Is there an institution that you'd like to see fall?

[Dave Gray]

I think I'd like to see the British Monarchy go down.  I think the whole thing is dumb, kinda racist, ties religion and politics in a way I don't like, justifies some shitty Imperialism, etc.

It's just outdated and doesn't really need to exist anymore.  It's not my circus, not my monkeys, so I don't really care and I'm not invested in it -- But I wouldn't mind seeing the whole thing crumble in the next generation and get some uptight British panties in a bunch.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ just the British one? 

I view it as pointless, but no worse than the King of Netherlands or Queen of Denmark or other Monarchs that are just figureheads. 

The monarchs that I actually oppose are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bhutan etc -- the absolute ones where the people have no power.

Both Russia and the USA are republics.  Both Norway and Brunei are monarchs. 

[Dave Gray]

This post turned out to be pretty timely.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The FBI, the CIA, the NSA and the ATF.

[stinkfish]

This post turned out to be pretty timely.

Yeah, a little too “timely”. Suspicious, even.

[masterfins]

The monarchy will take a hit with King Charles III, doesn't seem like many people really like him or care for him.

[Spider-Dan]

Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The department should be disbanded and its functions returned to INS.  Their role should be in assisting people to complete the necessary paperwork to enter the country, not to find ways to keep them out.  CBP should handle border security.

[Dave Gray]

I didn't realize the Queen's death would be such a point of interest across all of social media.  It's a weird thing -- I think the aristocracy sucks, in general, and the idea of a Monarch is dumb.  So, while what she represents is shitty, she herself, seemed to be a generally pretty good person, all things considered.

If you gotta have a Queen, she wasn't terrible or anything, but you don't have to have a Queen.  People gushing about her and those cheering her death are both weird to me.  Granted, I'm not English.  Or Isish.

[Spider-Dan]

The royals are UK's mascots, basically.  They essentially serve the same function in British society that the US flag serves in our society; just as we have all sorts of arcane rules about how to display or store the flag, the royals have similar rules about which hand they are allowed to open doors with or whatever.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

George Will made an interesting comment, that I am paraphrasing.  By separating the head of government and head of state the UK takes a lot of the celebrity and pomp and circumstance out of the head of government which has benefits. 

I see his point.  A lot of the interest American's have for the celebrity aspect of the Presidency doesn't burden the UK prime minister. 

I am willing to bet the news coverage of the funeral will include who designed the dress worn by Jill Biden, Camilla, Kate and Meghan but not Liz Truss.  Nobody care that much about Liz Truss's personal life, who designed her clothing, what she likes to eat, what her pet's names are, etc.  The way people care about the President's family and the Royals. 

So in part I agree with Spider they are mostly mascots, they take on the role of mascot that the president holds not just the role of mascot the flag has and that is actually a good thing. 

[Dave Gray]

George Will made an interesting comment, that I am paraphrasing.  By separating the head of government and head of state the UK takes a lot of the celebrity and pomp and circumstance out of the head of government which has benefits. 

Interesting take, but I don't know if the benefits outweigh that or not.

I think there's other things at stake -- correlation, not causation.

We have Hollywood here.  They are our kings and queens.  We have the Kardashians and social media people -- that people either love or love to hate.  I think Americans fill a lot of the void that way.  We do celebrity worship for movie stars, but also singers -- Brittney Spears, for example.  Her stardom is bigger than her fame as a singer.

I don't know if other countries are like this, but the US is in a constant state of campaigning.  So, you're either running for office or in off years, trying to legislation passed or not passed to support other people who are soon gonna be running for office.  And our election cycles are so long and drawn out that people campaign through the governance.  It's kinda messed up.