Right, Britain isn't a democracy it's a monarchy. And it's often been said that, no society can really afford a monarchy. So, it can also be said that all essential human rights and freedoms are always under threat, somewhere, by some group or other. All you can really do is hang onto the crumbs you have and fight for what those rights are or protest about them (or vote in a democracy). No matter how democratic the nation, essential human rights are always under the threat of extermination by some bigoted group or another.
Britain is one of the world’s oldest democracies, but some worry that essential rights and freedoms are under threat
Submitted 10 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/right-to-protest-britain_n_658ae942e4b014ec45a29d89
Comments
tygerprints@kbin.social 10 months ago
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Right, Britain isn’t a democracy it’s a monarchy.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
tygerprints@kbin.social 10 months ago
Well I'm not meaning to say that they are mutually exclusive I was just clarifying. I hope there is an underlying democracy throughout.
tardigrada@beehaw.org 10 months ago
I fully agree.
tygerprints@kbin.social 10 months ago
Wow. (I'm staggering backwards). I'm just happy someone finally agrees with me on this forum!! I'm too used to "you're an idiot" comments, obviously. Thanks for that! : )
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 10 months ago
Under threat ? That boat has already sailed. We no longer have the right to protest
tardigrada@beehaw.org 10 months ago
I largely agree with the article’s content and meaning, but the title is somewhat misleading imo as Britain is not a democracy.
Nighed@sffa.community 10 months ago
The UK is a democracy. Some may argue about how good of one it is, but it is one.
The whole monarchy being technically all powerful is really a break glass in case of emergency thing. They can intervene once, then we would be a republic. (See 1975 dissolution of the Australian government by the crown)
tardigrada@beehaw.org 10 months ago
Well, I agree to some point. You know certainly more about the UK than I do (I’m not British), and you’ll also know about ‘royal interventions’ like this or that.
But I’d say this kind of lobbying is a reality in other European democracies, too, even without a royal family. There are just other interest groups trying to influence laws.
EinfachUnersetzlich@lemm.ee 10 months ago
In what way is the UK (not just Britain) not a democracy?
lemonflavoured@kbin.social 10 months ago
"Britain is one of the oldest democracies"
Is it?
We didn't have full and equal universal suffrage until 1924. Even ignoring that, elections before about 1832 were barely democratic in a lot of places.
ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 10 months ago
It’s a pretty poor example of one, either way.
jabjoe@feddit.uk 10 months ago
Not sure with FPTP we are that democratic now… We desperately need electoral reform.
lemonflavoured@kbin.social 10 months ago
FPTP isn't inherently undemocratic. It's not ideal, for any number of reasons, but it does have the advantage of a strong local link to representatives and (usually) leads to strong governments. I personally would prefer STV like Ireland has as a first choice, and as a second choice some form of MMP (like the Scottish Parliament, or New Zealand, or Germany)