Like many Americans, I have been saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth. That passing is certainly a larger event then most, at least in our lifetime.
While the amount of chatter going on over her life and times, and the machinations surrounding her passing and the passing of the crown to Charles is certainly understandable, and at the risk of starting a flame war, I can’t deny the voice in the back of my head loudly expressing concern that we are taking our eyes and our minds off the major disaster brought on us by our own government here in America.
In a word:
Squirrel!!!
I’m not sure I have the ability to quantify a proper amount of reaction to the Queen’s passing here in America. We haven’t seen this kind of event before in any of our lifetimes. Even the death of Diana doesn’t quite meet this standard.
However, it seems illogical not to acknowledge that like a cat laying across your computer keyboard when you’re trying to get some work done, it constitutes a major distraction.
Let the British do as they will, it’s their Queen we’re talking about after all. By asking the question I intend no disrespect to the queen, or to her people.
We, here in the colonies however, have a different set of conditions in front of us. We have, both 60 days from now and 2 years hence, two of the most important elections to ever have been held in these not- so- United States, none of which is being targeted at the moment.
For most Americans, the British royalty has usually amounted to nothing more than a matter of societal curiosity, or if you like, a bit of escapism. Our attachment to them has much more to do with emotion than political impact here in the US. I myself have been a keen watcher of British politics as a matter of watching political interaction in a general sense, and in British society in particular. If nothing else, it gives an opportunity to observe such interaction as a bystander with no skin in the game, unlike politics here at home.
(And so my interest in the film Darkest Hour, which I recommended to you some weeks ago.)
Look; Even absent that interest, I more than grant that the passing of the Queen deserves no small amount of respectful pause.
But how much of what we are seeing in our social media and our supposed news media is intended to direct our attention away from our own issues? After what we have seen out of each over these last 5 years or so, I wouldn’t put it past them to use what must seem a golden opportunity to do precisely that.
And so the unanswered question… How much attention to these events is excessive in light of the other issues before us?
