NYT entertaining Op Ed "Down With the British Monarchy"

[NewHendoLib]

Any nation that still has a monarchy in 2021 is proving itself to have a mortifying lack of revolutionary gumption.

By Hamilton Nolan
Mr. Nolan is a writer for In These Times, a progressive magazine. He’s been calling for an end to the monarchy since 2013.

March 9, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/opinion/meghan-harry-abolish-monarchy.html

A recent interview you may have heard about revealed that the British monarchy is a toxic den of backbiting and racism. And who would doubt it? There is nothing easier to believe than that an institution created to be the physical embodiment of classism is awash in inhumanity. Where the public response to this humdrum revelation has gone astray is in the widespread conviction that we should make the monarchy better. Not at all. You cannot turn a bottle of poison into a refreshing drink, no matter how much sugar you pour into it.

A just and proper response to what we have learned would be for the entire United Kingdom to come together, join hands in a great circle around the institution of the monarchy and burn it to the ground, while singing “Sweet Caroline,” to maintain a positive spirit. Then the members of the royal family can sweep up the ashes and deposit them neatly in the bin, a ceremonial beginning to a new life of working for a living.

The existence of a monarchy is an admission that a government can’t, or doesn’t care to, solve people’s problems. Instead, it offers spectacle. It has always been easier to elevate one family to a fairy-tale life of luxury than to do the dreary work of elevating every single family to a decent standard of living. The common people fund the lifestyle of a tiny, exalted and thoroughly unworthy elite, rather than the other way around. Any nation that still has a monarchy in 2021 is proving itself to have a mortifying lack of revolutionary gumption.

snip

What is a monarchy if not the highest veneration of inequality? Based not on moral worth but on accidents of heredity, a small group of people are lavished with millions of dollars skimmed from the public till and are worshiped as sentimental nationalist gods, in exchange only for performing the duty of “being pleasant in public,” which they do with mixed success.

snip

(sorry about the paywall - interesting read, though!)

[roamer65]

1. They likely will be out when the UK breaks up.

That’s coming soon.

[BigmanPigman]

2. A poll from Sunday said that 47%

of the British public favor keeping the monarchy compared to 25% of Americans who think it should stay. The two countries have a different opinion and I accept that. I may not understand it but I accept it.

[TomSlick]

3. That's a significant drop from polls I've seen lately.

However, you are correct. The maintenance of the monarchy is a question to be decided by the British. We don't want the British telling us that we do legislatures wrong and we should not offer advice on their head of state.

Until our federal legislature operates on the basis of majority rule, we have no standing to criticize the British.

[AZProgressive]

8. I think the US and Britain are more alike than they are far apart

Meaning I don't mind when Britains criticize the US because they are often right. I follow a lot of people in the UK but they are mostly liberals/progressives. They will criticize their own government as well as the US for Saudi weapon deals for example. They also criticized Trump which I agreed with and I also don't like Boris Johnson.

Not sure what their views are on this but I actually seen more concern expressed for the homeless population than the British Royal Family.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. That sounds on the low side - can you say which poll?

Here's a recent poll, but just in the UK; it doesn't ask "keep or abolish it", but "would it be better, the same or worse if abolished?" That was 17% better, 34% no difference, 43% worse.

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/royal-family-makes-uk-appear-traditional-and-powerful

From a year ago: 62% for keeping a monarchy, 22% for getting rid of it. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/one-in-five-brits-would-abolish-monarchy-180926541.html

[BigmanPigman]

11. I saw the poll on CNN or MSNBC.

Since I go back and forth between the two I don't recall which it was.

[gulliver]

4. If there's anything dumber than the monarchy, it's the people who hate it.

It's just a show folks, and a lot of people like it. I don't count myself among them.

[tinrobot]

12. A show that forces children into roles they may/may not want.

What if the future king/queen just wanted to be a fire fighter or an artist or something?

The royals don't really have that choice. They are assigned a job from birth and then have to wait until their parent dies before they can do it. All while undergoing withering and unrelenting publicity.

No wonder that family is so messed up.

[GulfCoast66]

5. I hate all monarchies. But I'm an American and my family fought against them.

It’s their call.

But they are closer to majority rule than us.

I’m wedded to the bill of rights. Not so much the set up of government. Would not mind a parliamentary government based on equally populated districts.

[Klaralven]

6. Getting rid of monarchs is a good idea. But start with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchs

[Deuxcents]

7. What is going on with US

This is not our business..nor should it be. We got so much to fix with our own mess. Great to have an opinion but it’s starting to dominate real issues here. The media needs to stop this distraction.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. On the other hand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are all monarchies

which have done pretty well in equality. So, I didn't realise before, has Belgium, another monarchy: https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm . And Canada and Australia, with the same monarchy as the UK, do better than the republican USA.

So I don't think it's the idea of a monarchy, but what you do with it.