Merkin Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Very pleased for them. Can't wait to hear what name they choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It is totally wrong that our head of state is an inherited position. I also hate the sycophantic celebrity culture which makes Will & Kate's every grunt grind topless kinkiness and birth pang headline news. It is indefensible in a modern society. It is great that a young couple have had a healthy baby. But to tie this child and its parents to the sovereignty of the country and hence place them in a life both privileged and strait jacketed is wrong. If you want to talk about the outdatedness of inherited positions, privilege and sovereignty, is it really the Royal Family you should be selectively calling out, or should you go a bit further and call out the entire class system, the upper echelons of which are amply represented in the UK Parliament? Constitutional sovereignty does not rest in the Monarch or in Parliament; it rests in a full session of Parliament with the Monarch (i.e. Queen-in-Parliament) giving Royal Assent. If you want to take out the Monarchy from the equation, you still have the House of Lords which is largely filled with inherited aristocrats or establishment people who are themselves primarily from the upper ruling class; and you still have the House of Commons, which is largely filled with lawyers, trade unionists - career politicians. A constitutional arrangement in which sovereignty rests in the establishment would be no less outdated if the monarchy were taken out of the picture. In many ways, I suspect it would be much worse. There is a level of constitutional protection in preserving traditional arrangements. We can talk about the cost of maintaining the Royal Family but surely it's a drop in the ocean compared to maintaining 650 lawyers and career politicians and 790 lords and has-beens. And then there's the British Civil Service and its countless managers and executives. How much of it is really necessary and not just a continuation of a hereditary class system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Here we go. Bollocks mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 An apolitical head of state has to be the best of all world's. We should be grateful that we have one. There's no such thing as "apolitical". Everyone and everything is political. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 An apolitical head of state has to be the best of all world's. We should be grateful that we have one. There's no such thing as "apolitical". Everyone and everything is political. Plants and rocks aren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 A title doesn't have to be inherited to be apolitical.Very true, but how would a head of state be selected? Voting would implicitly favour candidates that were preferred by majorities and majorities would have political bias one way or a other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Of course they are. Use your brain for a minute and have a think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilligaf Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It's a girl! Great to read that The Duchess of Cambridge has delivered a girl! Er, why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It's a girl! Great to read that The Duchess of Cambridge has delivered a girl! Er, why? I think her gynecologist may have delivered it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I hope nobody assumed from my earlier post that I'm a monarchist. I was just putting the royal family into a broader societal context. It's inconsistent for people to talk about doing away with the royal family because it's a form of hereditary privilege, and for them to not talk about doing away with the hereditary class system in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilligaf Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It's a girl! Great to read that The Duchess of Cambridge has delivered a girl! Er, why? I think her gynecologist may have delivered it. Was he Royal Male? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Very pleased for them. Can't wait to hear what name they choose. Odds are, apparently, that it will be Firkin, Merkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilp Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Is there a possibility she'll be called 'Diana'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Massive economic benefits from this - just think of all the commemorative teatowel manufacturers and plate painters that will increase their profits and thus tax revenues for the UK. Bit like these: https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6240/6306829373_838d93c214_b.jpg https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3529/5707205787_f5e6f8dc28_b.jpg Bettered only by:- http://wuff.me.uk/Christ%20in%20cats/Christ%20in%20cats.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Wonderful news. One of the few things the British public generally agree with these days is that the Monarchy is good for Britain. And for those that don't . . . . There's a boat in the morning ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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