[Mr Walker]

Monarchy Debate

You will need to present your argument during period 4. You have period 3 in which to prepare.

Websites

Against
http://abolishthemon...y.blogspot.com/
http://www.abolishthemonarchy.co.uk/
http://www.geocities...11/monarchy.htm

For
http://www.royal.gov.uk
http://www.monarchy.net/
http://www.tory.org....e&obj_id=129270



Afterwards please post your views here

[dart_helen]

For the Monarchy

We believe that there should be a monarchy because of the reasons listed below:

•It is Tradition for England to have a Queen and people come from all over the world to visit where the Queen lives because we are the only country that is still ruled by a monarchy.

•We also believe that having a Queen brings the country together.

•It is a constant lasting symbolic head of the country with link back through our whole history.

•The Queen also rules over another 15 countries and the Head of the Commonwealth of 54 nations across the globe which promotes peace and if there wasn’t this monarchy then a lot of other countries would be affected as well. The 15 other countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenandines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu

•The Queen is an impartial symbolic head of State above politics, commercial and factional interests.

•Many nations who have lost their monarchies wish they could restore them, such as Afghanistan, because they can see the value of a non-political unifying symbol above faction and politics and racial and ethnic division.

Lil and Helen

[dart_kerridgeh]

Do we really need a monarchy???

some people may argue that the queen is the symbol of England and attracts huge amounts tourists who want to see Buckingham Palace, however, our country has much more historical values to offer to the tourists.
Yes, the queen is an important figure in our society but i cant help but feel that she and the whole royal family create a typical stereotype of the english people; other countries think of all english-men being either posh or cockney! but we're not!
Princess Diana seemed to be the only member of the royal family who was 'normal', and she also seemd to care about the way people think of the Royals and tried to change the appearance of them.
The charity work that she did has caught on to her family members who now appear to be continuing her good deeds; out of the kindness of their hearts or just for good publicity???

The whole royal family has now gained more of a Celebrity status rather than a political one.

Also, i find it hard to understand why the Monarchy deserve to have the power, money and authoritythat they do just because of a family that they were born in to. Some people will work hard all their lives in order to try and have a decent life that they will be happy with. The Royal family may not even appreciate the wealth they have and could not even imagine having to work hard for their living and, in some cases, end up unhappy.

i also think that the British publics money is being wasted on funding one of the richest families in Britain. why should we have to pay and cater for a family that have only gained their power through luckily being born in to a powerful family, whom a large amount of the Britich public most probably dont even want around!

although i do believe in all of these points, i also think that it will be impossible to abolish the monarchy as you will always have those who argue that England must keep their national symbol and that as they dont have any real power they arent actually doing any harm.


ooohhhh the whole subject makes me mad!

[dart_shawj]

For the Monarchy

We believe that the Monarchy is the best way forward for England. This is because the Queen is a main attraction to England and is able to give impartial non-political support to the work of a wide range of different types of organizations, faiths, charities, artists, craftsmen etc. The Queen is worldwide well-known and respected symbol of our country carrying out State Visits and goodwill tours in other countries.

Although we feel having a Monarchy is best we can easily argue that she recieves too much income which could be used in other parts of the world in aid of help.

Jo and Vicky

[dart_hughese]

This post has been written by Emma, Kim and Kirsty we have mixed feelings about the monarchy - and we have stated these points below - happy reading!



The reason why we have mixed feelings about the monarchy is because in some respects we feel that she had a hard position to fulfil and lead her countries in the commonwealth and we feel she does this well. However we also feel that she is given too much money in relation to what she exactly does. As young people we are not exactly told what it is the queen is actually doing and this leads us to feel she is doing nothing in order to gain her millions.

We feel that it is important to keep our royal family tradition going because it has become a large and important part of our culture. Many people visit London to see where the Queen lives etc, if we were to get rid of all of this we would loose our tourist factors and we would no longer have our sense of British life.

Another point is that the royal family is beginning to lose their royal status symbol many of the younger royals are now being seen as celebrities rather than royals we feel this is due to their large involvement in "normal" lives for example Pirnce Wiliiam and Harry both joining the army. This may have been influenced by their mother (Princess Diana) as she also played an important part in helping others around the world.

Although we agree that the royal family should contine to run through tradition we feel that we should be able to vote for who becomes the next ruler in the family rather than the next in line just taking over.

