Topic: The Queen is Dead. And the United Kingdom has gone full Middle East.

[Pugnate]

The UK seems to have gone nuts. Arresting people for speaking out... citizens standing 10 to 24 hours to see her.

When many South Asians and Africans think of her, they think of the British colonialism that destroyed languages, cultures, and histories,

They think of millions killed of starvation or torture and billions stolen.

They're not sad that she's dead.

On the other hand, the British Empire did a lot for Canada.

[idolminds]

Its still a weird concept that the only "qualifications" for the royals is to simply be born or marry into the family. Thats it. Thats the whole thing.

[Pugnate]

Yeah, it doesn't feel very modern.

[ren]

I was in London for a few weeks around the funeral and the general impression I had was that most people were in the line to be part of a history than out of any allegiance to the crown. There also seems to be a lot of respect for Elizabeth herself for a lifetime of commitment and duty which is admirable, while the monarchy seems to be a pretty bullshit cause now, it's importance to the Brits in the era she was coronated is completely different. I can respect her efforts while still being a republican in the modern day.

I also haven't found many of the South Asians in my family or friend circles to be anti-Elizabeth. She isn't viewed as a representation of the British Empire of the early 20th century. I can completely understand why her and the whole royal family could and possibly should be held responsible for colonialism but that doesn't seem to be the sentiment of those I interact with in India, the UK and Canada.

It will be interesting to see which of the 14 commonwealth countries use this as a catalyst to drop the monarchy. Canada's constitution makes it basically impossible but I would expect some African or Pacific Island countries to go.

[Pugnate]

Interesting. Yeah, I don't think everyone has that view.

But personally speaking, I've seen a big backlash from people from colonized countries, firsthand and online, largely from Indians, Pakistanis, and people from the Caribbean.

https://twitter.com/yaaasantewaaba/status/1567887110132170753?s=21

https://twitter.com/MukomaWaNgugi/status/1567949652875681792

https://twitter.com/UjuAnya/status/1567933661114429441

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1567986839994105859

I also saw people in Ireland celebrating but that could just be a minority.

She had a lifetime to apologize, hand back stolen treasures, or at least try to make things right.

She also banned non-white people from being members of the staff until the early 70s. She also authorized her team to negotiate an exemption from 1970s-era laws on race and sex discrimination.

Yeah, as you said, it would be almost impossible for Canada to drop the monarchy. I think all provinces have to agree or something.

[ren]

The issue wouldn't be getting all the provinces to agree, it would be getting them to agree to that and nothing more. The last two times they have tried to open up the constitution the country practically fell into crisis. In the last attempt all the provinces agreed to give themselves vastly more power but Trudeau Sr rallied the federalist wing of the country against it arguing that ratifying the changes would end Canada as we know it.

It's quite a shortcoming of recent Canadian democracy that the constitution is becoming impossible to change but the last change was as recent as the 1980s so it's not quite as ridiculous as it is with the US. I hope with the appropriate leader and motivation it can happen again; the thing is doing so to get rid of a ceremonial monarchy will have such little practical value it's not worth taking the risk for.

[Pugnate]

If this was Facebook I'd give you a thumbs up.