Cringeworthy Days

I just re-read an old post I penned on a different blog. It's from over ten years ago, and my opinions have shifted a fair bit since then, so I felt a hard shudder of cringe as I read it back. Fortunately it was quite short.

I'll repost it here for context, though it pains me to do so.

It's the royal wedding today and as an Englishman I feel I have a duty to say that I don't support this sort of thing. In fact, I feel quite embarrassed about the whole affair. To see grown men and women getting in such a tizz over a wedding between two people they don't even know is just depressing. I can only apologise for the behaviour of my fellow country people.

I recently saw a poll showing that 63% of the British population support the royal family. How sad that so many can support an institution that essentially flies in the face of the notion that all people are created equal. I've come to realise that it's now likely that I'll probably live all my years and die under a monarchy. As a child I never realised just how stagnant Britain is. I had hopes, but when there's so much popular support for the status quo it doesn't offer much room for optimism.

https://birkhallsmiscellany.blogspot.com/2011/04/royal-wedding.html

I'm by no means an avid monarchist now, it's more that I've just came around to the idea that it has pragmatic value (plus I feel a little more sympathetic to them personally on an individual level). I think it's more the tone that jars though. It sounds so stereotypically left wing.

If this was written by someone else and I read it now it would probably really annoy me lol. So it's slightly disconcerting to read it back. It also makes me wonder if what I'm writing here will be equally cringe-inducing when I read it back in another ten years time. Or even if I'm more wrong now than I was back then. Perhaps those two paragraphs are great and I've since erred from the true path? 😬

Scary thoughts. It is useful though to see the path we've took over time. It is after all natural for people to become more pragmatic and conservative as they grow older. It also reminds me to be a little kinder to others who may just be on a different part of the path. Though that patience and good grace rarely lasts long with me.

It is good to reassess these things though. Maybe I'm becoming too conservative now and need a reminder of who I used to be?

Also, reading it back my dismay at people "getting in such a tizz" over a media event is still true to form. So some things never change. I'm still just as anti-social and unwilling to enjoy the party. I haven't strayed from the path in that regard. Though I will at least wave a union jack now.