I would have hated to be the Queen

Queen Elizabeth II died earlier today. She lived to be 96 years old.

With the title of this article, you may assume I’m talking about her lack of privacy. Or her dysfunctional family.

Nope.

Something completely different.

Now, to be clear about two things – 1. I’m anti-Monarchy. I have nothing against any monarch as a person. They’re still people. I just strongly believe that we’re born equal and that what we achieve in life should be because of our own doing, not birth. Thus obviously I’m against things like the caste system as well.

2. I’m not at all anti-England. My favorite artist is Waterhouse. My favorite band is Judas Priest. Pink Floyd is in my top 5. Iron Maiden is in my top 10. We get a lot of our culture from the English and that’s not a bad thing as they got some great lit too (Shakespeare, the English Romantics). Plus, my absolute favorite sub-genre of art is the Pre-Raphaelites, which is a sub-genre of Romanticism.

So now that I got that out of the way, this is why I would have hated to be the Queen.

She was born in 1926. She lived long enough to see England fall from a world power to an also-ran.

I strongly believe nations underrate culture. Culture is everything, and it’s also a reflection of what’s going on.

James Bond and Harry Potter

The English produced two great characters in our modern culture – James Bond and Harry Potter.

This isn’t up for debate. You’re free to dislike either of these characters, but if you deny that these are great characters, I’d deny you have a brain.

Both characters are the same thing. They both represent England saving the world from dark forces.

James Bond saved the world numerous times. Sometimes within seconds.

Harry Potter saved the world from Voldemort. Had Voldemort won, we’d be all living in a dark age where evil wizards rule over our lives.

Nowadays, England is a has been nation. The United States rules. China is second. Japan is third. Germany is fourth. And the UK is fifth.

Not bad. But a huge fall from when Queen Elizabeth II was born.

When she was born, England still ruled the seas. They ruled the seas from the days of the defeat of the Spanish Armada until WWII. She became an adult during WWII.

Then it became a slow decline.

Keep in mind that when she was born, England had a sphere of influence in China. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, look it up.

England also had India and a large swath of Africa. India was the “crown jewel” (their words, not mine) of the British Empire. Also, “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” Once again, their words, not mine.

She lived to see each piece fall one by one.

Now to be clear, once again, not dogging on England. They are our arguably most important ally and I wish them best, especially since they unarguably produce great art. Look at how many of my favorite artists are English. Look at how many of my favorite bands are English. Etcetera.

But this is a warning to us.

Have you studied why Rome fell? Now, have you compared the fall of Rome to our own nation? If not, you really need to.

Also, have you studied the decline of the British Empire? And if so, have you compared the decline of their empire to ours? If not, you really need to.

RIP Queen Elizabeth II. I was neither a fan nor a detractor.

I was however a big fan of Princess Diana, of whom I’m not sure how you truly felt.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.