世界中で起きている重要な事件、事象についての忌憚なき批判、批評の場とします。


by shin-yamakami16

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_17241687.jpg



王制:「維持派」対「廃止派」の飽くなき戦い

                             山上 真

 明日6月3日から4日間に渉って英国テームズ川周辺で派手に展開される「英国女王即位60周年」記念式典を巡って、イギリス社会を二分する激しい論戦が巻き起こっている。

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_17384991.jpg



 テームズ川を1,000 隻の「祝福船団」がチェルシー桟橋から出発し、その内の一隻に乗船するエリザベス女王が沿岸に集う群衆の歓呼に応えるという演出の祭典は、キャメロン政権下の「緊縮財政」で生活に呻吟する多くの国民に少なくとも「違和感」を抱かせており、BBCなど一般的メディアが既成体制に呼応する形で「祝福感」を煽っている一方では、 ‘Republican’ と呼ばれる王制廃止派の大規模デモに加えて、今度の「アナクロ」な行事に極めて「冷めた」論陣を張る大手メディアも現れている。


英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_5281485.jpg



英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_17271834.jpg


   エリザベス女王「即位60周年記念式典」の主要舞台となるタワーブリッジ


 例えば、今日2日付の経済専門誌『ファイナンシャル・タイムズ』紙 (FT) は、トップ記事として「女王の資産収入は9,200% 増えた」とする論説を掲載して、結果的に王制という特権制度がその資産増大を利する働きをしていることを暴露している。—<参考資料1>

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_1731148.jpg


                   念入りな「予行演習」

 中立紙『ガーディアン』(5月31日付)は、「女王即位60周年記念式典:つまらない王家と蜃気楼の国家 — 何を祝うべきなのか?」と題する記事を、コラムニストのPolly Toynbee 女史が認(したた)めている。副題としては、「王制という概念そのものが我々の評価を落とすとしても、生活の現実の方が国家にとってずっと恥ずべきであり、破壊的である」とする。

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_17593264.jpg


           著名なコラムニスト Polly Toynbee女史

 この論説の大要は次の通りである。

 「壮大なる記念式典は、この日曜日からテームズ川の一千隻の船の行進と河畔の教会の轟く鐘の音と共に始まる。船上のオーケストラの奏でるヘンデルの水上音楽に合わせて進む数百の船の壮観さを誰が見たくないであろうか」

「この演出が途方もなく華々しいほど、その目的は馬鹿げたものになる。この全ての豪華さと仰々しさの生気ないど真ん中には、虚無があるだけだ。鐘の音が高ければ高い程、空しさが口を拡げるばかりだ。一体何を祝おうと言うのか?」

 「王制の持つ専制的な影響力は、封建的な宗教と結びついた精神的支配力に在る。その存在が上に有る限り、我々は白い毛皮を付けた英国貴族を拝む、従順なる僕で居なければならない」

 「王家の人々が如何に権威付けても、取るに足らぬ才能の凡人たちであることは明らかであり、何でこんな人々に敬意を払わねばならないのか。彼らは、庶民が逃れられない相続税なども国に支払っていないのだ」

 「最近の女王主催の昼食会で、圧政の象徴国 ーバーレーン・サウジアラビアなどーの王家を招待しているのを見れば分かるように、英国王制も主張する『王家の血筋』などというものは、とんだお笑い種なのだ」

 「現在の保守政治が齎す社会的・経済的不平等は、英国の王制という構造と一体的なものであるが、1930年代を超える未曾有の経済危機が見舞う今日、緊縮政策は社会的に最も弱い底辺の人々を苦しめている」
                           —<参考資料2>
 
 トインビー女史は最後に、「王制廃止派の抗議デモが日曜日一時半にシティーホールで開催される」と書いて文章を結んでいる。

 左翼紙『モーニング・スター』(6月1日付)は、「在るのは60年に渉る恥ずべき女王時代」という記事を刺激的な写真と共に掲載して、「民主主義に反する世襲的王制は過去の時代の遺物であり、今こそ他の選択をしなければならない」として、女王の目につく所での大規模「王制廃止」デモを呼びかけている。

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_17323859.jpg


 
 こうした「王制反対派」の動きに対して、BBCや、比較的自由な報道姿勢で知られる『チャンネル4』までも、メイジャー元首相の「王制の未来に何の不安もない」とか、進歩的宗教者とされるカンタベリー大司教ローアン・ウィリアムズ氏の、「エリザベス女王は、やや毒の隠ったユーモアに長けている」とする肯定的な評価を紹介しており、「王制廃止派」の声を余り表に出していないのは、日本の場合と同様に、資本・既成秩序と一体となっている大手TVメディアの「宿命」と言えるだろう。  (2012.06.02)

