Kate-Gate and the dodgy photo lays bare Britain’s social divide - but everyone still loves her
The Brits are a funny lot. They love moaning and ranting about their lot in life, not least the way the government runs the country, the cost of living and the degradation of the national health service.
Yet they still have a deep and abiding love affair with the Royal Family.
I still fail to fully understand the mindset of the land of my birth which continues to revere a family of misfits as much as it does. (fully disclosure - I have not lived or worked in the UK since I left nearly 30-years ago)
The recent stupidity of Buckingham Palace to publish a clearly photoshopped photo of Kate & Kids, which the world’s four main picture agencies quickly withdrew, was staggeringly inept given they have a small army of public relations people cleaning up after them on a 24/7 basis.
What were they thinking and just how asleep at the wheel was the Royal Families’ massive and tax funded public relations team when it was published? I wonder how many heads rolled over this? Particularly when you read about past UK heads of state, not that long ago who chopped off head with abandon, like Elisabeth I and Henry the Eighth.
To put it in context, British taxpayers fork out around GBP 90 million a year from their hard-earned wages for this ‘service’ and be ruled over by a bunch of people who can’t even publish a family photo without screwing it up.
At the same time as Kate is getting world class treatment, the National Health Service for ordinary people in the UK is on its knees and struggling to keep up with demand. Believe me, the public health service here in Taiwan is substantially better than in the UK.
Is it arrogance or stupidity, or a bit of both? From my own centre-left standpoint, I’d say it’s a bit of both as in no way can you describe the United Kingdom as a classless society. In fact, if you Google <is britain a classless society?> the top hit is Wikipedia saying “The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, which continues to affect British society today.”
So there you have it. While no self-respecting journalist would ever use Wikipedia as a solid source, it makes the point that for all its boasts of equality, diversity and fairness, Britain is still a country in the grip of a deferential class structure where the upper echelons continue to rule the roost. The mystifying thing is, Mr Ordinary and Family seem to love them for it.
I guess it is clear by now that I’m no fan of the Royal Family, or having King Charles sign off on any law the democratically elected parliament decides to make on behalf of the voting public. Nevertheless, this unelected, born into the job - I’m struggling for the right word here but let’s go with guffin - actually gets to sign off on any law the people of Britain are forced to abide by.
If this all sounds stupid, it is.
Why let a family of privileged upper-class twerps who have never done a day’s work in their lives sign off on your laws you have to abide by?
Consider the alternatives, like a President as head of state.
Now things get serious as a presidency can breed dictators. Putin a bit further west and further west Trump who is an embryo dictator if every I saw one, should the American public be dumb enough to elect him again. To put this in context a Google search of <dictators> returns with Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Tojo. Four guys who did their level best to destroy the planet and in doing so, killed hundreds of millions of people.
Talk of dictators may sound extreme eighty years on from World War II as the carnage of that drops out of living memory as our surviving war heros succumb to peaceful old age and death. But we are currently living in a world where similar madmen could soon be influencing our lives.
The lunacy of the right-wing in the UK and Europe with its anti-foreigner, anti-immigration agenda, to the outright unbalanced Trump supporters who apparently trust a proven corrupt criminal to run the most powerful country on the planet beggars belief. I’m still amazed I still meet supposedly intelligent Taiwanese people who think Trump would defend Taiwan. Of course he would not and would roll over to Xi if it suited him.
A reminder from Fox News - Speaking to US Fox News, Trump described Xi as an exceptionally intelligent individual who governs China’s population of 1.4 billion people with “iron” authority.
“Think of President Xi. Central casting, brilliant guy. You know, when I say he’s brilliant, everyone says, ‘Oh that’s terrible',” said Trump. “Well, he runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. Smart, brilliant, everything perfect. There’s nobody in Hollywood like this guy.”
During his four years in the White House, Trump was also known for praising such leaders as Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while largely reserving scorn for the US’ traditional allies such as the French and Canadian leaders.
This is why I get so depressed when I hear Taiwanese supporting this fraud on the simplistic assumption he would stand up to Xi over Taiwan simply because he called China out on trade.
Without going into the gory details of past Presidential dictators, or current ones - a full list here - https://planetrulers.com/current-dictators/
It is clear no political system is perfect as presidents go bad, just as often as other heads of state have gone bad over history.
For Taiwan, a President the people were smart enough to elect who come from a poor background and is the son of a coal miner puts the country in good hands for the time being. I was worried for a while when other candidates with clear dictator-like tendencies were in the running but the bulk of fair minded and sensible people chose the right individual.
Which gets us back to the dimwits who make up the Royal Family in the United Kingdom.
I’d much prefer a jug-eared upper class twerp who barely knows what he’s doing signing off on laws set by an elected government than a known dictator, like the one next door.
Tinkerty tonk...
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