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AIBU?

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Original poster

That I have a lump in my throat more for the class system than the funeral

325 replies

JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 19:53

Sat here with a lump in my throat after watching the funeral but I think it's more to do with realising just how unfair life is and what a lottery life can be.

A lot of people in this country are living on the breadline, children are born into poverty, using food banks, lots of homeless, children moving into hotels whilst their parents wait for a house and so much more. Now this is not a thread to bash the royal family as people but I can't help but feel a bit down at the fact that a lot of their lives are luck - luck to be born into a life of privilege or luck of marrying into it.

Now I'm not saying it's easy to be a royal but I know if I had a choice of choosing to be a person born into privilege with the risk of press following me or another person who is living in a tiny flat or house, struggling to pay bills and having to use food banks whilst working a minimum wage job, I know which one I'd choose.

Not really sure what the aim of this thread is but maybe other people had similar feelings from the funeral?

OP posts:
VestaTilley · 19/09/2022 20:40

If this pisses you off just wait until you see all the aristocrats with their coronets on at the coronation.

Unless the woke lot insist the look of the attendees at the coronation is different, the way that really reinforces our class system will really make you angry.

bellac11 · 19/09/2022 20:42

I cant wait for the coronation, I think it should be as over the top as possible and complete razzmatazz

Original poster
JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:42

@VestaTilley I don't think I will watch the coronation; I just wish they didn't force a bank holiday for it though, I'd happily work rather than watch it. It just all makes me feel a bit sick that they have an "unachievable" career.

You can tell children many rags to riches stories but unless they marry into it, we can never aspire to be a king or queen

OP posts:
slipperfsce · 19/09/2022 20:43

The U.K. is very unequal in terms of income compared to many other countries in Europe & it feels like it's getting worse.

MarshaBradyo · 19/09/2022 20:44

JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:42

@VestaTilley I don't think I will watch the coronation; I just wish they didn't force a bank holiday for it though, I'd happily work rather than watch it. It just all makes me feel a bit sick that they have an "unachievable" career.

You can tell children many rags to riches stories but unless they marry into it, we can never aspire to be a king or queen

Would you really want it for your dc?

Over, say, other successful careers that are not so public

Original poster
JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:47

@MarshaBradyo I'm not saying I'd want my DC to be king or queen or princess or Prince, I'm saying that even if a child wanted to be a "princess" when they grow up like Catherine, they never will be able to as it's an unachievable career unless you're born or married into it

OP posts:
Minimalme · 19/09/2022 20:49

Yup, the inequality in our society is so frustrating and depressing.

I haven't followed the funeral at all because I can't help but focus on the gigantic privilege displayed before me.

StridTheKiller · 19/09/2022 20:52

I thoroughly agree OP. It has depressed the fuck out of me this whole debacle while people are too afraid to switch on their lights or heating. I find it revolting.

MarshaBradyo · 19/09/2022 20:52

JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:47

@MarshaBradyo I'm not saying I'd want my DC to be king or queen or princess or Prince, I'm saying that even if a child wanted to be a "princess" when they grow up like Catherine, they never will be able to as it's an unachievable career unless you're born or married into it

That is true. It’s not a possibility

I don’t go for that reverence thing that I sometimes see, they are normal children, and normal people in the roles they have. On one hand it’s huge privilege and comparative ease of life, but on the other it’s a lessening of options. If you have a dc that loves something and wants to do it they wouldn’t get that choice if they were direct in line RF.

gnilliwdog · 19/09/2022 20:53

'There's always people better off than you, and those less well off than you. You'll never make it equal for everyone. Ever.'

Maybe equality isn't necessary. Some people love designer clothes, some don't care. Some people love to fly abroad, others love to be at home. Some want all the latest gadgets, some are happy with older products. But what would be great is if everyone could afford necessities, and work for luxuries if that's what floats their boat.

MidnightMeltdown · 19/09/2022 20:53

In many countries of the world there will be people who think that anyone born in Britain was born with a winning lottery ticket

Free education, free healthcare, benefits, food banks etc

It is nothing but pure luck that we were born here, and not somewhere like Afghanistan were people are starving and have to work all day just for a loaf of bread.

Yes, it's luck that some people are born into privilege, but we too are born into privilege compared to many others in the world. I'm not sure what the point of the thread is.

Flossiemoss · 19/09/2022 20:54

I think people have become more aware of it in recent weeks. Kate and wil have wound me up for the past 12 months . they will be juxtaposed on the news about something of the cost of living crisis and strikes and every other awful thing that’s going on in our country these days, then there they are , impeccably groomed, looking fabulously wealthy with their adorably turned out immaculate children having the most expensive education. All for luck. Same luck as sends others with equally adorable but far less well dressed children. It’s heartbreaking.

the royal family exist to maintain the class system and distract the masses with bread circuses. We wont get anywhere near equality in this country with this institution. The only good thing about the last 2 weeks is the way ,I think , a good few more of the population have realised that the RF is problematic in a modern world.

