Thing is, for 70 years we've been pretty lucky with our monarch. Whatever your views on the monarchy as an institution, it's hard to deny that QEII has fulfilled her duties with dignity and humility. Not so sure we can trust her eldest son or grandson to carry on in quite the same way. If we get saddled with an opinionated interferer who oversteps his or her remit, we can't vote them out. That's when we may need to set up the guillotine, though even then, there'llbe other candidates ahead of the royals in the queue.
It isn't just about the queen it is also about the layers upon layers of people associated whith Royalty who have positions of influence. As a nation we are still are governed in the main by the Normans (hereditary Peers).
