Wel, I’m all for free speech myself, but if you decide of your own accord to come uninvited to my country, accepting our generosity, and our hospitality because it offers you a better life then the system that you left in your own country, then you are a coward and a hypocrite if you start whining about how you think that we should change our system and culture to suit YOU.
Its like someone climbing through a window and squatting in the house that you paid for, and then complaining that we aren’t vegetarians, or that you don’t like the way we’ve decorated the place.
If you don’t like our ways then you are totally at liberty to leave, though the people who get all indignant about the life style of the country that THEY’VE chosen to invite themselves to, never seem to do so.
Better yet, knowing how we are before you come here, don’t come here in the first place.
Go somewhere else where their politics meet with your approval.
I’ve heard it done with absolutely no repercussions. Personally, I quite like the queen and the institution, but if you think what you describe is uniform throughout the UK, you need to get out more. I know a lot more Welsh people than English / Scottish / Irish, but I’d say at least a quarter of younger people actively dislike the monarchy, and I have also heard the sentiment expressed by multiple people in their 60s and 70s. Just a few months ago, I was practically given a sermon on the subject by an older man who objected to holding jubilee celebrations. Admittedly this was in Canada, but he was born and raised in Britain and we have the same monarch over here.
I wouldn’t go stand in front of Buckingham Palace and scream ‘The monarchy is criminal, and the queen’s a bitch!’, but that’s just common sense.
I have, however, no qualms whatsoever in insulting both the insitution and members of the monarchy in public, (or in pubs, which is the normal way); and I’ve certainly heard other people do so in much more definite terms than I ever have, without any reaction much more than a ‘Yeah well, me Gran likes her, and she could be worse,’ response.
For myself, I dislike the concept of a hereditary monarchy system, but it’s not without a few merits (someone uninvolved in party polictics with a potential emergency stop button is a good thing, and it probably does bring in the tourists), so I’m not sure what would be best to replace it. I’m not convinced giving more power to any one person is a good plan, and I see no point in electing a powerless figurehead. I’ve not heard a proposal for an alternative system that I could unreservedly get behind, and until I do, I see no point in protesting against the status quo.
Oh, and if people are welcome into this country, they’re welcome to bring their brains.
How is complaining indicative cowardice and hypocrisy? Are all migrants to your fair country meant to treat it like it were truly heaven on god’s green earth or can people who work hard for their own benefit and for the society they choose to live in complain when there are problems? More to the point, if they’re saying their home place they left is way better, maybe you’d have a point but just complaining? da fuq?
Lust4Life, I think you are exaggerating enormously the ‘reverence’ for the Queen. She’s definitely respected but I have seen many people criticise Her, the Prince of Wales and the monarchy itself. Nobody considers it their duty to jump in and smack that person down - it’s their right to have that opinion. You must circulate among a very small group of like-minded people to think the way you do.
You seem to be arguing that a lot of British people here have been imagining things.
It’s certainly true that the Queen is broadly very popular, particularly at the moment, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of people who dislike the institution and will happily announce down the pub that the Royal family are a bunch of wasters and spongers, my 85 year old, very-proper-english-gentleman-who-wears-a-suit-and-tie-to-breakfast father included.
English Bob: The dignity of royalty. A majesty that precludes the likelihood of assassination. If you were to point a pistol at a king or a queen your hands would shake as though palsied. But if you did, I can assure you, if you did, that the sight of royalty would cause you to dismiss all thoughts of bloodshed and you would stand… how shall I put it? In awe.
And I blame it for spreading the idea here too :smack: I’ve heard it more and more since the series aired. My grandfather (bush drinker since I was old enough to pour him a glass) would probably not like to have lived to hear that. He found it disconcerting enough that his legacy as a banker was “generous, for a protestant”.
You’re right. It’s impossible for a Canadian to know anything about life in the UK. I couldn’t possibly have had any experiences in Britain or with British people that led the posts about my experiences in Britain and with British people. Whatever you need to tell yourself to keep from changing your mind.
I live in the Glasgow area which, compared to London, has a small immigrant population. SanVito’s experience matches mine pretty closely.
Actually, in my experience, most immigrants (and, interestingly, UKCs descended from people who immigrated decades ago) I encounter have no strong feelings about the monarchy one way or another. Of course, “data” is not the plural of “anecdote” etc, but most folks I hear expressing strong views on the subject would be checking “White British” on the census form.
Would that be like the "White British " Glasgow Celtic supporters who chant "Up the I.R.A. at football matches, and who fly the Irish Tricolour during Orangeman parades ?
Don’t be silly. I have never made any secret of the fact that I live in Canada. If you look at my posting history, you’ll find references to my British husband and to the years we lived in Britain. If I’ve made an argument you disagree with, rebut it. If you have a specific accusation against me personally, please take it to the Pit. Otherwise, move on.
