The True Cost of Monarchy
Today I felt moved enough by this video to talk about the monarchy.
Despite not being a sentimental chap, or a pensioner, I'm actually something of a monarchist. Not the sort to go and peruse a website with pictures of the Royal baby, or even one to watch the Queen's Speech on Christmas day because frankly, there are much better ways to spend the day (drinking heavily and watching James Bond for example) but a certain kind of disinterested monarchist nonetheless.
And I can very easily explain why.
Politics is a nasty business. Such a nasty business that you can guarantee that anybody who excels at it is a capable liar. Not only that, but also a ruthless individual who is not afraid to do exactly what is required to come out at the top of a large heap of equally ruthless and pitiless individuals. Such is the way of the game, Indeed, it has long been known that if you want to succeed in politics you need to be willing to do what it takes to ensure you defeat your rivals. It is precisely why sleaze and lies inevitably follow politicians and bureaucrats around like a bad smell.
Naked ambition is the root cause, and if you want to climb that slippery slope to power you need to be willing to do what it takes.
Barrack Obama is probably not the most dishonest American President ever, in fact, he's probably done a half decent job. I always preferred Hilary personally, but he has at least done a capable job of not being as incompetent as his predecessor. Regardless, even if you are an avid fan of Mr Obama and think he is more honest than many former presidents, he has also been caught lying numerous times.
Barack Obama categorically stated that "Nobody is listening to your phone-calls" only days after Edward Snowden was arrested. It really is part of the job. Tony Blair was caught lying so often I would be unlikely to believe him if he told me he was feeling a bit warm seconds after being engulfed in flames following a gas explosion. Such behaviour comes with the turf, and there are many times when lying must be necessary when navigating the murky waters of international politics, so it obviously becomes a habit. As such, there is a good reason why most kids are told not to listen to the words of politicians or lawyers by their cynical grandparents, and it is because they know from experience.
Barack Obama categorically stated that "Nobody is listening to your phone-calls" only days after Edward Snowden was arrested. It really is part of the job. Tony Blair was caught lying so often I would be unlikely to believe him if he told me he was feeling a bit warm seconds after being engulfed in flames following a gas explosion. Such behaviour comes with the turf, and there are many times when lying must be necessary when navigating the murky waters of international politics, so it obviously becomes a habit. As such, there is a good reason why most kids are told not to listen to the words of politicians or lawyers by their cynical grandparents, and it is because they know from experience.
The most obvious reason to like a monarch, is precisely because of the way the job is imposed on the monarch in question using the hereditary system. Ambition is removed from the table. Queen Elizabeth II was told from a young age that she would be the Queen one day, so why bother with ambition? To bestow hereditary rule onto any individual ensures that they have no need to stab those that surround them in the back, they are getting the job whether they want it or not. It also ensures that the individual in question is schooled in the role from a very young age, they are told to do a duty, and few could argue, save for the most militant republican, that the current British Queen has at least done her duty. Can self serving politicians, Prime Ministers and Presidents really say the same?
Most of the Queen's offspring serve the nation by enlisting in the military, can Prime Ministers and Presidents say the same? Where was Tony Blair's spoiled son Euan when Prince Harry was an pounding the sand as infantry officer on the ground in Afghanistan?
He was at Yale.
After graduating with an immensely unspectacular 2:1 in Ancient
History in 2005, he spent two months working as an intern at a French
radio station owned by France’s richest man. A year later he landed
another internship working for Republican politicians in Washington DC. He then left to study for an MA at Yale, and of course, he was awarded a scholarship of $75,000 into the bargain... I'm sure his poor pauper of a father would struggle to afford to pay for his tuition.
Such obvious nepotism is commonplace among the politicians of the world, and only serves to drive me into the arms of the Queen and her kin, a very nice old lady who seems to work pretty hard considering her advanced age. Not that I care much for Royalty in the strictest sense, but there is no shortage of politicians serving the nation.....and themselves, obviously.
But there are only a few Royals. Would the UK really gain anything from firing them, and adding a few more politicians and a president to the roster? I'm of the opinion that the 30,000 politicians we already employ are more than up to the job, and the 500 million pounds a year they cost seems a tad high, especially when it transpires they are all fiddling their expenses and charging the taxpayer for pornography, Christmas decorations, and picnics. What do politicians think their salaries are for?!
Indeed, at 31 million pounds a year, I conclude that Lizzie and her ilk seem almost a snip.
But there are only a few Royals. Would the UK really gain anything from firing them, and adding a few more politicians and a president to the roster? I'm of the opinion that the 30,000 politicians we already employ are more than up to the job, and the 500 million pounds a year they cost seems a tad high, especially when it transpires they are all fiddling their expenses and charging the taxpayer for pornography, Christmas decorations, and picnics. What do politicians think their salaries are for?!
Indeed, at 31 million pounds a year, I conclude that Lizzie and her ilk seem almost a snip.
