As someone who would prefer to abolish the monarchy, it's fair to say that I have mixed feelings about the jubilee. On the one hand, I'm getting an extra day off, which is always nice. On the other hand, I won't exactly be hanging out the bunting. Nor do I intend to attand a street party or anything of the sort.
There is one thing I will, genuinely, be doing to mark the jubilee - several members of my band wanted us to learn and play a tune to mark the event, and I will be taking part in that. This is, in all honesty, more about solidarity with the rest of the band than it is support for the monarchy, but there it is.
All that said, and despite it being a fairly unpopular opinion in Scotland (as far as I can see), I do tend to the view that it's right that we do acknowledge the jubilee.
My first, and lesser, reason for this is quite simply that I think it's right to acknowledge anyone who holds down a position for 70 years - it may not be a position I think should exist, and I certainly don't consider it the selfless public service that the BBC and others would have us believe, but I do think it's worthy of note.
But the other reason is a little more complex. The queen is now pretty much the last link we have to a UK that was worth living in. The country has fallen so far, and so many of the pillars that held it together, and the institutions that are supposed to ensure it runs have become so degraded and corrupted as to be worthless. She's almost the last remaining bulwark against that - and the future after she's gone really doesn't look like any sort of an improvement.
So I'll acknowledge this landmark, and do so without cynicism or irony. But quite possibly with a greater sense of mourning than celebration.
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