In conclusion to this post and after reading through all the points we have made we are feeling that we are more "FOR" the monarchy and that we hope they continue to rein England and the other countries in the commonwealth.

Thanx again for reading - love your typist today Kim

[dart_hayley]

we think even though its a good idea to have a leader to look up to. the cost of our queen being 36million pounds in one year, we dont understand what she does to warrent having so much money given to her, especially when 70% of that money goes to the people looking after her e.g. cooks and cleaners so that money isnt helping society in any way. The money could be better spent on improving the NHS, education or just helping society in general.

the queen does have some positive effects for example bringing tourists to britain to visit buckingham palace which brings more money into the country but then that money can be seen to be given to the queen.
maybe if people were more aware of what the royal family do for our country and how they spend there day they could make an educated decision on if the monarchy is a good or bad thing because we are not aware of the full impact she has on our society.

Nicola and Hayley

[dart_dexterl]

We are against the monarchy!!!!!
Number one we are controlled by people that have not been elected or perhaps dont even want the power! Things can become fairly pathetic when it comes to the monarchy, an example of this is the fact that only the Queen is allowed to eat swans and the general public aren't, because if you do eat a swan you are breaking the law.

Also, they are getting paid loads of money through taxes, our arguement is why are they giving this privilidge? in simple terms its just not fair!

The fact that bothers us the most is that they are just automatically given this status, without a choice, and yet we have to give them so much money a year.

Even the fact that the Queen has the final say about laws etc we disagree with. Why is it that the Queen has the right to make decisions that affect us all, when we have chosen her to take this role on!!

Lorz n Lou

[dart_nunns]

Monarchy Rules Dude Yeah!!!

We admit that we are traditionalists, and we think it’s in Britain’s interests to keep its royal family. We don’t go all bleary-eyed when we see the queen on television. We don’t even write “the queen” with a capital ‘q’ like many people do. We think some members of the royal family have made fools of themselves. But we do think a nation needs a rallying point, and obviously a nation needs a head of state. The queen, or king, is, in my opinion, the best rallying-point we could possibly have, for the simple reason that she or he is above politics. We all know they are neutral. They never vote. They never say one political choice is better than another. They simply mind their own business, and do what they are supposed to do. The queen never steps out of turn. She knows she has no political power and she respects that.

The thought of an elected president worries us. There are far too many elections already for a start.We do not see how an elected president could possibly inspire the same degree of loyalty that the queen inspires. When the queen visits some charitable organisations, the people stand for hours waiting to get a good view of her, and to see her *monarchical* smile, but we respect those who feel that way. The queen inspires …well, the only word we can think of is “love”. The people love her. So, let’s keep the monarchy and all the traditions that go with it. Modern life is often colourless and most of the celebrities of our day are a pretty weird lot: pop stars, film stars and overpaid sports stars. They do all sorts of stupid things. The queen, on the other hand, sails through the storms of life with a serenity and gentility that fills us with admiration.


She acts a symbol of national identity - *unity and pride*, a kind of role model for british society which gives a sense of stability and continuity.


However there are those who appose the monarchy (hint: Mr Walker ), For instance MAM (The Movement Against the Monarchy), which is a UK-based Anarchist organization that frequently engages in protests against the British Monarchy.

"God save the Queen
Her fascist regime
It made you a moron
Potential H bomb "

In June 1977 these words came crashing out of stereos all over Britain as The Sex Pistols' protest against the monarchy and establishment went to number two in the week of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Originally entitled "No Future", "God Save the Queen" became the rallying cry for anti-monarchists to vent their frustration at the royals.

These are just a few examples of anti-monarchism, But we are sticking to our idea. We support the monarchy.


Shelley and Lisa - Marie

[Mr Jones-Nerzic]

I'd like this opportunity to talk briefly about an organisation which I set up 15 years ago this week. The RSPCR (Republican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Royals) was established to campaign for the humane treatment of European royal families and to end the barbaric treatment of this already seriously endangered species.

Tom Paine once argued that the British would continue to have a monarchy as long as the British remain a fundamentally irrational people. The problem with the republican argument is that it is based on reason. In all honesty there can be no rational defence of the concept of monarchy but this makes no difference. People who defend the concept of monarchy do not rely upon reason but rather on emotion.

I got tired of arguing with people who said things like: 'it's better than having a politician' or 'the Queen works very hard' or 'it's tradition' or 'they're a symbol of who we are' etc. Most other people would agree with those statements and therefore the monarchists 'win' the argument. I therefore decided to shift the argument.

