a privileged birth

so it's been a very long while since i posted here, as i was reminded by someone i met at a meeting tonight.  it's not that i haven't been writing posts, it's just that i'm writing them at my website.  so please feel free to check in over there regularly - almost all of those posts are related to either to local body issues or to my campaign, but there are some interesting wider issues that come up as i work on the campaign.

i'm moved to write here today about how much i'm over the birth of the royal baby.  i've been avoiding most media in the last 2 days, particularly any news bulletins on tv & radio.  i just can't bear any more of this coverage.  while i wish the baby & his family well, i can't get into the hype around royalty & privilege by dint of birth.

as many long-standing readers of this blog will be aware, i do have an on-going campaign of sorts, to become the queen of nz.  i can report that two people have agreed to be my subjects.  i'm not sure how many more i'll need before i can displace the foreign royal who is nominally our head of state.  but i can promise fewer scandals, and there certainly will be no baby-having by me.  so you can be a little more confident that your news bulletins would focus more on news than on royal antics, should you accept me as your sovereign.

i think i'm especially annoyed by all of this, because it's happening during ramadan, a time when i've been more focused on the have-nots.  to be continually reminded of just how much the haves have just makes that reflection even sadder.  we can never create a world where everyone is exactly equal, but we can work towards one where there is a lot less inequality, and a lot more financial security for everyone.

one of the ways we could do that is to stop glorifying privilege by having this kind of blanket coverage in the media - & particularly that part of the media that purports to be giving us the news. a 30-second clip is more than sufficient to let us know the baby is well & all family members are overjoyed.  anything more is just free advertising for the commercial enterprise that is the royal family.

if you happen to be one of those people who are of a similar mindset, consider countering all this royal baby news by making a donation to a charity of your choice that deals with issues around poverty.  or, if that's not a possibility, you could consider a submission against the latest changes to our employment laws which will further drive down wages, or consider supporting the living wage campaign.  concrete action is the only way to counter this kind of hype.