Queen Elizabeth II Has Died

[Samm]

@Supreme_War_Pig

You guys wanna know something weird?Queen Elizabeth, while deeply popular, really didn’t have much impact on history. Yet the next week or two will be spent in mourning.

Meanwhile, Gorbachev, who had an enormous impact on history, was barely a blip. I don’t think that he even inspired a thread here.

The British Monarch does not have the power to have much impact anymore. Gorbachev had the power of an authoritarian head of a one-party government to achieve his history impacting accomplishments … just as Putin has the power to undo them.

[Samm]

@GrandWazoo

Although she made some mistakes along the way, I think that many folks were surprised with how she successfully ruled for so many decades. May she rest in peace.

Just to clarify … she did not rule, she reigned. She was the monarch of the realm, not the leader of the government.

[Samm]

@Konssurvative1

I have mixed feelings about this. It is amazing that she was able to rule for so long, but kind of sad the way she treated family. I guess she was a true queen to her people. Rest in Peace.

Really? I thought she was relatively tolerant of the “less than appropriate” shenanigans of many in her family.

[Samm]

@DougBH

She was always there in the background my entire life, and now she isn’t. Somehow the world seems a little less stable.

That’s what a seamless monarchy is all about … Long live the King.

[Nemesis]

The fact that Sinn Fein have expressed their condolences about the death of Queen Elizabeth illustrates how she was able to transcend politics and the high respect she was held in.

Irish nationalists Sinn Fein offer 'sincere sympathies' upon Queen's death

[coolidge]

So i have been studying up on the queen mostly through short interviews and shows she participated in. I have to say what a charming lady. Her scene with paddington bear during her diamond jubilee was my favorite. I can see why she was loved and why she will be missed.

[GWH]

[BraveGear]

@Samm

That’s what a seamless monarchy is all about … Long live the King.

We will never see another Queen in our lifetime.

[Samm]

I should hope not.

[Guvnah]

[FloridaYankee]

@Supreme_War_Pig

@TheRedComet

Yeah she was very big on formality and the rules of the monarchy. It was at her core.

Many of those familial decisions probably weren’t her favorite choices to make, but her position required it to keep in line with tradition.

Who enforces the rules? Who but THE QUEEN can break or change these traditions?

And this, of course, is why I can never really get behind monarchy.

Much of their wealth originated from ill gotten gains during the colonial era when Great Britain brutally controlled fully 1/4 of the entire globe. Kinda puts a black mark on the whole thing.

[Samm]

@FloridaYankee

@Supreme_War_Pig

@TheRedComet

Yeah she was very big on formality and the rules of the monarchy. It was at her core.

Many of those familial decisions probably weren’t her favorite choices to make, but her position required it to keep in line with tradition.

Who enforces the rules? Who but THE QUEEN can break or change these traditions?

And this, of course, is why I can never really get behind monarchy.

Much of their wealth originated from ill gotten gains during the colonial era when Great Britain brutally controlled fully 1/4 of the entire globe. Kinda puts a black mark on the whole thing.

Actually, as brutal colonial countries went, the British were arguably the least brutal. The benefit of having been a British Colony vs. being a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, or even French or German Colony is with few exceptions, apparent even to this day.

[TheRedComet]

Or God forbid a Belgian colony.

Nobody screwed natives worse than the bloody Belgians.

They were the ones who started the obsession with chopping arms off with machetes to punish “sub-par workers” or anyone who protested against the colonizing of Belgian Africa.

That act of cruel punishment is still commonly used today across all former Belgian colonies. And the Belgian colonial overseers started it.

[FloridaYankee]

@Samm

@FloridaYankee

@Supreme_War_Pig

@TheRedComet

Yeah she was very big on formality and the rules of the monarchy. It was at her core.

Many of those familial decisions probably weren’t her favorite choices to make, but her position required it to keep in line with tradition.

Who enforces the rules? Who but THE QUEEN can break or change these traditions?

And this, of course, is why I can never really get behind monarchy.

Much of their wealth originated from ill gotten gains during the colonial era when Great Britain brutally controlled fully 1/4 of the entire globe. Kinda puts a black mark on the whole thing.

Actually, as brutal colonial countries went, the British were arguably the least brutal. The benefit of having been a British Colony vs. being a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, or even French or German Colony is with few exceptions, apparent even to this day.

Not surprising actually. Still plenty of brutality to go around of course.

[Supreme_War_Pig]

I think the French in Haiti (sugar plantations) could be contenders.

[TheRedComet]

You’re right. The French in Saint Domingue take the title as worst colonial power ever in the Americas.

We can mark Belgium as the worst of Africa. They ran the Congo so horrifically that every single scar they inflicted remains. The Belgians and their collaborators created a society that never had a chance of getting off the ground.

[Samm]

@TheRedComet

Or God forbid a Belgian colony.

Nobody screwed natives worse than the bloody Belgians.

They were the ones who started the obsession with chopping arms off with machetes to punish “sub-par workers” or anyone who protested against the colonizing of Belgian Africa.

That act of cruel punishment is still commonly used today across all former Belgian colonies. And the Belgian colonial overseers started it.

Fortunately, the Congo and Ruanda were about their only colonies.

[Samm]

@FloridaYankee

@Samm

@FloridaYankee

@Supreme_War_Pig

@TheRedComet

Yeah she was very big on formality and the rules of the monarchy. It was at her core.

Many of those familial decisions probably weren’t her favorite choices to make, but her position required it to keep in line with tradition.

Who enforces the rules? Who but THE QUEEN can break or change these traditions?

And this, of course, is why I can never really get behind monarchy.

Much of their wealth originated from ill gotten gains during the colonial era when Great Britain brutally controlled fully 1/4 of the entire globe. Kinda puts a black mark on the whole thing.

Actually, as brutal colonial countries went, the British were arguably the least brutal. The benefit of having been a British Colony vs. being a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, or even French or German Colony is with few exceptions, apparent even to this day.

Not surprising actually. Still plenty of brutality to go around of course.

Brutality is a human trait. But everything within the context of the times. The British were benevolent as far as colonialism goes. The Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Indians, Kenyans, Rhodesians, South Africans, Nigerians, SE Asian, numerous south Pacific, South American, Caribbean, and African nations … and the USA, are still proud of their British heritage today.

[FloridaYankee]

Benevolent. That’s rich.

And it’s a crock of bs.

[Happyhappyjoyjoy]

I think youre being a little generous.

The british empire did considerable harm on a vast scale.

We Brits like to think the second world war redeemed the sins of the empire but we were still committing horrors in the 1950’s.

Other colonial powers may have done worse on a local scale but on aggregate, I doubt any did as much in totality.

Blaming the Queen for this, as many are currently doing, is to miss the point entirely, of course.