The engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the "commoner", reminded me of how weird the United Kingdom is. On the one hand, it is the home of some of the greatest liberal thinkers in modern times. On the other, it has two of the most archaic institutions in the world - the monarchy and the peerage. As a citizen of two republics, I don't understand why Brits have no problem with their head of state being a hereditary position, rather than someone elected every few years by the people or by its representatives in parliament. I mean, Prince William will definitely be king, unless he dies before his father, even though he doesn't have too many accomplishments under his belt (I'm the same age as he is, and I dare to say I've accomplished more in my life than he has) - and he would've been king even with less.
Let's say the Brits are keeping the monarchy for old times' sake. Why the hell are they keeping the peerage? Most of Europe's remaining constitutional monarchies have done away with aristocracy a long time ago. Why are the people of the United Kingdom putting up with the fact that some men and women are born with the prefix "the honourable", rather than having to earn the honor? Even worse, how are they not bothered by the fact that they have one house of parliament, the House of Lords, that the general population has no say in its composition? Sure, it isn't as powerful as it used to be and can't veto legislation by the House of Commons, but they're still an unelected bunch of people with considerable legislative power.
Why the hell do I care? I'm not a citizen of the United Kingdom. Or should I say, "not Her Majesty's subject"?
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Britain’s a weird mix of the Old and the Modern. Unfortunately each time something changes here, a compromise is required and some of the old baggage makes it onto the new train.
ReplyDeleteI’ll try briefly to answer some of your questions:
I don't understand why Brits have no problem with their head of state being a hereditary position, rather than someone elected every few years by the people or by its representatives in parliament.
Remember that the head of state, be it king or queen, has no executive or legislative power whatsoever. Less for instance than say, the president of Israel who has at least some moral (cough!) standing, is allowed to have an opinion in public etc. Miss Windsor however is even politely reminded to shut up about everything unless told (quite literally) by teleprompter what the PM wants her to say. It therefore, even for a died in the wool anti-monarchist like me, looks worse than it actually is…
Why the hell are they keeping the peerage?
The peerage system is of course a historical/cultural anachronism which is simply very hard to get rid of. I think most Britons don’t really lay awake thinking about this absurdity. And the peers tend to sell their case well: a peerage can get you in the board room of companies because they like the letters behind your name on their letterhead. Please note that any recently appointed Lords and Baronesses are NOT hereditary. At the time they appeared almost for sale (the ‘cash for peerages’ scandal) I thought of buying one but Lord Gert sounds about as appealing as Gaylord Fokker…
Even worse, how are they not bothered by the fact that they have one house of parliament, the House of Lords, that the general population has no say in its composition? Sure, it isn't as powerful as it used to be and can't veto legislation by the House of Commons, but they're still an unelected bunch of people with considerable legislative power.
Again, a relic from the past (just like the x (I can’t recall the exact number) number of Anglican Bishops that are entitled an automatic seat in the House of Lords) that is seriously hard to change. Change has been talked about for decades and will eventually happen but it too will be a compromise, most likely mixed elected members/appointed experts. Getting rid of the Clergy (Aargh! The Clergy! Run to the hills!) may prove the hardest.
Having said that the House of Lords works really quite well (I don’t like admitting that).