God save the Queen.
Queen Elizabeth II has died
211–220 of 1001 posts
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#212Born in April, 1926, it's crazy how much the world has changed in her lifetime. May she rest in peace.
Arguably the largest change in humanity in a ~100 year span? Especially if we go back to 1922. Mass communication, mass travel, etc. were all non existent. Like the first radio stations had just started broadcasting when she was born, now we're all discussing her passing on a communications network that connects the entire globe. Possibly some of us while on flights from one side of the world to the other.
I would argue for 1870-1970. Flush toilets, motors and light bulbs, communication networks ( phones in houses, radio ) did not exist before 1870, but were rapidly being deployed in the decade or two before the Queen's birth in 1922..
A book by Robert J. Gordon from 2015, "The Rise and Fall of American Growth," goes through this in great and fascinating detail. The life of an everyday American in 1870, starting off with the chamber pot and ending with an early bedtime by candlelight, was hard to even imagine by 1940. As he lays it out , life in that year would be familiar to us: toilets and plumbing, mass media via radio & hardcopy webpage (i.e. newspapers), worldwide communication from home (telephone), refrigeration, etc.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#213I adamantly reject the belief that some people are inherently better and deserve special treatment by society and before the law because of their ancestry.
This includes all nobility and royalty titles.
Historically and traditionally, nobles are/were the owners of the land. Shoddy job they've done at taking care of the environment. Overpowered by the industrialists, the new ruling hegemonic class (since the aftermath of WWII); who have been clever to stay out of the public view, unlike these historical noble and royal icons.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#214Born in April, 1926, it's crazy how much the world has changed in her lifetime. May she rest in peace.
Arguably the largest change in humanity in a ~100 year span? Especially if we go back to 1922. Mass communication, mass travel, etc. were all non existent. Like the first radio stations had just started broadcasting when she was born, now we're all discussing her passing on a communications network that connects the entire globe. Possibly some of us while on flights from one side of the world to the other.
A timespan anecdote I like: Bertrand Russell watched man land on the moon on tv.
He also had his grandfather tell him about meeting with Napoleon.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#215Winston Churchill (1951–55) Anthony Eden (1955–57) Harold Macmillan (1957–63) Alec Douglas-Home (1963–64) Harold Wilson (1964–70) Edward Heath (1970–74) Harold Wilson (1974–76) James Callaghan (1976–79) Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) John Major (1990–97) Tony Blair (1997–07) Gordon Brown (2007–10) David Cameron (2010–16) Theresa May (2016–19) Boris Johnson (2019–22) Liz Truss (2022 (two days ago) - current) Quite the re…
I feel slightly bad for Liz Truss, since I imagine that one of the things she will be remembered is that the Queen died less than 48 hours into her government.
Oh I'm sure she at least appreciates the opportunity to bury some unappealing news. News broke e.g. of her decision to rescind all restrictions on fracking (and – just a funny coincidence – of the fact that her campaign's biggest donation came from the wife of a BP exec), at about the same time as news of the Queen's deteriorating health.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#216Time to end on a high? Shall we just abandon this whole monarchy thing and time to flip over to a republic and leave the much revered queen as the last ever monarch of the UK? Seems like Scotland is going to go independent, and if Scotland do Wales will only be a matter of time so may as well just can it now?
No post body was provided.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#217Fuck her and fuck all royalty. I couldn’t give a shit…
We've banned this account for repeatedly posting flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's not allowed here.
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Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#218Quoted post unavailable.
Please don't take HN threads on generic flamewar tangents. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32769091 .
Dang, does this post 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.'? Should it be on HN? I don't believe so. The only intellectually interesting thing about the monarchy is how we let them persist now all the fake divinity is gone. Which is what my comment is intended to spur conversation about. So claim what you like, it's your site, but I believe you're wrong.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#219No post body was provided.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#220Time to end on a high? Shall we just abandon this whole monarchy thing and time to flip over to a republic and leave the much revered queen as the last ever monarch of the UK? Seems like Scotland is going to go independent, and if Scotland do Wales will only be a matter of time so may as well just can it now?
Recent polls show support for Scottish independence dropping. Charles becoming king may affect that of course, but I wouldn't say it's at all clear that "Scotland is going to go independent". I agree on the idea of dropping the monarchy on a high though, as long as we go for a presidential system similar to Ireland rather than the USA...
A President which is more or less an elected Queen of England is all I ask at this point.