Workin’ for the Weekend #15: God Slay the Queen, Handcuffing Putin
Listener Colin claps back, with links!
On Members Only #133, those of us who weren’t too busy getting ready for a gala dinner the next night discussed a fine email from listener Colin objecting to incipient royalism of Episode #372. Let us go ahead and reprint Colin’s linktastic bill of particulars in full:
SUBJECT LINE: You’re all wrong about the queen
Hi guys,
I just have to write in because im witnessing three incredibly smart, charming, good looking and (most importantly, well-meaning) men say retarded things in defense of the queen.
I realize this is probably a reaction to the truly hysteric take downs of the queen seen on social media comparing her to Hitler.
But…
she is not “just a nice old lady with corgies”.
She is not “just a ceremonial figure with no power”
We are talking about a family who lives the most extravagant lives on the backs of the people who pay for them through their taxes. Do they generate tourist income? Yes. Do they do it through their property, wealth, and fame that was, historically, completely stolen if you take any Libertarian argument here seriously.
They continue to occupy Scotland and Northern Ireland. They could give all that property back and advocate for independence. They could even abdicate the crown entirely on moral grounds.
They are exempt from discrimination laws. https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbaqz/buckingham-palace-would-not-employ-ethnic-minorities-or-foreigners
They can choose not to pay taxes (even on private businesses, like their wilderness tours in Scotland) and to my knowledge only have one time after it came out that they didnt and so they voluntarily payed. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/27/world/in-switch-from-tradition-queen-will-pay-taxes.html
They are not allowed to be investigated by any law enforcement (again even private businesses) unless they consent to it. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/14/what-does-queen-legal-immunity-mean-british-laws
They are exempt from inheritance taxes. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/king-charles-will-not-pay-tax-on-inheritance-from-the-queen
The queen had her two cousins declared dead so she could put them in a mental asylum, then when it came to light she had done this, she said it was just a clerical error. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerissa_and_Katherine_Bowes-Lyon
The queen has the right of consent on any law passed by parliament. She has never not consented, but she could have. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent
The queen asked for money for the poverty grant to be diverted to heat her palaces. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queen-tried-to-use-state-poverty-fund-to-heat-buckingham-palace-2088179.html
And on the topic of colonialism, she oversaw and failed to stop or even speak out against the bush wars in Africa. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerissa_and_Katherine_Bowes-Lyon
These are the most-entitled, least deserving, and least nice kinds of people you could find, especially when adjusting for the praise they get. No one likes Hitler. Everyone likes the queen.
She had the ear of every PM during her reign, and she never did shit. If she doesnt have power, what power does anyone have?
Im skeptical of the idea of false consciousness, but if it exists, then love of the queen and the royals is surely the best example you could find.
Wishing you all the best, and please see the light on this issue.
Best,
Colin
* Did I make a Spotify playlist of songs about, inspired by, adored by, and funny-to-listen-while-thinking-about the departed sovereign? Do you even know me? (It’s a work in progress, so please either add suggestions in the comments, or, if you are not a paying subscriber, and therefore ineligible to participate in our Internet pace-setting comments section, drop me an email at matt-dot-welch-at-reason-dot-com.)
* Speaking of me, you can watch me at this I-don’t-know-how-to-embed link on CSPAN’s Book TV interviewing ex-Fox News political reporter Chris Stirewalt about his new book Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back. Also, as advertised, I was on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher Sept. 9; here’s the “Overtime” segment:
* During the show, I made an off-hand crack about how it ain’t guys named Chad and Tyler hanging out for day-labor jobs in front of Home Depot; this attracted the attention of Carlos Abelar, proprietor of the Los Libertinos podcast, and so we did the thing:
Was tickled to discover there that Carlos, despite being just 15 years younger than me, had never even heard the stereotype about Mexicans being lazy. Nor was he familiar with one of my very favorite entries on the ever-shrinking “Short People” playlist of songs that will eventually be cancelled:
* Speaking of presentism, the aforementioned HBO entertainer last night hit on a bunch of themes about misused history, narcissistic anti-Americanism, and wokeness gone bonkers that could have been pulled from scores of previous Fifth Column episodes. Check it out:
* In between dinner engagements and tech conferences, Kmele found time to visit A Special Place in Hell, the Substack-hosted podcast by estimable Fif’ veterans Sarah Haider (#118) and Meghan Daum (#157). From the write-up:
Sarah and Meghan inform Kmele that he’s there to represent All Men and to explain the current state of masculinity, including why so many men are addicted to porn, unable to form meaningful relationships, and are getting outpaced by women in just about every area of life. Of course, none of this applies to Kmele, who’s been with his wife since they were in high school, has tons of friends (including famous and important ones) and is a stratospheric professional success. But he gamely has the conversation anyway. The result is a deep, wide-ranging discussion about everything from the mysteries of the universe to the mysteries of audio equipment.
* You do see that we have a list of “Recommendations” on the front page of our Substack, right? While, like many corners of our workshop, it could stand to use more professional attention, it has belatedly grown to include the great Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em pod w/ Fif’ den mother Nancy Rommelmann and Texas journo-pal Sarah Hepola (#354). Which I mention because Nancy today dropped a conversation she had there with a visiting Oksana Hutnyk, who Nancy had stayed with in Lviv when she was reporting about the war in Ukraine. Which I in turn mention because the Hutnyks were over at the Welches’ last night, and nothing will warm your heart more than two 7-year-olds, born six days apart, overcoming their language barrier with a mutual desire to handcuff Vladimir Putin!
The Royal Family "occupying" Scotland and Northern Ireland is a hell of a take, and all the more notable for Colin ignoring Wales. Why does he think the Welsh should continue to be oppressed by their English overlords?
Some seemingly very valid points from Colin. You know who still won't even apologize for the harms of their colonialism is Spain. The president of Mexico was going to invite them to come celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) and asked them to apologize for the death of the indigenous population and they were offended at even being asked. One of their politicians said that Mexico should be grateful that they came and stopped the Aztecs from committing human sacrifices (ironically by murdering them and destroying their cultural artifacts). One of the major artifacts missing from Mexico is the headdress of Montezuma, a priceless artifact made entirely of green queztal feathers. It was stolen and trafficked to the Weltmuseum Wien museum in Austria, a facility with stolen artifacts from a multitude of countries. Here in Mexico City, in place of the real headdress sits a replica. There are 8 million people in Austria who might visit the museum. There are 22 million people in Mexico City who could have the right to view a cultural treasure but look at a fake instead. The museum refuses to return it because they assert (without providing expert anaylsis) that it couldn't survive the journey back to Mexico. In my 5 years of living in Mexico, I've found it to be a wonderful place with kind people who are happy to welcome you into their country and share their incredibly beautiful culture with you just like you're one of them. They deserve to have the headdress returned. Spain not apologizing is just kind of funny because they have more to benefit from relations with Mexico than al contrario. Oh, and it was Independence Day here yesterday, so I'll close with an emphatic Viva México, cabrones!!