Bread and Circuses (austerity version)

In this latest tale of bread and circuses (the austerity version, without the free bread), once again 'The Nation' goes completely bonkers over a bunch of spoilt royal nonentities... or does it? 

Truth to tell, it's hard to say.  Sure, there were big crowds out in London for the big concert... and true, the queen's mug was plastered over the front pages of every daily paper in the land and virtually the only story worth reporting on TV news was... her Maj, the jubilee pageant, the royal gig, Prince Phillip's bladder troubles, the royal spawn, her adoring subjects (that's us, apparently).  Yes, the only news fit to report was our alleged collective grovel at the inbred feet of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha clan.  Meanwhile, the fact that over 150 people were killed in Nigeria due to a plane crash mustn't at all be allowed to put a dampener on our patriotic celebrations, so reporting of that disaster was kept suitably scant. 

But for those of us old enough to remember the collective arse-kissing known as the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, it's interesting to compare the two.

2012: Yes, we know the media tell us there are street parties happening the length and breadth of the country, but has anyone actually seen any or been to one?  Then again, there hasn't really been much in the way of vocal opposition to the jubilee either.

1977: There were actually a fair few visible street parties in most towns and cities and royalist bowing and scraping were much more prevalent.  At the same time, however, opposition to the silver jubilee was far more visible.
So swings and roundabouts...

But one thing that seems clear from this is, the majority of people in this country seem not to give toss about the royal family and neither love nor hate them but will take the day off thanks very much.  The main emotion with regards the royals appears to be disinterest in the antics of this ludicrous family, despite the media doing their utmost to whip us up into a patriotic frenzy.  Nice try but no cigar.

And fuck Workfare too!

Here's another story that didn't manage to get onto the TV news. After all, if nearly 200 dead in Nigeria aren't considered newsworthy enough to interrupt the royal circus, then why should the misfortunes of a few unemployed folk in the UK?

According to The Guardian, forced 'work-for-dole' labour was bussed in from Bristol, Bath and Plymouth to steward the royal pageant.  Fortunately, they were all given free accomodation... hmm... actually, they were all told to sleep under London Bridge!

The full story can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/04/jubilee-pageant-unemployed