I don't.
Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
21–27 of 27 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#22I'm 50 and the Queen represents a more resilient past. The two things I hear loudest from our culture today are anxiety and the desire for success. I was just saying to my wife we grew up during the troubles in Northern Ireland, experienced bombs, the murder of friends, and the murder of relatives of close friends. There seems to be more anxiety now than there was then. Especially among young girls who are under no imminent threat. The threat seeming to be the problem of too much information and comparison.
We have made great progress in society but I fear we are in danger of shooting ourselves in the foot. The long life of a Queen who is committed to serve others, and not just her own wishes, sits well with me
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not just possible, it can be done without notice on a whim.
Australia has enough tanks. In case the Queen want to dissolve the government they can just tweet "Nah" and continue as usual. What is the United Kingdom going to do? Invade? Ask Canada and New Zeeland to make a joint force? (Officially breaking will cause some problems, so it depends a lot on the internal situation and how much popular support the government has.)
That’s just incorrect, Australia isn’t a proper legal country and those tanks belong to the Crown, ultimately.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#24I think she's done a good job at Starfleet.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Australia has enough tanks. In case the Queen want to dissolve the government they can just tweet "Nah" and continue as usual. What is the United Kingdom going to do? Invade? Ask Canada and New Zeeland to make a joint force? (Officially breaking will cause some problems, so it depends a lot on the internal situation and how much popular support the government has.)
That’s just incorrect, Australia isn’t a proper legal country and those tanks belong to the Crown, ultimately.
Possession is nine-tenths of the law. If Australians ignore the request of the Queen and also steal the tanks, what is the Crown going to do? Invade?
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#26The Queen is just a figurehead, like the more recent US Presidents.
The true power in both the US and the UK is the 'Deep State' or the 'Establishment' or the 'Oligarchy' or whatever you want to call it. (The rich and powerful behind the scenes.)
Sure, we think we elect the President. But who really selects who are the final two candidates that we are allowed to vote for?
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Queen?
#27How is the UK monarchy anti-democratic in any manner? She has only symbolic governmental power. Alternatively, do you feel the monarch should be elected for some reason and if they were, what problem would that solve?
Her power is absolute and temporal, she isn't a mere figurehead. She does wield this power from time to time, she dissolved the nation of Australia not too long ago on a whim.
I think that grossly misunderstands what happened in Australia with the Whitlam government dismissal.
The executive power in Australia is held by the Governor General who "represents" the Queen, but is limited by the constitution in what powers can be exercised. The Monarch of Australia essentially has no power in Australia. The Governor General can largely only do what he/she is told by parliament or resign. The "crisis" part here was that the Governor General found a grey area, the current Prime Minister could not form a majority in the lower house and so the Governor General appointed the opposition leader as the Prime Minister who immediately asked the Governor General to dissolve parliament. It was dubious that the Governor General could actually do this, and it has since been codified in law that he/she cannot.
The Governor General did discuss the matter with the Queen, but largely she had no part in this decision. In fact the released correspondence between the Queen and Governor General shows the Queen declined to make a decision.