#another failing of the system. not the *primary* problem - but symptomatic of much much deeper and broader issues. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

proto-language · 8 months

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been thinking about how weird i have been feeling about the king's cancer diagnosis. and i had been wondering, 'am i wrong for feeling strange and sad about this when the family at the heart of it are the centre of this awful system?'

and i think that, actually, this is just another part of what makes the system terrible. of course it is, first and foremost, exploitative of the people - of the united kingdom, of the wider commonwealth, of the many other places which were touched by the british imperial project. but it is exploitative also of the people around whom it is designed. for whom a cancer diagnosis is not a private tragedy, but a public affair. whose actions and appearances are noticed, reported, scrutinised. what does this mean for harry and william's relationship? - where is the king staying during his treatment? - how is he going to meet with the prime minister?

nobody wins, i think, while the royal family remain royal. certainly some are losing more severely than others. charles will have access to the best possible care for his condition while millions languish on nhs waiting lists. but this doesn't feel like any sort of victory to me.

#i very much understand why people hate not just the institution but also the individuals of the royal family #doubly so those whose backgrounds mean that comparatively recent royal history has had a tangible negative impact on their community #(which i don't feel is the case for me as a middle class white scot)#and it is certainly fallacious to claim that 'he's just an old man; he could be your grandad!' or whatever.#but for myself personally i prefer not to lose sight of the fact that they are *people*.#of course they're not 'just like us' - but they could have been. and the fact that they never had that chance or choice is #another failing of the system. not the *primary* problem - but symptomatic of much much deeper and broader issues.#and anyway. on a shallower level. i think i just find it hard to find much glee in cancer regardless of the context.#this post won't even show up on my own dashboard because i have the term blacklisted.

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