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I saw one of the side points was children should be singing the national anthem in school assemblies. This got me thinking about the national anthem more generally. I think the time has come to change it.
"God save our Queen". The premise being twofold. One, that we believe in God. Two, that we agree with the monarchy.
According to latest data*, more than half of the UK don't associate with a religion and this number is reported to be as low as 1% amongst 18-24 year-olds.
A similar pattern of decline is happening in relation to the monarchy**. Support for the monarchy amongst the 65+ is 84%, whereas amongst 18-24 year-olds it is down to 42%.
I don't believe the solution to this is to try and indoctrinate children by introducing the national anthem in schooling. Rather, to use this decline in both areas as a catalyst to change our national anthem to something more reflective of our societies values and making it more future-proof. Something that celebrates the nation, rather than archaic and increasingly irrelevant institutions.
People who are against our constitutional British Monarchy need to think very hard on what the alternative will be.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 09:52 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
People who are against our constitutional British Monarchy need to think very hard on what the alternative will be.
Do we need to think hard about that whilst singing a song? I do find I need to focus more on remembering lyrics these days so am keen to avoid any kind of multi-tasking if at all possible.
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 10:25 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
I expect it would be an elected president, with said president's degree of power being something open for negotiation.
Lots of posters on here are always bemoaning electoral choices the country makes and laughing at how stupid they think lots of people are, and they also want those same people to be able to elect a President with presumably enormous powers.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 11:57 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
Lots of posters on here are always bemoaning electoral choices the country makes and laughing at how stupid they think lots of people are, and they also want those same people to be able to elect a President with presumably enormous powers.
Their powers wouldn't necessarily be enormous. They're replacing the Queen, whose powers are more or less ceremonial these days. If we're going to have a head of state I'd rather it's someone the people chose than someone who is head of state purely through luck of birth.
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:13 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
Their powers wouldn't necessarily be enormous. They're replacing the Queen, whose powers are more or less ceremonial these days. If we're going to have a head of state I'd rather it's someone the people chose than someone who is head of state purely through luck of birth.
If you think this notional President would not have gigantic powers over the army the state and the civil service then I have some bad news for you about politicians.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:16 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
If you think this notional President would not have gigantic powers over the army the state and the civil service then I have some bad news for you about politicians.
You seem to be creating something of a bogeyman here. It's fine to just like having a monarch, I don't agree with it myself and think it's horribly classist and backwards but if you like having a head of state who just happened to be born to the right parents then that's your judgement.
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:23 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
You seem to be creating something of a bogeyman here. It's fine to just like having a monarch, I don't agree with it myself and think it's horribly classist and backwards but if you like having a head of state who just happened to be born to the right parents then that's your judgement.
I believe that the thought of getting rid of the Monarchy - which is an attractive and interesting one popular with a lot of people on here - should always be balanced by what it will be replaced by.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:25 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
I believe that the thought of getting rid of the Monarchy - which is an attractive and interesting one popular with a lot of people on here - should always be balanced by what it will be replaced by.
However do all of these other countries that don't have a monarchy cope?
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:26 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
However do all of these other countries that don't have a monarchy cope?
Similarly why are the counties constantly voted as the best places to live invariably monarchies?
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 12:36 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
Similarly why are the counties constantly voted as the best places to live invariably monarchies?
I think if you Brits ask Micky D Higgins nicely he might pop over an cut the odd ribbon for yer. Though long-term I imagine Attenborough or Lenny Henry could step in. Alternatively you could have some kinda presidential X factor style tv program. Let the people decide on prime time Saturday evening who the president for the next year will be, obviously hosted by ant an Dec.
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Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:17 - Apr 5 with 1937 views
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:17 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
Are they?
Top 20 happiest places to live
Finland Iceland Denmark Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Germany Norway New Zealand Austria Israel Australia Ireland United States Canada Czech Republic Belgium United Kingdom Taiwan France
Some above the U.K. don’t appear to have a hereditary monarchy.
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Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:42 - Apr 5 with 1897 views
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:36 - Apr 5 by eireblue
Top 20 happiest places to live
Finland Iceland Denmark Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Germany Norway New Zealand Austria Israel Australia Ireland United States Canada Czech Republic Belgium United Kingdom Taiwan France
Some above the U.K. don’t appear to have a hereditary monarchy.
Interesting. Lots of Scandinavian/Northern European nations in there, some with a monarchy and some without. It's almost like whether your head of state is an anachronism is secondary to providing decent standards of living for your citizens.
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:42 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
Interesting. Lots of Scandinavian/Northern European nations in there, some with a monarchy and some without. It's almost like whether your head of state is an anachronism is secondary to providing decent standards of living for your citizens.
Even if what he'd said had been accurate it'd still be a case of correlation rather than causation. There is no logical reason why having a hereditary monarch would make a country better to live in than having an alternative head of state.
Finland no Monarchy Iceland no Denmark yes Switzerland no Netherlands yes Sweden yes Germany no Norway yes New Zealand yes Austria no Israel lol Australia yes Ireland no United States no Canada yes Czech Republic no Belgium yes United Kingdom yes Taiwan no France no
8 of 20. Half the top 10 are monarchies. But look at it this way. At least in 20 years or so when Prince Brian dies and none of his spawn want the job you will all be able to moan about President Farage and how stupid everyone who voted for him is.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 13:59 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
Even if what he'd said had been accurate it'd still be a case of correlation rather than causation. There is no logical reason why having a hereditary monarch would make a country better to live in than having an alternative head of state.
By logical you mean “what I think” right?
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 14:18 - Apr 5 by chicoazul
By logical you mean “what I think” right?
No, I mean there's no logical reason to think that having a hereditary monarch as head of state would make somewhere better to live. Surely people care more about things like the economic well-being, good healthcare, workers rights etc.? Those are what make places good or bad to live in, not whether their head of state is there by birth right.
And as it transpires, your initial statement wasn't very accurate anyway.
Carrying on from the Flag Thread... on 14:28 - Apr 5 by Herbivore
No, I mean there's no logical reason to think that having a hereditary monarch as head of state would make somewhere better to live. Surely people care more about things like the economic well-being, good healthcare, workers rights etc.? Those are what make places good or bad to live in, not whether their head of state is there by birth right.
And as it transpires, your initial statement wasn't very accurate anyway.
It is, however, a fair comment that there are far worse systems. The fact that the Queen has very little real influence and no real power is valid. However, were the monarchy to go, what would it be replaced with? If it is nothing and we were left with the current system, very little would change. However, there is potential for it to be something more sinister.
As for the best places to live; how many are in the EU and how many have a government that is socialist and our press would probably describe as communist?
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