Morrissey and The Royals: Where Do You Stand?

[King Leer]

It's the never-ending, one-way hate affair that we all know and love (?) Morrissey and The Royal Family.
Although it does get repetitive at times (especially when you follow Morrissey closely), his despising of them is not something I mind. It's not as if there are so many celebs out there bashing -- he's the only one of note!

Still, it seems to have become a very divisive issue among fans. So, why not have a poll?

You can add additional comments/poll choices but I'm sure we've heard it all before.

 

[the raytownian]

I don't think I am qualified to weigh in on this by actually casting a vote, considering I lack the English perspective... but I can say that I think, as an outsider, that the devotion people in Britain (and Canada, and even the US, to a degree) have to the Royal family and everything it represents is a bit absurd... and mildly pathetic.

To me, it represents a nation clinging to its former glory, refusing to instead forge ahead. And what's worse is they feel like this past glory entitles them to feel pride in having merely been born into British culture... Those people are terribly obnoxious to me... Same goes with New Englander/"Masshole" types here in America who are up their assessed about being "original Americans" or some nonsense...

Cultural pride, it would seem, is basically just an excuse for stagnation, regardless of where it comes from.

Just my two cents. Sorry if it offends anyone, whether you're from England or New England.

 

[billy scissors]

When Diana died I got mourning sickness.

 

[Anonymous]

He seems to think his being edgy by criticising royalty, but he isn't; it isn't the 1700s anymore. Being critical of monarchy in 21st Western society is actually more embarrassing than being critical of organised religion. The queen has no meaningful political power and the royal family costs us just £0.69 per person per annum.

He's an unjustifiably rich man criticising some other unjustifiably rich people. Nobody with a brain could take his criticisms seriously. If his objection to unearned wealth and income were in any way sincere, he'd move back to the UK and pay some tax into the society that made him.

 

[King Leer]

Won't argue with the first paragraph but definitely take issue with saying Morrissey is "unjustifiably rich". He came from pretty much nothing and built The Smiths legacy with Johnny and co. and has worked almost non-stop for 30 years. He's earned it, baby. As for paying tax on that wealth -- do you have some kind of insider info on what he alledgedly owes inland revenue, if anything at all?

He's an unjustifiably rich man criticising some other unjustifiably rich people. Nobody with a brain could take his criticisms seriously. If his objection to unearned wealth and income were in any way sincere, he'd move back to the UK and pay some tax into the society that made him.

 

[Maurice E]

Ran a similar poll not long ago, although it was specifically about William and Kate.
http://www.morrissey-solo.com/poll.php?pollid=1757&do=showresults
The result? Most of us simply do not give a shit about them either way, and, would you believe, some of us actually quite like them?

 

[Anonymous]

Ran a similar poll not long ago, although it was specifically about William and Kate.
http://www.morrissey-solo.com/poll.php?pollid=1757&do=showresults
The result? Most of us simply do not give a shit about them either way, and, would you believe, some of us actually quite like them?

Why don't you like them?

 

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

I don't think I am qualified to weigh in on this by actually casting a vote, considering I lack the English perspective... but I can say that I think, as an outsider, that the devotion people in Britain (and Canada, and even the US, to a degree) have to the Royal family and everything it represents is a bit absurd... and mildly pathetic.

To me, it represents a nation clinging to its former glory, refusing to instead forge ahead. And what's worse is they feel like this past glory entitles them to feel pride in having merely been born into British culture... Those people are terribly obnoxious to me... Same goes with New Englander/"Masshole" types here in America who are up their assessed about being "original Americans" or some nonsense...

Cultural pride, it would seem, is basically just an excuse for stagnation, regardless of where it comes from.

Just my two cents. Sorry if it offends anyone, whether you're from England or New England.

This bit pretty much hits the nail on the head for me. It annoys me that some fellow Brits praise the royals purely because (seemingly) they're afraid of change. But I digress. Whilst I agree with Morrissey on most of the things he says about the monarchy, he does go on about it a little too much, I feel.

