When was the last time you heard someone say Queen Elizabeth II (or the 1st) for that matter was crap at her job? When was the last time someone said "It would all be different for us if Elizabeth had had a brother?" Prince William, second inline to the throne is getting married. Just suppose he has a boy, then a girl. Who will become Monarch when Wills dies? Easy answer? His son. Hang on a minute, just suppose his son is a deeply religious man and decides, that like the vast majority of previous English kings, he wishes to become a Roman Catholic? Well then he can't become King, so who does? Nope, not his little sister, but his Brother Harry.You see, Girls aren't allowed to become Monarch, if there's a bloke around. They are not allowed to become King if they are a Catholic or if they marry one. They can be all sorts of things which we may consider unpleasant, but these conditions seem to be dealbreakers. You would think that in the year 2010 we'd have moved beyond such discrimination, but no. If Wills eldest son wants to marry a Roman Catholic, we have a constitutional crisis. If he has a perfectly able daughter first, we have discrimination. Not only that, but discrimination that our national experience with QEII has proven to be ridiculous.
Oh well, you might say, we live in a democracy, the monarch only has a ceremonial role. It is just a tradition. Well if we have sexism and discrimination at the top and no democratic accountability, what does that say for the system. My view is that before any new monarch takes the throne they should be formally ratified by a public vote. I used to be a full blown republican, but as the years have gone on, I've come to quite like her Maj, she pulls in the tourists and is good for business. None the less, as we pay her wages, I'd like a say in who gets the job, even if it is just a rubber stamp.
The truth is that if it's unfair at the top, it will be unfair all down the line. This is most certainly the case in this country. At every turn, the establishment seeks to remove democratic accountability. In the USA, you get to vote for your judges, your police chief, everything. All politicians have to go through a system of elections, party primaries, where votes occur. Last night, the supposedly libertarian Conservatives presided over a star chamber and appointed Brian Coleman as GLA candidate for Barnet and Camden. This job gets a £50,000 salary. I'm sure many able Tories would like a chance, but the Conservatives care nothing for their membership and a star chamber re-annointed Coleman. This is repeated up and down the country at all levels in all parties.
What is the net result. How many MP's are there from Ethnic minorities? What percentage of MP's are women? Does Parliament reflect society? Even worse is the number of senior politicians from public schools and Oxbridge universities. Compare this to society in general. Does the make up of parliament reflect the make up of society? You might say that going to University at Oxbridge reflects a sharp mind. It is more likely to reflect the social status of your parents. Often when the playing field is levelled, you suddenly find out that those people pushed to the back actually have far more to offer than you realise. My father,w ho was born in the outback of Australia, used to boast that when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force and took his pilot exams, he acheived the highest mark in his year. He was the only one in his class not to have a University education. Whenever he was asked which Uni he went to he'd reply "University of Brisbane, to read the meter". Because the country was in dire need it didn't matter and he passed out an officer. Like many people, he was easily intelligent enough, but until extraordinary circumstances of a war intervened, he was denied opportunity.
It's not only politics and public life where discrimination and racism have a firm grip. How many premiership managers are black? How many managers full stop? Think of all our Olympic stars over the years. How many of those who are black disappear once they've won their medals, without a trace. Who fronts our Olympic bid - Seb Coe. Seb was a great athelete, but would he have the job if he'd been a black kid from a council estate, who won the same medal? How many CEO's of FTSE top 100 businesses are black? How may heads of NHS trusts are black?
I believe everyone should get their job on merit and capability. In Great Britain today, merit and capability are a distant third to how well you chose your parents. Until we address this issue, we'll never move on as a Nation.
4 comments:
"Who fronts our Olympic bid - Seb Coe. Seb was a great athelete, but would he have the job if he'd been a black kid from a council estate, who won the same medal?" Presuming Sayeeda Warsi is included.
Yes he probably would, being a member of the Conservative Party, but only for the special occasions. Did Seb Coe actually do any kind of job immediately on leaving Loughborough and prior to becoming an MP. However, and as we have seen, the Conservatives,'appear' to have come a long way since Cheltenham 1992.
Monarchy Democracy Vote, Holland Denmark Sweden Norway. Unravel Oxbridge a bit further and we might find that, where the working classes got to Oxbridge on merit, proof they could absorb more information than the rest also, made the kind of friends who left them with their noses in the air because Class, one can't buy.
Thomas Paine who never went to Oxbridge, played a big part in that US Constitution but is an example, is proof of what you suggest.
"Until we address this issue, we'll never move on as a Nation." How right you are.
It's the best post since you considered making a difference.
Oh piss off! There are 12,000 charities and organisations in this country that have been specifically set up to exclusively serve the needs of black and Asian people. The ethnic English people (not there is any other kind) have just one (Steadfast). One! Of course, our single one is racist because it acknowledges the English people as a distinct people with their own culture, heritage, ancestry, etc. Racist to twerps like you of course! While you would no doubt praise the other 12,000 non white organisations to high heaven. Racist hypocrite!
Would Seb Coe be fronting the Olympic bid if he had been a black kid from a council estate, blah blah blah. Would a white kid from a council estate have any chance of fronting it?
Don't like it here? That's an easy one. PISS OFF!
Michael,
I'll tell you what, why don't you piss off you idiotic moron. You are too thick to see that I stated that in this country where you get to is far more likely to be defined by who your parents are than anything else. You are just too much of a moron to see beyonf the fact that I used racism as just one aspect of this.
I suppose that you think that because serfdom was an old English tradition, then it's OK for the working class, whatever their colour to be second class citizens.
What amazes me is how twats like you, who hide behind invisible ID's always completely miss the point.
Michel,
You are zee ethnic English evolved as Anglo-Saxon from Germany mixed with the Pict and the Celt and then consider the language itself. Sadly, your grand-dad probably fought your kind from 1939-45?
If you care to put your brain in gear and by the way the vast majority have an English mother tongue following invasion or migration, if you care to play cricket or Rugby, try New Zealand Australia South Africa Zimbabwe Canada and the United States where English might be Greek to them, all evolved out of the English half-caste you might consider Anglo-Saxon. We must not Forget the ethnically mixed children of Monarchy.
My English side from both parents were defending and protecting your crumbling empire in Malaya Singapore Hong Kong Burma India Sri Lanka where we born/created the ethnic English, in India, Anglo-Indian or EurAsian, taught in English schools, while my siblings like you, born Anglo-Saxon English. After 1946, Many of us came home to bring you into the modern world and educate the ignorant shits like yourself, Others went to New Zealand Australia and Canada right up until the Berlin wall came down. To name a few Cliff Richard, Joanna Lumley Spike Milligan, Canadian Footballer Owen Hargreaves, Kipling, Eric Arthur Blair
You missed the point of the blog, So Michael, For my ethnic English siblings "(not there is any other kind) and (Steadfast)" like youself born here. Where do they piss off too?
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