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The sooner Americans understand what a life peerage is, the more we'll stop having these ridiculous headlines when Britons of note are involved in stuff. I rem

The sooner Americans understand what a life peerage is, the more we'll stop having these ridiculous headlines when Britons of note are involved in stuff. I remember some commenter writing off Twitter's governance team on the basis that it had "some British baroness on it", where the lady in question was Martha Lane Fox

classified 4y ago
"We are even more intolerant than our enemies, but our intolerance is politically correct and religiously sanctified."
tempodox 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_peer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_peer
nirimda 4y ago
The purpose of a life peerage is status. If it confers negative status, then it's no problem to rename the House of Lords as the Senate and call them Senators, a la Canada, instead of Baronesses. This is the case regardless of whether the opportunity is taken to restrict the prime minister's rights to choose his (soon, presumably, her) own public advisors on legislation.
- notahacker 4y ago
  But it doesn't confer "negative status". The solution to Americans jumping to the wrong conclusions about British institutions is for Americans to stop jumping to the wrong conclusions about British institutions, not for Brits to rename them along American lines. (And I say that as someone who would quite happily see the House of Lords replaced for reasons which have nothing to do with American understanding of it) Anyway, it seems like the clickbait here is "British" and the article would have taken exactly the same angle if her title was Senator.
  - likeclockwork 4y ago
    Americans fought a war to keep British nobles out of their business. Whoever they may be over there, they're nobody here.
    - thinkingemote 4y ago
      This is the bait. It works to get people clicking and engaging with the content. Click bait won't go away because it continues to work as seen in this thread.
    - notahacker 4y ago
      And yet they're living rent free in the heads of Americans more interested in the British title of the founder of one of the organisations that co-sponsored the bill than the San Francisco based organization that was the other co-sponsor, or indeed what the bill actually says...
    - bloqs 4y ago
      Sigh. This is exactly the immediate emotional response this article is designed to provoke because the US doesn't understand the difference between a title that is inherited or a modern reward title for exemplary work in a field (like Sir Elton John)
      - jakupovic 4y ago
        We understand it very well and still don't want it. Your explanation doesn't make any sense, let UK politicians stay politicking UK.
        petesergeant 4y ago
        She's not a politician, though. The central point remains, which is had the original headline said "Why is a prominent British film-maker Drafting [etc]" then nobody would have bothered clicking through. It's the allusion to posh British aristocracy in silly hats that's the disingenuity at the heart.
AlanYx 4y ago
It is healthy IMHO to be skeptical of individuals bearing official titles indicative of their social class, whether hereditary or acquired through social influence. That's a longstanding American tradition going back to the Federalist papers and ArtI.S9.C8.1 of the Constitution. (I say this as a non-American who knows full well what a peerage is.) That being said, the Baroness thing is flamebait; her crusade against the open Internet is what deserves criticism and derision.
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  This particular Baroness, as her sayings suggest, obviously is unhealthily disturbed with the subject. Perhaps she could use a vacation without Internet and some time to outline her thoughts in a rational and extensive manner.
ur-whale 4y ago
The sooner brits get rid of outdated social caste nomenclature and rejoin the rest of humanity, the better off they and the rest of the world will be.
meany 4y ago
I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect foreigners to understand the of inner workings of a country’s system of accolades. There are 195 countries each with its own system. In the case of the UK, a baroness title is granted but also can be inherited (at least according to Wikipedia. I didn’t know how it worked.) doesn’t this increase the likelihood of confusion for foreigners. I, for one, have a vague sense of how these work in the Uk and France - because I’ve heard of actors/musicans winning accolades there, but otherwise I’m pretty ignorant and if I was going to invest in learning more about those countries, this isn’t an area that would be high on the list.

classified 4y ago

"We are even more intolerant than our enemies, but our intolerance is politically correct and religiously sanctified."

tempodox 4y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_peer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_peer

nirimda 4y ago

The purpose of a life peerage is status. If it confers negative status, then it's no problem to rename the House of Lords as the Senate and call them Senators, a la Canada, instead of Baronesses. This is the case regardless of whether the opportunity is taken to restrict the prime minister's rights to choose his (soon, presumably, her) own public advisors on legislation.

notahacker 4y ago
But it doesn't confer "negative status". The solution to Americans jumping to the wrong conclusions about British institutions is for Americans to stop jumping to the wrong conclusions about British institutions, not for Brits to rename them along American lines. (And I say that as someone who would quite happily see the House of Lords replaced for reasons which have nothing to do with American understanding of it) Anyway, it seems like the clickbait here is "British" and the article would have taken exactly the same angle if her title was Senator.
- likeclockwork 4y ago
  Americans fought a war to keep British nobles out of their business. Whoever they may be over there, they're nobody here.
  - thinkingemote 4y ago
    This is the bait. It works to get people clicking and engaging with the content. Click bait won't go away because it continues to work as seen in this thread.
  - notahacker 4y ago
    And yet they're living rent free in the heads of Americans more interested in the British title of the founder of one of the organisations that co-sponsored the bill than the San Francisco based organization that was the other co-sponsor, or indeed what the bill actually says...
  - bloqs 4y ago
    Sigh. This is exactly the immediate emotional response this article is designed to provoke because the US doesn't understand the difference between a title that is inherited or a modern reward title for exemplary work in a field (like Sir Elton John)
    - jakupovic 4y ago
      We understand it very well and still don't want it. Your explanation doesn't make any sense, let UK politicians stay politicking UK.
      - petesergeant 4y ago
        She's not a politician, though. The central point remains, which is had the original headline said "Why is a prominent British film-maker Drafting [etc]" then nobody would have bothered clicking through. It's the allusion to posh British aristocracy in silly hats that's the disingenuity at the heart.

AlanYx 4y ago

It is healthy IMHO to be skeptical of individuals bearing official titles indicative of their social class, whether hereditary or acquired through social influence. That's a longstanding American tradition going back to the Federalist papers and ArtI.S9.C8.1 of the Constitution. (I say this as a non-American who knows full well what a peerage is.) That being said, the Baroness thing is flamebait; her crusade against the open Internet is what deserves criticism and derision.

qwerty456127 4y ago
This particular Baroness, as her sayings suggest, obviously is unhealthily disturbed with the subject. Perhaps she could use a vacation without Internet and some time to outline her thoughts in a rational and extensive manner.

ur-whale 4y ago

The sooner brits get rid of outdated social caste nomenclature and rejoin the rest of humanity, the better off they and the rest of the world will be.

meany 4y ago

I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect foreigners to understand the of inner workings of a country’s system of accolades. There are 195 countries each with its own system. In the case of the UK, a baroness title is granted but also can be inherited (at least according to Wikipedia. I didn’t know how it worked.) doesn’t this increase the likelihood of confusion for foreigners. I, for one, have a vague sense of how these work in the Uk and France - because I’ve heard of actors/musicans winning accolades there, but otherwise I’m pretty ignorant and if I was going to invest in learning more about those countries, this isn’t an area that would be high on the list.