                    <追記>
1. 6月2日(土曜日)夜の討論番組 BBC 'Dateline' に、上記『ガーディアン』紙コラムニストのポリー・トインビー女史が参加して、'Die Welt'、'Global Post'など外国特派員とシリア問題などを論じていたが、冒頭に 'Diamond Jubilee'が話題に上り、女史が理念的に王制の問題点を主張したのに対して、後者は、国家の「象徴的存在」や、「観光資源」的な面での王制の価値を肯定的に述べていて、全く話が噛み合なかった。外国人の立場からして、「お世辞」の域を出ない意見は仕方ないにしても、BBC司会者が、王制は政治的な権限を全く持たないから好いのではないか、と述べていたのは、これからテームズ河畔で展開される「壮大な無駄使い」を取材し、世界的に放映する立場からの「無理な合理化」ということだろう。 (2012.06.03)

2. 英国『インディペンデント』紙はこれまで全国紙の中では「最左翼」と看做されて、特にその「反戦」姿勢は高く評価されてきたが、今度の女王を巡る「祭典」の報道を見ると、殆ど他紙と変わらぬ「翼賛」姿勢が顕著だ。そんな中で、今日5日付の紙面には、投稿された長文のブログ「ダイアモンド・ジュビリー:国家を干上がらせたエリザベスの60年間」が掲載されている。その意見は、多くの王制廃止論者と同様のもので、王制が英国に巣食う階級制度を固定化する要因となっていることを指摘している。ー<参考資料3>   (2012.06.05)

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_9433840.jpg



英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_2240588.jpg



英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_22413233.jpg


             6月5日 セント・ポール寺院での「祝賀ミサ」

3. 昨日5日付の『ニューヨーク・タイムズ』紙は、この数日間の米国TVメディアの「英国女王即位60周年」祝賀についての「常軌を逸した」取材・報道ぶりを「アンカーマンたちは王冠の周りで浮ついている」という見出しで、痛烈に批判する記事を掲載している。それに依ると、「四日間の狂態は愚の骨頂であり、'ABC'、'NBC'、'CNN'は押し並べて酷く、僅かに「保守」FOX だけが英国の「低俗な」出来事を無視して、寧ろ「反王室」的言辞で番組を締めくくったと言う。皮肉な事だ。ー<参考資料4>  (2012.06.06)

4. 'The Diamond Jubilee' 最後の行事となったSt. Paul 寺院での「祝賀ミサ」の講話で、カンタベリ大司教ローワン・ウィリアムズ氏は、女王の「無私の奉仕」を讃える一方、金融街シティーの「どん欲ぶり」や、環境破壊、国民大方に巣食う「外国人排斥」の雰囲気を厳しく論難したが、大衆紙『デイリー・メイル』は6日、この「場違い」な大司教の指摘について、「祝賀の場」をハイジャックして、間もなく退任を迎える人物が自己の持論を披瀝する手前勝手な「演説会場」に変えてしまったと非難している。メイル紙は他の多くの大衆紙と同様に、今度の行事報道を通じて、一貫して「英国愛国心」を派手に煽る紙面編成をしており、当然と言える反応だ。 (2012.06.07)


<写真> BBC news, The Guardian, FT, Morning Star


                    <参考資料>
1. 6月2日付『ファイナンシャル・タイムズ』紙 −「女王の資産収益は9,200% 増えた」

Last updated: June 2, 2012 1:03 am
Queen’s property revenues rise 9,200%
By Ed Hammond, Property Correspondent

Queen Elizabeth’s rental property empire has survived the peaks and troughs of the market to return a 9,200 per cent increase in revenues during her 60-year reign, more than three times the rate of inflation.
The Crown Estate, the company that owns the sovereign’s land and property in the UK, produced rental income of just £2.5m in 1952 – enough to buy a mid-market central London house today. In its results for the year to the end of March 2011, the company reported revenue of £230m.
The jump in income from the Queen’s portfolio reflects the steady increase in British property values during the past 60 years. Revenues at her estate have outpaced the wider market, however, by virtue of owning property in some of the country’s best performing postcodes.
The Crown’s assets include Regent Street in London, one of the world’s most coveted retail pitches, and St James’s, the central London heartland of the hedge fund industry.
Rents in both areas have soared during the past five years, with demand from international companies mitigating the economic uncertainty damping the UK’s property market.
The portfolio, which belongs to the monarch for the duration of their time on the throne, comprises large swaths of the UK’s beaches and the seabed for 12 miles (19km) from shore; the Royal Parks and 263,000 acres (106,000 hectares) of farmland. It does not include Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or the Balmoral estate in Scotland, which are owned by the Queen herself.<後略>

2. 5月31日付『ガーディアン』紙 ー 「女王即位60周年記念式典:つまらない一族と幻影の国家。何を祝うべきなのか?」

Queen's diamond jubilee: a vapid family and a mirage of nationhood. What's to celebrate?
If the very idea of monarchy diminishes us, the living reality is much more humiliating and damaging to our country
Polly Toynbee
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 31 May 2012 21.00 BST

