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Queen Elizabeth II has died

bbc.com

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Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#391

Post by StacyC »

saberience wrote: post #71

It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…

Beautifully said. I’m an American and I feel this one too for some reason. It feels nice to stop and reflect on this a bit today — life, and all of it.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#392

Post by elliekelly »

xtracto wrote: post #81

I remember clearly the time when Princess Diana died (1997). For me, it was THE moment when I understood the impact of the Internet. I was randomly browsing the web during the night in Mexico, and suddenly I started to see websites (I think Yahoo and MSN at that time) showing the news. I went to sleep without giving it too much attention. Next day, all the news in my country were mentioning the death as breaking news…

I had a similar experience. I saw news of her death online and assumed it was some sort of hoax. When I woke up the next morning and saw it on the (TV) news I had this weird “Holy shit! The internet was right!?” moment. It was very surreal. Up until that point I hadn’t even considered that the internet could be used for much beyond screwing around and chat rooms let alone that it could be a platform for breaking news!

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#393

Post by stakkur »

As Queen, she met 14 US Presidents (15 total) and 16 Prime Ministers (17 total). Whatever our feelings toward the anachronism of hereditary monarchies, she's been a participant in (and witness to) a significant amount of modern history.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#394

Post by Tsarbomb »

citilife wrote: post #372

Fun facts: - She ruled for 30% of the time since the American Revolution - She oversaw the largest reduction of landholdings of any empire in the history of the world. Notable because it was also one of the most peaceful transitions in history -- Australia, Canada, South Africa, Israel, Egypt, etc. - She oversaw the loss of Sterling the world reserve currency and the rise of another (the USD, EU).

She has been Queen of Canada for 45% of Canada's existence as an independent nation. Wild.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#395

Post by swagasaurus-rex »

KronisLV wrote: post #290
henriquemaia wrote: post #222

To everyone who feels sad by these news, my condolences. I respect your pain. However, I have to confess that to whenever I hear that someone aged 90+ (80+, even) died, I don't really feel sad. Actually, I feel an urge to praise this person's achievements, as I'm aware we are all mortals, and death is unavoidable. I prefer to rejoice in how much this person has witnessed throughout her life, how she had enough health…

> What else can we humans aspire? Living forever is out of question. As soon as we are born, we are bound to die. I don't know, living to anywhere between 1'000 to 1'000'000 years of age would surely be quite the interesting experience, lots of things to learn, lots of things to experience. Such numbers might seem humorous but in the grand scheme of things that's still nothing, given the age of Earth and all that. I…

Pursuit of endless life is a movie trope - the fountain of youth - and inevitably concludes with punishment for those who seek it out.

I suspect there’s a strong biological reason we age and die. We compete against our children for the limited resources of our planet. Our genes need to recombine or else evolution stalls.

For now the only true path to immortality is through having children.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#397

Post by drieddust »

dijit wrote: post #332
Emma_Goldman wrote: post #240

I realise she has just died and it's unbecoming to do anything but laud the person, but this is just moral obsequiousness. She claims fealty by right of blood, reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire, and frequently interceded in the democratic government of Britain to protect her private interests.

> reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire Queen Elizabeth presided over its dismantlement. No famines occurred during her reign and no rebellions violently suppressed. The Empire was cruel, but it's unfair to wash her with the cloth of empire.

If that's your measuring stick then Adolf should get the credit for creating the right condition.

European colonial power would have never left if they hadn't got into war of attrition with Hitlar.

British left their biggest colony India only when Indian soldiers revolted and they were too weak to crush it post WW2. It was simply not possible to rule after this incident.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#398

Post by tailspin2019 »

saberience wrote: post #71

It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…

Fellow Brit here. I share this sentiment.

I've never had strong views for or against the royal family but always felt genuine respect towards the Queen herself.

She always appeared to be a morally strong character who tried to do the right thing.

I always expected this would feel like a very strange moment when it finally arrived. I wasn't wrong.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#399

Post by PurpleRamen »

saberience wrote: post #71

It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…

In some way, she was like one of those nice Grannies from your neighborhood. Had no big negatives, also not much positive for the average observer. Just a nice old lady, doing stuff with her family and being around for such a long time that she was some casual part of your world awareness.
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