Patriotic - To Be, Or Not to Be?
During the last few weeks, someone has been irritating me a lot.
They're not from this country but moved here about two years ago to live with family and have recently been making jokes about how pointless Queen Elizabeth II is, "just kill the pointless woman!" During this 'joke' the queen is depicted to be a complete waste of everybody's time, a useless figure who sucks up the taxpayer's money and generally is a selfish waste of space.
Although there was sarcasm and humour intended in this, I am quite offended.
I believe that as British citizens we, in general, love dear old Lizzy.
I think that if we rid of the monarchy, we would be tearing a gigantic hole in the heart of the United Kingdom and render a lot of England's history quite pointless.
Not to mention the ridiculous amount of money which would be lost just by the tourism our monarchy generates (£130 million in the year 2000, if you really want to know.
) As a girl of fifteen with a good education at hand, I still haven't been given the ins-and-outs of the Queen's purpose to this country.
I believe this lack of information for everybody to see plays a big part in the numerous negative comments about the monarchy, which today, after some research, seem to be growing at a worrying rate.
Of course, even if this information was properly taught in schools and explained to people, there is always going to be ignorant people who think what they think and cannot be bothered to consider any other possibility.
I have been thinking about this a lot recently and today gathered up a few bullet points to show that our Queen Elizabeth is not a waste of space.
(Firstly, may I add that the Queen is in her eighties and probably not even a fraction of the grandmas in Britain could do what she does.
) - As Head of State, The Queen undertakes constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one thousand years of history.
- Parliament must be opened, Orders in Council have to be approved, Acts of Parliament must be signed, and meetings with the Prime Minister must be held.
- The Queen travels all over the world to entertain and have meetings with foreign ambassadors and high comissioners and makes state visits overseas in support of diplomatic and economic relations.
- Performs ceremonial and official duties as Head of State; this includes being the figure to represent Britain to the rest of the world.
- Provides a focus for national identity and unity.
- Provides recognition for excellence.
- (In my own words) Does more paper work than you'll probably ever see in your lifetime.
-And she actually pays tax herself.
Taxpayer's money does not go to the Queen.
I suggest you look here for more information on what the Queen does for us, because quite honestly, there is way too much to fit in this: http://www.
royal.
gov.
uk Most British people, really, are proud of being British.
Most people are proud of whatever nationality they are.
The offense I have taken from somebody joking about the death of our beloved Queen is because, although my patriotism doesn't really effect my day-to-day life, I am somewhat patriotic.
I personally could think up hundreds more reasons why Britain is brilliant than reasons why it's not.
(After all, it's not called Great Britain for no reason.
) I think anybody could about their own country, however much they complain and moan about it.
Our Queen is a very elderly woman who works ridiculously hard.
She has never even had the option of a 'normal' life and therefore is somewhat isolated from the country she so proudly represent.
It is not easy being a Royal.
Obviously I don't know that from experience but anybody with half a brain could see it.
This whole rant of an article only really has one message: don't diss our Queen.
How important is patriotism to you? Do jokes from people who really don't know the facts offend you? Should we respect other people's patriotism more? Or is it all a load of rubbish?
They're not from this country but moved here about two years ago to live with family and have recently been making jokes about how pointless Queen Elizabeth II is, "just kill the pointless woman!" During this 'joke' the queen is depicted to be a complete waste of everybody's time, a useless figure who sucks up the taxpayer's money and generally is a selfish waste of space.
Although there was sarcasm and humour intended in this, I am quite offended.
I believe that as British citizens we, in general, love dear old Lizzy.
I think that if we rid of the monarchy, we would be tearing a gigantic hole in the heart of the United Kingdom and render a lot of England's history quite pointless.
Not to mention the ridiculous amount of money which would be lost just by the tourism our monarchy generates (£130 million in the year 2000, if you really want to know.
) As a girl of fifteen with a good education at hand, I still haven't been given the ins-and-outs of the Queen's purpose to this country.
I believe this lack of information for everybody to see plays a big part in the numerous negative comments about the monarchy, which today, after some research, seem to be growing at a worrying rate.
Of course, even if this information was properly taught in schools and explained to people, there is always going to be ignorant people who think what they think and cannot be bothered to consider any other possibility.
I have been thinking about this a lot recently and today gathered up a few bullet points to show that our Queen Elizabeth is not a waste of space.
(Firstly, may I add that the Queen is in her eighties and probably not even a fraction of the grandmas in Britain could do what she does.
) - As Head of State, The Queen undertakes constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one thousand years of history.
- Parliament must be opened, Orders in Council have to be approved, Acts of Parliament must be signed, and meetings with the Prime Minister must be held.
- The Queen travels all over the world to entertain and have meetings with foreign ambassadors and high comissioners and makes state visits overseas in support of diplomatic and economic relations.
- Performs ceremonial and official duties as Head of State; this includes being the figure to represent Britain to the rest of the world.
- Provides a focus for national identity and unity.
- Provides recognition for excellence.
- (In my own words) Does more paper work than you'll probably ever see in your lifetime.
-And she actually pays tax herself.
Taxpayer's money does not go to the Queen.
I suggest you look here for more information on what the Queen does for us, because quite honestly, there is way too much to fit in this: http://www.
royal.
gov.
uk Most British people, really, are proud of being British.
Most people are proud of whatever nationality they are.
The offense I have taken from somebody joking about the death of our beloved Queen is because, although my patriotism doesn't really effect my day-to-day life, I am somewhat patriotic.
I personally could think up hundreds more reasons why Britain is brilliant than reasons why it's not.
(After all, it's not called Great Britain for no reason.
) I think anybody could about their own country, however much they complain and moan about it.
Our Queen is a very elderly woman who works ridiculously hard.
She has never even had the option of a 'normal' life and therefore is somewhat isolated from the country she so proudly represent.
It is not easy being a Royal.
Obviously I don't know that from experience but anybody with half a brain could see it.
This whole rant of an article only really has one message: don't diss our Queen.
How important is patriotism to you? Do jokes from people who really don't know the facts offend you? Should we respect other people's patriotism more? Or is it all a load of rubbish?
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