The mighty royal jubilee bells will toll their way down the Thames on Sunday on a floating belfry leading a thousand boats, echoed by pealing church bells all down the riverside. Who could miss the spectacle of a hundred tall ships serenaded with Handel's Water Music played by a floating orchestra?
The more outrageously glorious the performance, the more preposterous its purpose. There at the heart, in the dead centre of all this pomp and circumstance, is the great emptiness, the nothingness, the Wizard of Oz in emperor's clothes. The louder the bells, the more gaping the grand vacuity. What are we celebrating? A singularly undistinguished family's hold on the nation, a mirage of nationhood, a majestic delusion.
How close to religion it is, with all the same feudal imagery, God as Lord and sovereign, sovereign anointed by God, knelt before in a divine hierarchy of power ordained by laws too ineffable to explain. The tyranny of the monarchy lies not in its residual temporal power but in its spiritual power. It subjugates the national imagination, infantilising us with false imaginings and a bogus heritage of our island story. For as long as they rule over us, we are obedient servants, worshipping an ermine-wrapped fantasy of Englishness. (Despite the kilts, the monarchy was never really British.)
Every country needs its founding myths, its binding identity rooted in a valiant story that rarely stands up to historical scrutiny. What matters is the nature of that story, and ours is as pitiful as our embarrassingly shoddy national anthem: no US "land of the free", just "long to reign over us". if the very idea of monarchy diminishes us, the living reality is even more humiliating. What are we doing paying homage to the unimpressive personages invested with this awe? They are the apogee of celebrity culture, because there is nothing there but empty celebrity. Ah, say the royalists, it's their very "ordinariness" that is their mystique.
<以下中略>
The Republic protest takes place at City Hall at 1.30pm on Sunday

3. 『インディペンデント』紙 − 『ダイアモンド・ジュビリー:国を疲弊させたエリザベスの60年』

英国 ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ 公然批判 — 『ガーディアン』紙_f0166919_18101728.jpg


The Diamond Jubilee: Elizabeth’s 60 years draining the state
By Charlotte Rachael Proudman
Notebook - A selection of Independent views -, iPolitics
Tuesday, 5 June 2012 at 4:00 am

Anti-monarchy protestors on Sunday staged a demonstration on the banks of the Thames ahead of the Diamond Jubilee river pageant. Among the protestors was the chief executive of Republic, Graham Smith, who said “the hereditary system is offensive to all the democratic values this country has fought for in the past. The jubilee represents a celebration of everything we, as republicans, oppose”.
North Ayrshire Labour MP Katy Clark is among many Labour MPs who have refused to pay for a present for Elizabeth to mark her Jubilee celebrations. Katy Clark MP said: “I have never thought we should have a Royal Family as they are the ultimate symbol of inequality and class division. Compared to many other countries we live in an incredibly class-ridden society with huge inequalities in wealth and power”.
I can’t help but agree with Graham Smith and Katy Clark MP. Their sentiments certainly echo my own opinion, a head of state appointed by the feudal process of primogeniture goes against every democratic principle that our country stands for. In my eyes, partaking in the Diamond Jubilee is not just a celebration of Elizabeth’s 60 year reign, but a celebration of something far more sinister – to me, it’s a celebration of the ingrained inequality and class segregation within our country. It seems to me that the monarchy represents the worst of Britain: a class structured society governed by select elite whom are out of touch with the rest of the country.
Despite doing little and achieving even less, it seems the Royals expect respect and deference from us. The most brave, talented and accomplished working class woman and man are expected to praise the royals for their military service and charitable deeds. But is their use of charities and the military to bolster their own reputation really just used as a smokescreen to deflect attention from the real issues? Engaging in what can only be described as hobbies – to them – could be done without royal titles and without any cost to the state. After all, the royals are paid astronomic hourly rates for jobs they did not even have to apply for, neither are they at risk of redundancy. The Royal Family are the very antithesis of meritocracy.
Contrary to media rhetoric, the monarchy does not act as a stabilising and unifying influence on our lives. The monarchy does not have the power to prevent or stop war, oppression, inequality or divisive political policies. Stability and unity are the products of a democratic country where power is vested in the people to elect an accountable Government and head of state. This is exemplified by the USA, a republic and one of the most stable and prosperous countries in the world.
Pageantry and tourism is irrelevant to our constitution. While some enjoy the quaintness of North Korea’s pageantry, our state is not based on pageantry. Neither is our state based on tourism. In any event, the Royal Family does not generate the majority of our tourism. Of the top 10 tourist attractions in Britain collated by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, the only place of interest with direct royal association is the Tower of London.
The tourist argument is often used to distract people from the real issue that the monarchy is not value for money. According to the Civil List, the total official spending by Elizabeth which was paid for by the state in grants and the civil list in 2011 was a whopping £32.1 million: £13.7 on the civil list and reserve, £11.9 million on property, £6 million on travel grants and other grants and £0.5 million on communications and information grants.
<後略>

4. 6月5日付『ニューヨーク・タイムズ』紙 ー 『アンカーマンたちは王冠の周りではしゃいでいる』

June 5, 2012
Anchors Get Giddy Around The Crown
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
God save us from the queen.