Flossiemoss · 19/09/2022 20:55
  • send others to food banks.
Original poster
JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:55

@MarshaBradyo I disagree. I'd say the royal children have more options - better education, hobbies like horse riding, instruments etc. that many children would not be able to afford to take up as a hobby.
If a royal wants to help out at a hospital I see nothing stopping them, in the same way Harry helped out in the army and William as a pilot.
I think it opens many doors for the family

OP posts:
slipperfsce · 19/09/2022 20:56

Yes, it's luck that some people are born into privilege, but we too are born into privilege compared to many others in the world. I'm not sure what the point of the thread is.

yes it's ok to be poor here because others are poorer in different countries. Is that really your point?

theworldhas · 19/09/2022 20:56

There's always people better off than you, and those less well off than you. You'll never make it equal for everyone. Ever.

If you have a decent and functional society, which produces balanced happy individuals, you don’t need to “make” it equal. Those individuals will choose to live in a society without homelessness, without food banks, etc. Because there really is more to life than just money. There really is a middle ground between absolute equality and modern day US/UK, believe it or not.

Americano75 · 19/09/2022 20:57

I read yesterday that nearly 4,000 children in the greater Glasgow area have been treated for malnutrition in the past 4 years and watching this pile of fucking bullshit made me want to punch a wall.

Original poster
JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:57

@MidnightMeltdown but the argument of "others have it worse outside the UK" doesn't take away from the fact that the royals are born into privilege... Not through hard work... And the funeral today has highlighted all of this

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 19/09/2022 20:59

JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 20:55

@MarshaBradyo I disagree. I'd say the royal children have more options - better education, hobbies like horse riding, instruments etc. that many children would not be able to afford to take up as a hobby.
If a royal wants to help out at a hospital I see nothing stopping them, in the same way Harry helped out in the army and William as a pilot.
I think it opens many doors for the family

With that much money I’d not choose it

I’d choose horse riding, instruments, open doors and schools but for dc to follow a path of their choosing.

I’m not saying it’s not great for those dc in many ways but I don’t feel particularly envious of their lives - I can’t do the Princess and Prince thing seriously though - and all the they are so amazing stuff that I often see.

MelodyPondsMum · 19/09/2022 21:00

I have more ire for the Tories and the people who vote for them tbh. They're selling off all our assets. They oversaw one of the worst death rates from Covid whilst they gave their friends contracts. Wealth disparity has grown exponentially under their government.
I don't agree with hereditary wealth but I absolutely no longer trust the public to vote for a head of state after the complete bloody shambles that was Boris. And I equally don't trust the Tories to safeguard any national assets. If all the monarch's assets were returned to the state, I have a funny feeling some grubby Tory funder would own them by teatime - through an off-shore, non-taxable entity of course.
We need to get decent politicians. Ones who are absolutely mortified that they have overseen such a fall in living standards in this country. Ones who are ashamed that the government is peddling such bullshit about not being able to anything substantial about energy prices whilst the utility companies rake in billions.

Original poster
JessicaJoens5 · 19/09/2022 21:00

I also don't understand this "others have it worse argument", I'd like these people to walk up to a child or adult in the UK who has suffered abuse or been through the care system or had parents who neglected them and look them in the eye and say "many people would love your privilege of living in the UK"

The point of this thread is not to have a "who has it worse" out of all the countries in the world, the point of the thread is how sickening it is to watch these grand displays when a lot of the country are struggling all for a family who were born Into luck

OP posts:
slipperfsce · 19/09/2022 21:00

What I really dislike is the "thrifty Kate rewearing her coat dress" or Wills wants his dc to have a "normal upbringing outside of London" or the family gets a "budget flight to X".

Imtoooldforthisbs · 19/09/2022 21:01

This

ParsleySageRosemary · 19/09/2022 21:01

Yes, the opportunities people have are set by their birth wealth. Some have little more than what they stand up in and not enough food, others in this “proud democracy” and “bastion of equality” have 7 - is it 7? - castles, an inherited fortune of billions and a grant of £20 million a year. It is not fair, and a child of the former group will never be able to do all they want or “achieve their full potential” no matter how much talent they have and how hard they try. This is a matter of social choice which cannot be overturned by one individual with grit and resilience.

Let’s see how far this realisation spreads and how long it lasts this time.

Violashift · 19/09/2022 21:01

Totally agree OP.

I can't get my head around the whole thing.