Royal baby conundrum

I have mixed emotions.

Cue that catchy Rolling Stones hit from 1989.

I don't know if you've heard, but Kate and William had their kid across the pond.  Yes, you heard it here first at ESE.   All kidding aside, it's not like you can turn on the TV or log onto Facebook or Twitter and not get 24/7 coverage on the event.  All this hubbub brings me conflicted thoughts.

This child certainly is getting an enormous amount of attention.  Meanwhile, millions of babies are sick or starving.  An email I received today from the ONE campaign reminded me of a pertinent fact:

"The majority of health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa don't have reliable electricity and 30% are without any access at all."

That's in one of the poorest areas of the world. We need not go nearly that far to see poverty and other problems.  Here in the U.S., children are shot nearly every night in Chicago.  There still isn't a cure for HIV, the entire city of Detroit has gone bankrupt, and homosexuals are denied equal rights.  Climate change is already making a mess out of our environment.  Our Congress is entirely dysfunctional.  Political leaders are far more interested in party line agendas and corporate profits than they are in doing anything for the greater benefit of the whole.  This is to say nothing of the other issues I write about here on ESE such as technology and Disclosure.  While all of these things keep hanging in the air, this newborn child shall enjoy food, clothing, education, and extraordinary luxury, all paid for by British taxpayers.  He will one day go on to serve as King...in a monarchy that is utterly impotent.

Certainly, there are far greater concerns for us than a kid in England.

And yet...

And yet...

I am a lifelong Anglophile.  That means I greatly admire the culture, customs, and institutions of England.  My family has considerable British ancestry.  I love the language of English, despite however obtuse it can be.  This language has not only given me a means with which to write but also to study rhetoric, grammatology, and literature.  Speaking of literature, I can't begin to list all of the British authors that have inspired and continue to inspire me.  A partial list includes Graham Greene, Arthur C. Clarke, John Milton, Mary Shelley, John Keats, and the list just gets longer.

Don't even get me started on music.  Nearly every single band or artist I have developed a devotion to in my life are British.  From Duran Duran to The Beatles.  I voraciously consume British television and film.  Doctor Who and James Bond are obvious examples, along with Monty Python, The Young Ones, Mystery!, Downton Abbey, and just about everything else BBC produces.  I love the mysteries of the UK, including Stonehenge and Loch Ness.

The monarchy may be functionless in terms of political power but it is clear that the Royal Family still has meaning.  They are living symbols of the heritage and majesty of a great nation.  Even better, William and Kate appear intent on utilizing their position in the world to make it a better place and the birth of this child has given the people of both Britain and the U.S. a reason to cheer.  That's not bad at all.

So there you have it.  Half of my mind is playing "God Save the Queen."
The other half is playing a song of the same title...but by the Sex Pistols.
  

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