Is this a UK based website?

[frankiej]

I not only find the royal family pointless, but have a mild hatred for them. It has come to the point where it is tradition for the sake of tradition and that is no reason to carry on doing something.

[Doubting Thomas]

As an American, the royals have never mattered to me at all.

But it's just as bad as the way the media here has venerated useless celebrities like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. We don't need to hear about these people but for some reason there seems to be a lot of people who want to.

[Creed of Heresy]

To be fair, Deist, we venerate the Founding Fathers because they built our country. And they instated a system of government that despite its flaws is actually pretty damn good. And has potential to be even greater, if we Americans would just get our heads out of our own asses and start ACTUALLY looking at what the government does instead of relying on sound bites to make up our opinions. Actually, I think that IS starting to happen more often. Lotta people are pissed over the NSA wiretapping thing, but to my supreme annoyance, they're MORE pissed about the Zimmerman ruling. Cuz THAT makes sense; let's get butthurt over something that affects nobody but not about the thing where all of our privacy is being unconstitutionally violated...*rolls eyes*

Anyway. My point is that the Founding Fathers got shit done and that's why they're respected. Historically the royal family got shit done, too, but nowadays they ARE irrelevant. If we had a Founding Father Dynasty or something I'd probably have long since stopped paying attention to them because they DON'T get shit done. The modern royal family sits around sipping tea and talking about the weather or something. Oh and they get married occasionally. Woop dee fuckin' doo. And this fascination doesn't just extend to the English, we hear about it in the US for days if not weeks at a time when something utterly trivial comes up.

I think Brian's point is that they do nothing but they cost the British taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to sit around and look pretty. And in that, yeah, I agree; fuck the royal family.

[DeistPaladin]

I think Brian's point is that they do nothing but they cost the British taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to sit around and look pretty. And in that, yeah, I agree; fuck the royal family.

Well, I suppose our venerated dead guys and pieces of paper are cheaper symbols of patriotic sentiment. Leave it to capitalism to cut costs.

In all seriousness, we did kind of luck out in our establishment of democracy. Countries that throw off tyranny often either wind up with a dictator replacing the old regime that winds up subverting the nation's quest for democracy (see Napoleon) or else the new order is so fearful of central authority that they create a functioning anarchy that can't get anything done (see America's first attempt after the revolution, the Articles of Confederation).

George Washington had his faults, not the least of which being a slave owner, but he is the only man in history I can think of who acted to restrain the powers of the office he occupied. It helped to create a balance, a government that could get things done and yet not create a new dictatorship in place of the old.

Recent trends are disturbing, however. We've been flirting with fascism for the last 12 years and our hubris that "it can't happen here" may be our downfall if we're not careful.

[CleanShavenJesus]

I'm American, and I was indifferent towards the royal family until everybody in AMERICA had to watch the stupid fucking royal wedding. Why the hell does anyone in America give a shit?

[NoraBrimstone]

The Royal Family earn us more money than they cost us, so that argument is a pretty shit one. Lol

And you know... Things like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I09Ms6Zm...ata_player

[Tiberius]

The Royal Family earn us more money than they cost us, so that argument is a pretty shit one. Lol

Do you have any data to back that assertion up? Does that data take into account estimates for all the hidden accounts / earnings of the Duchy, as revealed by Dispatches a few weeks ago?

[NoraBrimstone]

I can't find anything recent enough to include that right now. I'll have a better look tomorrow.

[Red Celt]

Ok, no matter where it is based, could someone please explain to me why the Royal Family is such a fucking big deal? If we are being honest about it, all the "Royalty" started by a money grubbing power grab in antiquity which was not kind to dissent, so the current spoils are based on bullies, lets face it.

When I hear Americans bang on about the royal family, I ask myself why they have such an obsession with an aspect of UK identity that plays such a tiny role within the UK. Every day, from dawn to dusk, the royal family does not feature one iota in my life.

How about we ask Americans why the Lincoln Monument features so heavily in their life? If you're doing a confused face, then welcome to our world. It is a mascot and a symbol, popular with tourists, and a relative nothingness to the locals insofar as the impact upon their lives.

I am sick about hearing about the Royal baby just like I am sick of hearing about the Kardashians here in the states. PEOPLE FUCK, PEOPLE HAVE THINGS SO THE FUCK WHAT.

I don't have that problem. I ignore things that don't interest me and don't allow the interests of the majority to impact my life whatsoever.

Everyone seems so heavily interested in the goings-on in shows such as Pop Idol, X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing, The Voice... or whatever other vacuous TV show that is being pumped-out to the general public. None of which I watch. None of which I care about. I easily filter out such garbage when it enters the realm of my attention (such as on the news).

Don't care about the Kardashians? Filter it out. Don't care about the royal family? Filter it out.

Easily done.

[Brian37]

To actually answer the question in the heading:

No, this is not a UK based site.

As for revering people 'just because', well.. *points at Brian's ABBA avatar*
People have idols, get over it.

HE HE HE, I have infected you with the real fab 4.

Please tell me something I don't know. Yes humans have all sorts of escapes from celebrity to sports. But we are not talking about ABBA running a nation. Britian's royal family is not merely the Kardashians. They are heads of state, and not even elected heads of state. They are dictators, not in a literal sense, because if they did what their ancestors did in the history of their families rule today, they would have their asses handed to them. So they in reality, are nothing more than a living museum wasting public resources. Much like in the states when an NFL owner blackmails a city for money for a stadium the tax payers cant afford, and threatens to move the team if the city does not comply.