One of the most common defences of the monarchy is a question: 'would you want to do the job?!'. This is a very powerful argument, because no person in their right mind would choose to be the heir to the throne. But if the republican accepts this point and turns it round to use it as a emotional argument against royalty it works very well.

Hence the RSPCR. The concept of monarchy is not irrational, undemocratic or archaic, rather it is cruel. The poor people who are forced to become kings and queens are denied the most fundamental rights that all humans expect: they have no privacy, cannot choose their careers, have no right to vote or express political opinions, cannot choose who they wish to marry, cannot choose their religion or (public) sexual orientation, cannot be normal.

I find this works well with monarchists.

[dart_willisj]

In my opinion I think that the monarchy is a load of ****, as they get paid for doing nothing. They spend their money on things that are not needed and the money could go to something that is needed like cure for diseases.
I think that being a member of the royal family should not be hereditary as it is not fair as there are many people in the UK that are not wealthy and struggle to get through each day whereas the queen has her servants do everything for her, as she thinks she is to rich that she don’t have to do anything.
Although it may be good for the sake of the governing ideas, and tourism, it is still quite a bad influence on the country

by joanna willis xoxoxooxoxox

[dart_hooperl]

My views on the monarchy are varied. I believe that It is good that Britain has a national icon for people to look up to and provides a personal identity to a state. The monarchy also brings a lot of money into the country from tourism or big business deals that were sealed by a visit from a member of the royal family. On the other hand the monarchy also drains a lot of money out of Great Britain, and spending it on unnecessary expenditures, such as carriages and grand garden parties. This money could be spent on a lot more worthwile causes such as hospitals and education.
The monarchy also gives continuity to a country, which stabilises and unifys the state, as they are dedicated to the country and as the power is inherited, they would have spend their whole lives being dedicated, and as they are not elected, and so dont owe their power to anyone and do not have a polictical axe to grind therefore they are impartial and will make decisions in a fair way that they see as best for the country.
If the monarchy was to be overthrown, like in past times there would be a lot of blooshed and lives lost, which would be a huge downfall for the country.

[Mr Walker]

dart_willisj, on Jun 19 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

In my opinion I think that the monarchy is a load of ****, as they get paid for doing nothing. They spend their money on things that are not needed and the money could go to something that is needed like cure for diseases.
I think that being a member of the royal family should not be hereditary as it is not fair as there are many people in the UK that are not wealthy and struggle to get through each day whereas the queen has her servants do everything for her, as she thinks she is to rich that she don’t have to do anything.
Although it may be good for the sake of the governing ideas, and tourism, it is still quite a bad influence on the country

by joanna willis xoxoxooxoxox

What do you think should replace the monarchy Jo??

[dart_taylord]

I think that the monarcy should be abolished because i do not think it is right that they are born into royality power and wealth whereas most people have to work for their position. I think it would be better if we could elect our monarchy.

I also think that it is wrong because they get paid high amounts for palace jewels etc and this money comes from the state and our taxes. I also dont think they do enough work to justify this amount of money.

The good thing about the monarchy is that they bring manny tourist to the contry and possibly add stability to the contry.
Dawn
x

[Mr Walker]

dart_hooperl, on Jun 19 2007, 10:25 AM, said:

If the monarchy was to be overthrown, like in past times there would be a lot of blooshed and lives lost, which would be a huge downfall for the country.

The examples in history where this has happened - France 1789, Russia 1917 - had monarchies which actually ruled rather than the figurehead arangement we have in the UK today.
Isn't it quite unlikely that the abolition of the British Royal family would lead to the civil unrest and bloodshed you predict?

[dart_willisj]

Mr Walker, on Jun 19 2007, 10:26 AM, said:

dart_willisj, on Jun 19 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

In my opinion I think that the monarchy is a load of ****, as they get paid for doing nothing. They spend their money on things that are not needed and the money could go to something that is needed like cure for diseases.
I think that being a member of the royal family should not be hereditary as it is not fair as there are many people in the UK that are not wealthy and struggle to get through each day whereas the queen has her servants do everything for her, as she thinks she is to rich that she don’t have to do anything.
Although it may be good for the sake of the governing ideas, and tourism, it is still quite a bad influence on the country

by joanna willis xoxoxooxoxox

What do you think should replace the monarchy Jo??

i think it shouldn't be replaced at all