tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post6801907041041157343..comments2024-02-10T12:12:06.028+00:00Comments on The Real Blog: Why radicals should welcome a royal babyDavid Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-8932369037179948712013-08-08T10:05:34.025+01:002013-08-08T10:05:34.025+01:00Tim, sorry not to reply - I've been on a small...Tim, sorry not to reply - I've been on a small farm in Normandy, watching the cows go by. The answer to your query is no, I'm not telling clever people to shut up in case they upset less clever people. I'm telling some clever but cynical people than they are not as clever as they think they are!David Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-50211823345804462082013-08-01T11:37:20.697+01:002013-08-01T11:37:20.697+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-60831772876649900532013-07-28T08:08:28.946+01:002013-07-28T08:08:28.946+01:00Back to the Appleyard quote. Are you and he sugges...Back to the Appleyard quote. Are you and he suggesting that clever people should shut up so as not to upset people who are less clever? Would you have offered this advice to Galileo or Darwin?Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-52122922290615676442013-07-25T19:25:04.377+01:002013-07-25T19:25:04.377+01:00Alex, I know there are blips - sometimes big blips...Alex, I know there are blips - sometimes big blips. But you can't become king or queen just using money. You can become president or almost anything else...David Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-24779617915352647642013-07-25T17:08:47.676+01:002013-07-25T17:08:47.676+01:00An institution that can't be bought:
http://e...An institution that can't be bought:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah,_Duchess_of_York#Cash_for_accessAlexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-80732435964650078092013-07-25T15:16:52.461+01:002013-07-25T15:16:52.461+01:00Ah - this is your poujadism again!Ah - this is your poujadism again!Simonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-64244417330792600762013-07-25T14:45:00.891+01:002013-07-25T14:45:00.891+01:00Simon, I think you're right that I didn't ...Simon, I think you're right that I didn't make the radical case enough. I'm trying to argue that, if you are trying to dethrone the financial elite, then dethroning the monarchy is worse than an irrelevance - we need institutions that can;t be bought if we're going to win the real battle.David Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-62525651581592304622013-07-25T11:01:34.579+01:002013-07-25T11:01:34.579+01:00The problem with this post David isn't that it...The problem with this post David isn't that it is pro-monarchy, apart from the Fascist stuff which you should have excluded on the basis of Godwin's law alone the arguments are fine. However it makes no case for why RADICALS should welcome a royal birth. A radical isn't just somebody with left wing sympathies you know, it is by nature a person who seeks to change society down to the very roots. The arguments you give seem to be based on the premise that some good things about society are going and that the monarchy stand in the way of that decline. I don't mind this argument but it is about as radical as - er, the Monarchy?<br /><br />Also I can't help but think it is a mistake to see Richard Dawkins as representing anything other than Richard Dawkins.Simonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-8563957230967992652013-07-24T20:31:27.155+01:002013-07-24T20:31:27.155+01:00I think you are right to fear the financial elite ...I think you are right to fear the financial elite and the erosion of cultural diversity but I don't think a social class elite is any less dangerous - it's just disempowered at the moment. Therefore we can gaze on the Royals as the last of the dodos in a rather expensive zoo enclosure, and perhaps project onto them qualities that will shore-up threatened values of tolerance etc. that we aren't sure will survive many more generations. Sorry, that is rather pessimistic. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I have experienced a slight chill in observing media coverage of the birth - it is so strong on re-affirming bloodlines in what seems quite a medieval way - rather than engaging more contemporary debates such as how do families balance working life and family life, how equally will Will and Kate parent and other topics to be found trending on Mumsnet any day of the week. For example, I haven't seen one mention of midwives with respect to the birth - was Kate only attended by senior male doctors? That is a massive issue as so much evidence suggests birthing mothers are best supported by experienced midwives. To be honest I didn't look hard for this material, and perhaps it's there very near the surface, but in general the whole thing seemed to be such an assertion of an old order that I don't really want to see back in the ascendant. Jess WSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-1064167714476006572013-07-24T17:49:45.521+01:002013-07-24T17:49:45.521+01:00OECD ten happiest countries in the World 2013
1) A...OECD ten happiest countries in the World 2013<br />1) Australia - Constitutional Monarchy<br />2) Sweden– Constitutional Monarchy<br />3) Canada– Constitutional Monarchy<br />4) Norway– Constitutional Monarchy<br />5) Switzerland - Rebublic<br />6) USA - Republic<br />7) Denmark– Constitutional Monarchy<br />8) Netherlands– Constitutional Monarchy<br />9) Iceland Republic<br />10)UK – Constitutional Monarchy<br />David Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03074466074735623957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-54392444737709089022013-07-24T14:59:04.325+01:002013-07-24T14:59:04.325+01:00James, I'm not laying down a universal law. A...James, I'm not laying down a universal law. And you;re right that Italy is a counter-example. But what with the Petain regime, and the alacrity with which France complied with Nazi instructions about the Jews, I'm not sure you're right about France. It certainly discovered a dangerous tendency towards extreme nationalism.<br /><br />But the real difference between us is that you think the monarchy buttresses the status quo, and I think it is a bastion against the new status quo - complete domination by the financial elite.<br /><br />I take the business of the Duke of Windsor on the chin!David Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-37735608274531496992013-07-24T13:23:49.472+01:002013-07-24T13:23:49.472+01:00I usually enjoy David's blogs for their insigh...I usually enjoy David's blogs for their insightful look at the world. However, I don't really know where to start on this one.<br /><br />David has every right to be a monarchist. I am not for the reason that I believe the monarchy to be a buttress to the political, social and economic status quo in the this country (a reason to support it for some people).<br /><br />However, to claim that abolishing its monarchy is likely to make a country more fascistic is non-sense. <br /><br />When was France fascist? (rather than having Fascist groupings within its body politic - which country didn't in the 1930s?). <br /><br />It is arguable that Franco's Spain was not per se fascist. It was rightwing, Catholic, authoritarian and nationalist. There was of course the Falange party, but it was ultimately more of a nationalist coalition than strictly a fascist party. <br /><br />And there was no mention of the Ur-fascist regime in Italy, where Victor Emmanuel III was King throughout.<br /><br />Finally, should I mentioned the Royal baby's great (x3) uncle? better not, that might be thought of as too much of a cheap shot.James Moorenoreply@blogger.com