Thoughts on ‘Royals @ Work’
I had to laugh when I saw Gareth Robson in Part 2. He’s from Republic.org.uk. Gareth was so adamant in his dislike of the monarchy and his explanation was so absolutely hilarious, that I had to post something about it. Don’t mistake my mirth for a dismissal of the facts though.
“If you talk to any of the Americans in the Mall - there’s loads of them - they all say the same thing: ‘Oh Gee, we love your Queen’, but if you ask them, ‘Would you like to take her back with you?’ they always say, ‘No, no thanks! We’re happy the way we are, but we just think she’s great, she belongs over there with you quaint folks.’
That’s the crunch point for me. We’re not quaint folks, we’re not a quaint country, Britain is an incredibly impressive country, but held back by the nonsense from the past that we’ve allowed to dominate our cultural face that we present to the world. It’s ridiculous.”
I’ll give him a point for saying Britain is an incredibly impressive country. He’s got that exactly right, but blaming the Monarchy as the reason that the country is held back in any way is the biggest load of…stuff… I’ve ever heard. Don’t hold it against the Queen just because of the comments of a few uninformed American tourists. Trust me, I would be annoyed too if I talked to people who thought that only a president is true reality and that my head of state was “just a queen” who stands there and looks cute, like your granny, and then sits and drinks tea all day. Quaint!
Just for the record, not all of the Americans hanging out in the Mall are going to say that. Most thinking people will not just say, “Oh you’re quaint”, they’ll actually try to find out why you have a queen and what your history is all about. If you met me at the gates of Buck House, I will tell you that I am an American and I love the Queen - not because her crown sparkles real purty and yer all so quaint, but because I’ve researched your country and I found that she’s a respectable representative of a major part of world history. Countless Americans will back me up on that sentiment.
We don’t think you’re quaint. We recognize your powerful standing in the world and we respect you as a nation and we happen to respect your Queen, too. There isn’t anything the royal family does to hold Britain back, they happen to perform ancient ceremonies every now and then. Why that offends you that much, I just don’t know.
A republic isn’t just standing in front of the Statue of Liberty and feeling proud, running for office and helping your fellow man. It should be. It should be that simple and wonderful, but the unfortunate reality of our republic is a lack of morality and any kind of true depth in society - religious, cultural or otherwise. Gas and heating oil unaffordable because your president is ‘in bed’ with the oil barons. Television so bawdy and brainless you’d think it was a Benny Hill comedy but without the humor. A majority of children in the country being raised by parents who are shallow, selfish, and just as immature as their offspring. Mandated state testing for your children in their schools, designed by people who are not teachers, but guys in suits. Borders wide open for people to come in and gleefully and publicly destroy us. Our national anthem will soon become “Someone Bless America”. The people who lead us are vile, lurid manipulators full of greed and selfishness, and they have no shame.
So hurrah to the republic? This is exactly what I want Britain to become? I don’t think so. American Monarchists don’t protest a republic out of teary-eyed sentiment. We protest because we already know what it’s about. We face it every day in our own republic with our presidents, their cabinets, and their cronies. If Hillary Clinton (or anyone else for that matter) gets ‘elected’, we’ll just get the same garbage again. Do you know how painful it is to realize how ridiculous this country is, yet we are supposed to be the beacon of freedom and independence? Do you understand how painful it is to present OUR face to a world that is openly disgusted of our hypocrisy?
We still pay for politicians out of our pockets, not to mention other things controversial that we never even got a say in. You think a vote counts in this country? No, Gareth. You and your ilk are just angry that the monarchy has an emotional pull that you guys don’t, and you’re angry that this institution is blocking all your advantages to run the show with cronyism. Beware the Oliver Cromwell syndrome.
One day I hope you start complaining about what really matters. Until then, it’s people like you who really will hold Britain back.
