Yes, as it happens, this is serious.
In case you hadn’t heard, two rich people got married in England today. If you’ve had any awareness of the celebrity news, as carried by every goddamn publication in the world, you already know this, even if you don’t know why you should give a rat’s ass about it.
I find it particularly mystifying that anyone in the United States, or any other civilized country, would care, and I’m not just grousing about it.
You see, a couple of hundred years ago some brave Americans stood up to an English king (well, he was German, really, like the current occupants, but he was the king of England) and announced what was at the time a radical proposition:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . .
They view things differently over in England. They believe that a king or queen is entitled to rule by an accident of birth. Or, to be more specific, the English dogma is that the incumbent inbred king or queen, whoever he or she might be, is given authority by god to rule over the country.
When people, whether they be the yammering twits on the Today Show (Motto: “Just pretend you’re watching the news”) or the throngs of people lining the streets of England, celebrate or give any credence to the monarchy, they are saying that the Declaration of Independence is wrong. We’re not all created equal, some lucky few families are inherently superior to everybody else in the world. They deserve everything they have because they, well, just because.
So if you see me scowl or grimace at every mention of one more undistinguished rich guy marrying one more conventionally attractive woman, or when you express similar feelings of disgust, that’s standing up for American principles.
If the English are stupid enough to buy into their royalist ideology I can’t stand in their way, but the world will be better off when nobody claims or recognizes any title of royalty.
More of a psychology. One sad failing I have noticed in our species is the penchant for making everything into the form of a family. In meetings and small organizations everyone is trying to make the group into their version of a dysfunctional family. In politics, everyone is looking for daddy. In some cases a stern and punishing daddy and in others a nurturing one, but daddy nonetheless. The UK has a queen/mother and a royal family, and though they have feet of the most common clay, much of the country wants them. They don’t always like them, but people choose security and coherence over happiness more often than not. Sapiens is a misnomer for our species. We are emotional beings first. Of course there is no logic to royalty in the 21st century, but there is a kind of pathetic reassurance. Mom’s on the job in her nifty hat, all will be well.
It seems like England won after all.
This shows you that America is caught up in the old ways.
To dominate it uses military power.
England uses fluff, China uses economy, Saudi Arabia uses oil.
Now you know why we are in trouble.
when you consider some of the other nonsense and obscenity the public are addicted to. We have become a nation of spectators; and spectators demand spectacles. Whether it’s Donald Trump bloviating about what he’ll do to the Chinese or Charlie Sheen in full mental melt-down. The more outrageous or hateful the better, it seems.
I remember thinking how insane the idea of a television show called “Life Styles of the Rich and Famous” was, the first time I heard of it. How could anyone not be at once revolted and bored by such a thing? Boy was I ever naive!!
England at least can make an historic argument for their craven devotion to the excesses of aristocracy. We have willfully enabled a false aristocracy here that has nothing to do with either tradition or merit. And I’d wager that maintaining it costs us a hell of a lot more collaterally than whatever the Windsor’s draw-down from the good folks of Britain.
The number one reason why the Republicans can get by with their outrageous insistence on eliminating the so-called “death tax” is apparently because average Americans actually buy into the wealth myth that even they might strike it rich…and when, and if, they miraculously ascend to the golden Valhalla of false aristocracy, they want to make damn well sure they won’t have to share it with any of the poor slobs down below!
I wondered what would I do if the Queen came to a bar & grill or lunch counter where I worked, should I curtsy? What if I did it wrong? Is it wrong not too? I was thinking I would just nod respectfully. I don’t really like to piss ppl off for no reason but I don’t really think a mere fellow human needs to be worshipped.
Still disgusted about how they all used & treated innocent Dianna like dogcrap. Watching Charles, Camilla & all the rest go on their merry way is disconcerting. I believe she was offed.
I was talking about it w/my husband, saying how foolish it seemed for ppl to line the streets as the rich & famous pass by, stand there to wave & cheer, then go home. Why?
Especially the US. Wow. What the hell happened. It’s kind of sad.
I take some solace in the idea that for once, a certain class of Americans cares about something happening outside the country.
The larger point is well taken though.
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. . . and hold onto your freaking hat.
…is a bigger waste of time than just watching the pleasantly goofy wedding. Complaining about royalty’s role in the UK (where they have tremendous privilege but basically zilch political power)when the US has a vicious class system run by money for money seems odd, too. (Ask Bradley Manning if we’re in any position to throw stones at the level of civil liberties in the UK.) Is it really any of our business whether or not the Brits want to keep “the firm?”
Sure, networks over-hype their coverage of the event, but it is intensely American to make a buck from one’s advertisers. And there is no evidence at all that network time would have been spent on more “worthy” topics in the absence of the event. I find it hard to believe that watching the Parade of Amazingly Goofy Hats really changed anyone’s level of civic engagement. When I grab my first cup of coffee at 6 AM, I usually grab a mystery to read with it. I don’t think I lost my political mindset because I saw an alley of real trees in Westminster Abbey instead.