There’s nothing like a regal celebration to bring out the royal pains of American television. And the four-day extravaganza to celebrate the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II was particularly rich in folly.
With so much time and so little new to say, anchors and commentators are emboldened to be their worst selves. Viewers are like Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice,” who watched helplessly as her sisters made spectacles of themselves at a ball and concluded, “that had her family made an agreement to expose themselves as much as they could during the evening, it would have been impossible for them to play their parts with more spirit, or finer success.”
And that was certainly the case on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” whose anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer mugged in front of Buckingham Palace on Tuesday wearing goofy ribbon fascinators on their heads and acting like teenagers on a sugar high at a shopping mall. Other news organizations showcased Elton John and Paul McCartney at Monday’s concert outside the palace. Ms. Spencer singled out Grace Jones’s Hula-Hoop performance, which gave Ms. Spencer an excuse to segue to a clip of herself gyrating with a Hula-Hoop on an old episode of “Good Morning America.” “Honestly, it was the moment of the concert,” she explained.
ABC was hardly alone in finding silly and self-serving ways to pep up Jubilee coverage, but there was a particular élan at “GMA,” which has narrowed the lead of “Today” on NBC, and has actually come out ahead in weekly viewership several times in recent months. ABC didn’t prevail by getting more substantive than NBC; the Jubilee provided a fresh canvas for the program’s newfound confidence in dumbing down.
Ms. Roberts, who used to be the Miss Hathaway of morning television, has reinvented herself as a girl who just wants to have fun with Ms. Spencer: over four days the two drank Pimm’s cups, donned frilly hats, and danced and D.J.’ed their way through the royal events. The BBC coverage, shown on BBC America, included commentary by the historian Simon Schama. Ms. Roberts relied on the expertise of Len Goodman, a judge on the hit ABC show “Dancing With the Stars.”
NBC took the whole event more seriously, but there was just as much self-interest. The network is spending over a billion dollars to broadcast the 2012 London Olympics, so “Today” found all kinds of ways to link the games to the Jubilee. The soccer star David Beckham was interviewed about the queen and his chances of making the British Olympic soccer team. The NBC correspondent Stephanie Gosk did a stand-up amid crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square, which, she explained, is where the British go to celebrate momentous events like the end of World War II and, as she put it, “where it was announced that London would be hosting the Summer Games.”
Famous anchors are sometimes described as American royalty, but lately some have a way of echoing the lower moments in the history of the House of Windsor. “Today” brought back alumna Meredith Vieira as a special correspondent to anchor Tuesday’s Jubilee finale with Matt Lauer, and the two laughed and teased each other as if they were a newly reunited Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Ann Curry, who is Mr. Lauer’s actual co-anchor, was the one “Today” star left out of the London coverage; even the weatherman Al Roker made the cut. (A“Today” show announcer rubbed it in by trumpeting a special edition, “ ‘Today’ at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,” with Matt Lauer live at Buckingham Palace and Ms. Curry “live from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza.”) Actually, Ms. Curry wasn’t even on the set in New York. From his chair next to Ms. Vieira, Mr. Lauer said briskly, “Ann has the morning off.”
<中略>
Jon Stewart mercilessly mocked the television coverage, particularly the often inane enthusiasm of Piers Morgan on CNN, who described the flotilla on Sunday as an “orgy of excitement.” On Tuesday Mr. Morgan gushed over the queen for many hours straight, but perhaps with more envy than admiration. As Royal Air Force jets streamed red, white and blue smoke while flying over Buckingham Palace, Mr. Morgan said, “I wish I was king.”
CNN did devote almost as much to the Jubilee as BBC America did, but it’s a little unfair to judge that cable news network by a royal event. CNN functions best in hard news and international disasters. And now, more than ever, CNN serves as cable news’s best antidote to the solipsistic ranting of histrionic and proudly biased evening hosts on Fox News and MSNBC.
CNN’s ratings on many nights are at a low point, which makes the network’s refusal to follow its more successful rivals down the path of single-minded opinionating all the more admirable. Mr. Stewart joked that CNN, like Britain, is a fallen and enfeebled world power. But like Britain, CNN is a diminished empire that on special occasions still commands respect and attention. Except, paradoxically, when it gives lavish, unfiltered coverage to a glittery extravaganza like the Diamond Jubilee.
by shin-yamakami16 | 2012-06-02 17:34