Democracy in Britain has been dying for some time, however over the past few days as some of us are forced into mourning, it is clear that democracy is officially dead. It all started with a 22-year-old woman in Edinburgh who has been arrested for holding a sign that reads: 'F*** Imperialism - Abolish the Monarchy,' and as you can imagine it has sparked great debates online. The recent death of Queen Elizabeth has opened up the idea of removing the monarchy altogether. Charles is unpopular, Camilia even more, and Andrew even greater. I recently wrote an article about it which you can read here: Saying Goodbye to the Crown.
One thing is - that is that Britain IS a divided nation, and the United Kingdom is but only a myth. Our democracy has been in question for some time, free speech here is a bit complicated, it's not like America where it's just your 'God-given right,' there are laws that are complicated, outdated, and contradictory.
So firstly, what defines a democracy? Well, according to Plato:
"The laws of democracy remain a dead letter, its freedom is anarchy, it's equality the equality of unequal."
A democratic state is a state that practices freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the right to vote, the right to protest and so on.
Scarily in the U.K our right to protest, freedom of the press, and even citizenship has been called into question and threatened. Going as so far as attempts to criminalise protesting as it is 'annoying' - the punishment of such could cost you up to ten years of prison time. The new Policing and Crime Bill has given the police more powers over the people, the woman with the anti-monarchy sign is the latest victim of this new profound power, as is the young lad arrested for 'breaching the peace' for heckling prince Andrew. Imagine protecting a sexual abuser and arresting someone who was calling him out for it rather than arresting the actual criminal?
Of course, many people have said well it is because the word 'f***' is written on it, it's offensive...blah, blah, blah. [Although saying this, did you know those who use taboo language are more honest, therefore more trustworthy and have a wider range of vocabulary? Anyway...] Many others have expressed that it is disrespectful to even be having such a conversation at a time like this. While some have pointed out that if we do not have this conversation now, when will we? I think it's important to recognise that many people view Queen Elizabeth as a separate individual, it is the very idea and existence of the institution that is the monarchy that people have a problem with.
“Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead." - G.K Chesterson
Unfortunately for me, this has led me to look into a rabbit hole of laws surrounding such a thing, and funnily enough there was a similar incident, where a 24-year-old woman was arrested for the sign 'F*** the DUP' back in 2017. So yes, this has been going on for some time, so what does the law actually say?
"In England and Wales, you have the simple and very effective Public Order Act 1986, which makes it an offence to use threatening or abusive words or behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, another person harassment, alarm or distress. "
Article 8 reads:
“hatred against a group of persons . . . defined by reference to religious belief, sexual orientation, disability, colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins”
Yet Article 9 reads:
"The use of 'insulting' words in a public place/during a public procession."
So yes, those who argue that the use of the word 'f***' is (to an extent) right. However, the word itself is not illegal and if we were going to arrest people for writing or using the word then we may as well have another lockdown and all be sentenced to house arrest. In addition to this, labelling freedom of expression and speech as a breach of the peace, its a bit far-fetched considering we have lived in a negative peace for some time, and the government are responsible for the civil unrest that was already unfolding prior to Elizabeth's death.
It seems in Britain that if you do not follow the main narrative, you are the enemy. As such, it worries me to write about things like this, but I will not stop doing so just because I don't follow the narrative; I make my own.
The idea of a Republic already exists and unfortunately for the state, if they do not acknowledge this and accept that people are demanding change, then it will become there a problem, no matter how hard they try to ignore it, and silence us. I will not be silenced, I will not. We are about to face the harshest winter in living memory, the cost of living is so high, and dying is expensive also. Queen Liz's funeral is set to cost roughly £7.5 million. Not to mention, no inheritance tax on 1.3 billion? Are you joking? This is an absurd and disgusting amount of wealth in a time like this, and I fear this is only the beginning.
Democracy is paid for in the currency of blood:
"Democracy never lasts long. It song wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
A new Britain emerging, but it feels oddly similar to that of the past. I believe as a middle ground Charles will be forced to abdicate and hand over the crown straight to William and Kate in a poor attempt to keep the people quiet.
Emiliene Pankhurst said it best:
"You have two babies very hungry and wanting to be fed. One baby is a patient baby, and waits indefinitely until its mother is ready to feed it. The other baby is an impatient baby and cries lustily, screams and kicks and makes everybody unpleasant until it is fed. Well, we know perfectly well which baby is attended to first. That is the whole history of politics."
Theories of Conflict tell us the grievances in society whether unemployment, cost of living, crime etc, create an environment which allows violence and conflict to occur. This is known as agency violence when the system has created an environment that essentially encourages violence to thrive. Hmm, that rings a bell no?
Conflict resolution theories tell us that peace can be solved through diplomatic negotiations. Sadly I fear, we are still deep within the polluted forests and we have a long way to go yet, and we must try to avoid all the abandoned Second World War weapons along the way. Before we all can sit down and have tea with one another like the polite society everyone thinks we are.
I refuse to lose all hope though, I just refuse. If we don't start building bridges, divisions between us will widen more than ever before and conflict will inevitably rise. Whether revolution or civil war, change is coming, but so is winter, and things are about to get a hell of a lot worse.
Right-wing or left-wing it is still the same bird, and this institution has been in power for nearly 1000 years, I think it's time to let go of the past, and welcome the future with open arms. We have bigger problems to deal with, someone dying is natural, it's the way of life. We are not bees and the idea that people are actually mourning over someone who wouldn't mourn over them is just so weird and cult-like to me, like are you ok?
Anyway, arrest me go on, you can't put us all in prison. I will continue to resist, in the wise words of the Hound: f*** the king. F*** the government, and f*** anybody who doesn't see the problem with the existence of the monarchy, you have been conditioned and brainwashed and it shows.
Challenge everything, question everything! They can try and stop our signs, and they can try to silence our voices but they can never stop us from thinking as like I said, ideas are bulletproof! Fight for your freedom! Fight for your rights! Now is the time...
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References:
https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/the-policing-bill-what-happened-and-what-now/
https://www.roku.com/en-gb/whats-on/movies/king-charles-iii?id=9ccc0ef090d35cb5beab2025d8165bcd
https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-Charles-III-Oliver-Chris/dp/B0711L2TVP
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/apr/27/greatspeeches
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/54814-tradition-means-giving-votes-to-the-most-obscure-of-all
https://www.eonline.com/amp/news/1346837/breaking-down-the-cost-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-funeral
