"My name is Bond. Cant-Afford Bond."
@selzero It's not easy to feel sorry for someone as wealthy as the Queen but sometimes you just can't help it.

@Jawaka
Her expression says "Who let this riff-raff into the room?"

@selzero

@violet @Jawaka

Our royalty think that of all "Colonials" to be fair. And most of us unfortunately.

@selzero
Unfortunately, that "royal" attitude extends well beyond old-world bloodlines.

@Jawaka

@violet @selzero @Jawaka Truth. Being autistic, raised to be plain-spoken, and having a Texas drawl, I see it regularly, and I've never been overseas.
@selzero @violet I’m no royalist but they do have their uses. William visited us after a major natural disaster some years ago and it really cheered up a lot of miserable people.

@Jawaka @violet

He can do that while.living in a flat and driving a Honda like everyone else.

@violet @selzero If it was someone living in a flat and driving a Honda he wouldn’t have been there.

This area is largely stocked with Catholics of Irish and Italian heritage but they drooling all over the presumptive head of the Church of England like he was a global pop star.

@Jawaka @violet

He could still be the head of the church of England and all those titles without taking millions in taxes to live a bizarre life of decadence.

Those tax £s could go to feed the poor and heat homes for the elderly.

Wouldn't that *improve* their standing in religion??

Why is taking from the poor to live a life 100x more luxurious than anyone would ever need considered pious?

@selzero @Jawaka @violet Well I don't think it is. These people use religion to control the so-called masses. They don't believe any of it. Not sure of the exact words but; "The people think religion is true, the wise think it's false, and the rulers think it's useful".

@selzero @Jawaka @violet He's a billionaire with essentially a work from home gig + travel and he's *not* in sweats and a T-shirt 99% of the time?

The perks of royalty don't necessarily come with high costs, just very weird costs.

@violet @selzero While I agree in theory, the problem is that almost every society uses a system with tiers of privilege.

You have the wealthy ruling class at the top, often historically based on a belief system such as religion and/or capitalism.

Then you have the management tier who do the bidding of the rulers and pass on their demands to the lower class.

The lower class obey their orders and do the dirty work of the ruling class.

Next —>

@violet @selzero We tried a republic in England centuries ago. The king was dethroned and beheaded. A proper parliament replaced the old one.

Guess what happened next? The republic failed and a new king was installed by public demand. The people didn’t like the terms and conditions of the republic.

You may not like it but it’s democracy in action. The will of the people prevailed.

If public opinion changes again the monarchy can be binned. Democracy will always win.

@Jawaka @violet

Nothing that you state is desirable.

We have to change this shit.

@violet @selzero Good luck with that. You’re up against human nature, a mighty force.

@Jawaka @violet

No. We really are not. Many countries don't have royalty. The citizens there are also human.

@selzero @violet Many countries don’t have royalty but they do still have the three tier class system: The powerful, their middle class lackeys and the lower class that does all the work. Show me some that don’t.

@Jawaka @violet

Now you are talking about the capitalist system that has risen up from feudalism based on taking the work of others and turning it into profits for the few, under the guise of "market led decision making"

We can debate how valid this is and how it can be changed, but it is a different debate that outright giving taxes to a monarchy to the point that they are hiring people to dress them.