 

[Librarian On Fire]

This bit pretty much hits the nail on the head for me. It annoys me that some fellow Brits praise the royals purely because (seemingly) they're afraid of change. But I digress. Whilst I agree with Morrissey on most of the things he says about the monarchy, he does go on about it a little too much, I feel.

com
I'm starting to feel that with one more interview mention of the Royals, Morrissey will be slipping over into Bobby Fischer territory. And Bobby ended up a lonely tragic joke.

 

[Uncleskinny]

Most people would restrict their comments to facts on the subject of a person's death. The fact the Morrissey thinks he knows who did what, why, and how they were influenced, suggests to me that this is a comment too far. It's just daft.

P.

 

[realitybites]

He seems to think his being edgy by criticising royalty, but he isn't; it isn't the 1700s anymore. Being critical of monarchy in 21st Western society is actually more embarrassing than being critical of organised religion. The queen has no meaningful political power and the royal family costs us just £0.69 per person per annum.

He's an unjustifiably rich man criticising some other unjustifiably rich people. Nobody with a brain could take his criticisms seriously. If his objection to unearned wealth and income were in any way sincere, he'd move back to the UK and pay some tax into the society that made him.

Since when has criticizing organized religion been deemed embarrassing? What planet are you posting from?

 

[Oh my god. it's Robby!]

thanks for a new poll here in GD dude
however, it does make me a bit wistful for those days when we had polls about songs and stuff

 

[Anonymous]

Since when has criticizing organized religion been deemed embarrassing?

Since modern society became increasingly secular and organised religions lost their power to control people.

 

[realitybites]

Since modern society became increasingly secular and organised religions lost their power to control people.

You must live outside the US then. Not the case here, I'm afraid.

 

[Anonymous]

You must live outside the US then. Not the case here, I'm afraid.

I don't suppose you'll get into trouble with the powers that be for saying so.

 

[markem41]

...the royal family costs us just £0.69 per person per annum.

That might be true of the current running costs of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (sorry Royal Family) but you need to calculate the cost of restricting the population from accessing huge swathes of land and buildings and be OK with their land-ownership acting as a fair way to generate income.

 

[Anonymous]

That might be true of the current running costs of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (sorry Royal Family)

It is.

you need to calculate the cost of restricting the population from accessing huge swathes of land and buildings and be OK with their land-ownership acting as a fair way to generate income.

Since you're implying that it's a problem, you need to do that.

As I said above, railing against Feudalism a couple of centuries after it ended is pretty ridiculous.

 

[Cornflakes]

The queen has no meaningful political power and the royal family costs us just £0.69 per person per annum.

How much is that in primary school teachers? And does it take account of the billions upon billions in national assets that she and her son treat as theirs?

Also, you may find it shocking that the first part of what you say isn't actually true.

 

[Anonymous]

How much is that in primary school teachers?

Even if they decided to get rid of royalty, I really don't suppose that our right-wing Liberal/Conservative coalition government are about to resile from their intention to roll back the frontiers of the state. The money that would be saved by abolishing the monarchy wouldn't find its way into frontline public services, so your argument's a bit of a non-sequitur. Republicanism, generally, has nothing to do with equitable distribution of wealth.

Also, you may find it shocking that the first part of what you say isn't actually true.

Royal Assent is needed for laws to be passed and the government consults with the Windsors about its policies. So what? None of this is news and it certainly isn't evidence that the royal family rule the country. When did the queen last refuse to approve a piece of legislation passed by parliament?

What I do find shocking, though, is that anybody claiming to be bothered about inequality would waste their time on this trivia instead of focussing their attention on the cabal of big business men and women, many of whom are millionaires, who actually do govern the country, and do so in the interests of their own class.

 

[WhalleyRange]

He really gets up the noses of Daily Mail reading gimps and really, no one can do enough of that, especially nowadays with the Tories' consolidating their war on the poor, disabled etc.

The woman was made to feel guilty and that's down to the disgusting class / caste? system in this country. You don't even have to particularly dislike the monarchy to recognise this.

The monarchy only exists due to popular support so by implication he is criticising the British public, that could be a divisive thing to do but it's a democracy and hardly anyone else has the balls to do what he does. The rich and powerful bombard us with their propaganda 24/7 so if they're getting upset over this, an outburst by a pop star, they should jolly well grow a pair.