OT - a polite inquiry into the British monarchy - from an American

[Anderton]

I gotta say that, yeah, this is a musician's forum and all that, but this is fascinating. The perspectives are articulate and informative.

 

I've always said if aliens read the comments on YouTube, they'll likely conclude there's no intelligent life on earth. Hopefully they'll find this place instead and not colonize us for food

[Reezekeys]

As a quick aside, the pound's fall has made this is a good time for UK bands to tour the USA right now (like Incognito, who we played the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival with last week). Not so much the other way around.

[Geoff Grace]

2 hours ago, Anderton said:

I gotta say that, yeah, this is a musician's forum and all that, but this is fascinating. The perspectives are articulate and informative.

 

I've always said if aliens read the comments on YouTube, they'll likely conclude there's no intelligent life on earth. Hopefully they'll find this place instead and not colonize us for food

 

So you're saying that I shouldn't make a joke that Britain's mighty naval force had colonized the ocean and there actually was a Prince of Whales in the United (animal) Kingdom there?

 

Seriously though, I'm also enjoying this discussion.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, Reezekeys said:

As a quick aside, the pound's fall has made this is a good time for UK bands to tour the USA right now (like Incognito, who we played the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival with last week). Not so much the other way around.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't it be the other way around, because the band's purchasing power would be much less in the US? Flights, hotels, gas, food, everything would require more pounds for less stuff. The only advantage is see is if a band charges X number of pounds to do a gig. The US promoter would need to pay fewer dollars to equal the same number of pounds.

[xKnuckles]

12 hours ago, ToddP said:

I'm curious about this. Is it in their power to dissent? What happens then?

Hi Todd. Theoretically they could dissent, but in practice they never do. That would be a breach of their non-political role. However, should there ever arise an extreme situation where we ended up with a crazy parliament who tried to push through illegal or monstrous laws, I would hope that there might be scope for the sovereign to act as some sort of emergency brake ..... but hopefully this scenario will never have cause to be tested....

[o0Ampy0o]

19 hours ago, Threadslayer said:

What I cannot understand is the fascination and adoration many many Americans have for the British royals. Didn't we fight that whole revolutionary war thingy back in the 18th century specifically to get out from under the boot heel of the British monarchy? I guess the analogy of a soap opera is pretty apt, but it seems like we have a large section of self-loathing colonists hungry for any morsel of the pomp and pageantry of our past rulers.

 

Possible factors:

 

Real kings, queens, princes and princesses vs. the self-proclaimed in the US,  baby boomers influenced by the British Invasion, growing up with the fairy tale depiction of kings, queens, princes and princesses in Disney films who hasn't wanted a prince or princess as a mate at some time in their life?, deep down everyone knows proper (the King's / Queen's English) English spoken with an upper class British accent is superior to variations of hillbilly / ghetto / street-cred English, etc.

 

 

[Reezekeys]

6 hours ago, Anderton said:

 

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't it be the other way around, because the band's purchasing power would be much less in the US? Flights, hotels, gas, food, everything would require more pounds for less stuff. The only advantage is see is if a band charges X number of pounds to do a gig. The US promoter would need to pay fewer dollars to equal the same number of pounds.

 

In the case of a UK band coming to the US now, it's almost a certainty that their plane tickets were paid for months ago when the exchange rate was more in their favor than it is now. The main point is, I think you're mistaken that a UK band charges "X number of pounds to do a gig" in the USA. US dates are paid in dollars, in dollar amounts agreed to months before as well. When they get home, those dollars will turn into more pounds today than they would have a few months ago. As to the fact that those pounds may not go as far for them at home now, that's probably true, but a different subject - one that affects all UK residents.

 

We did a successful UK tour in November of 2021. Had the exchange rates been what they are now, we would have come home in the red. Unless the rates improve, we may not be going to the UK at all in 2023.

[bfields]

8 hours ago, Anderton said:

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't it be the other way around, because the band's purchasing power would be much less in the US? Flights, hotels, gas, food, everything would require more pounds for less stuff.

 

To take a toy example, if you double both your revenue and your expenses, then you also double your take-home.  (revenue - expenses = profit; 2*revenue - 2*expenses = 2*profit.)  So, yes, both expenses and revenue increase, but as long as they both increase by the same factor (because they're both being paid in dollars instead of pounds), and as long as your profit is actually positive, you come out ahead.

 

(Though as Reezekeys points out, the dollar-to-pound conversions may not occur at the same time, which complicates things....)

[Anderton]

 

4 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

 

In the case of a UK band coming to the US now, it's almost a certainty that their plane tickets were paid for months ago when the exchange rate was more in their favor than it is now. The main point is, I think you're mistaken that a UK band charges "X number of pounds to do a gig" in the USA. US dates are paid in dollars, in dollar amounts agreed to months before as well. When they get home, those dollars will turn into more pounds today than they would have a few months ago.

 

Got it...that makes sense. When I do work for companies overseas, I'm usually paid in their currency, not dollars. They're set up to pay X amount of pounds, marks, francs, etc. so I'm at the mercy of currency conversions.

 

Seems like it would be a great time to visit England, though...dollars would go further than usual.

[Wrrtyuuiioop]

On 9/28/2022 at 9:05 PM, stoken6 said:

In theory, yes. In practice it never happens - it would be a breach of protocol to deny the manifesto of an elected government.

 

Of course, it is entirely conceivable that those in power may breach the norms of their office...

 

Cheers, Mike.

Is it not standard practice for any elected Government to ignore the Mandate?

 

Are there not Lies, Damn Lies and Manifesto’s.

 

I cannot remember any UK Government keeping to their’s remember Thatcher and her “The NHS is Safe In Our Hands”. then she set about demolishing it, privatising huge swathes of it and having Hospitals built by private Companies only for them to rent the building at extortionate fees.

 

It is not just us in the UK it is in the USA as a Brit I cannot see how President Trump ‘s “Make USA Great” was actually provided, maybe someone can enlighten me?

 

We only see negative press about the ex President.

[Anderton]

7 hours ago, Biggles said:

We only see negative press about the ex President.

 

Talk about Trump or Biden is something I do not want in here, unless the person posting knows either one personally and can offer their own insights instead of repeating hearsay from sources with various agendas.

 

People's minds are made up, so any discussion is more or less pointless. Besides, I think most people here do more than just accept sound bites from left- or right-wing echo chambers. Not only are they capable of forming their own opinions, they can be nuanced about it. 

 

But to comment specifically on your post, politicians say what they think will get them into office. Once in office, they say what they think will allow them to stay in office. It rarely has anything to do with personal principles. 

[Reezekeys]

20 hours ago, Anderton said:

Seems like it would be a great time to visit England, though...dollars would go further than usual

 

You're correct! I think all of Europe might be a good destination for American tourists looking to get a bigger bang for their buck; the euro & dollar are almost at parity. Of course, tourists' gains are coming at a pretty big expense for residents there (unless you work in the tourism industry, I suppose).

[Doerfler]

Guess this is OT to the thread, but this is the way it is currently going, so...

 

I spent a week in Dublin, Ireland a month ago. Had the time off from work and just booked at the last minute.

 

Usually, when I do a last minute trip I just take the train from DC to NYC. Wanted to do something different this time.

 

Airfare aside, which was not expensive compared to domestic flights here in the USA, everything was less expensive in Dublin than NYC.

 

Hotel, food, beer, whiskey, entertainment, and on and on, were less than what I pay in DC, let alone NYC.

 

Euro is the lowest against the dollar in 2 decades.