I always fancied an ERA , English Repubblican Army.

Ref,English Republic.Yes,England was a Republic between the years 1649-1660,however Cromwell and the United commonwealth only lasted a short period.The Convention Parliament called shortly after Cromwell's death in 1658,called back the monarchy in the form of the exiled king Charles II ,and thus ended Englands brief flirtation with Republicanism.
Witnessing at first hand the sycophantic and subserviant display at the death of an old relic of medievalism last pm, i to wonder if English Republicanism still exists.Can anyone help.

I agree with the comment about medievalism surrounding the Queen Mum's funeral. The media have deliberately embarked upon a campaign to make the Royal Family appear considerably more popular than they really are. Most of my mates are not anti-capitalists, but even they can't see the point in having a monarchy.

However, arguing the case for a republic would be a disaster. This is exactly what the Labour party wants - it will increase the constitutional powers of the executive without ending the class system or the privelige of the elite. Imagine President Blair, President Blunkett or President Straw. Can anyone suggest a remotely palatable figure to replace the Queen as the English head of state? I thought not.

Republics are prone to factionalism, authoritarian rule and civil strife. The French replaced their aristocracy with a republic in 1789. King Louis XVI lost his head in 1793 - over 40,000 Frenchmen subsequently went to the guillotine. There is little evidence that the modern French state (or the USA, which bases itself on the French model) is any more egalitarian than the aristocracy it replaced.

If we are to argue for the abolition of the monarcy, then we must call for total revolution. No more class system - no more privelige, no more elitism. Otherwise we will end up like the French.

One of the most depressing sights I've seen in this country is the three-mile long queue of royalists, waiting 10 hours to see the coffin of a dead blood-sucking aristocrat. Never will you see such crowds demanding better healthcare or social justice. This country is full of imbeciles, who fill their lives up with meaningless garbage about pride in some family of inbred robber barons who stole land from millions of common people across the world. The more time I spend on this pitiful little island with this multitude of morons, the more I want to escape.

I agree entirely with your comments about neither Monarchy or Republic.The Putney debates of 1647, where the new model army of Cromwell met with a group of Citizens to discuss what direction the revolution should take, were a missed chance for true direct democracy.
The Diggers and Levellers that evolved during this period of English history are the true forerunners of what is now known as Anarchism.Unfortunately their ideas were too radical and represented too much of a threat to the political and economic elites,and were violently crushed .However their ideas and beliefs of a decentralised government, and Agreement of all the people,a social contract involving all peoples, and an end to power and privilege enjoyed by propertied classes has yet to be fully realised.
In my view politically and economically, we are still light years away from these true egalitarian goals.

While I agree entirely that the site of miles and miles of people queueing to see a coffin is depressing, I don't think that they are actually queueing because they are royalists, or were particularly fond of the Queen's mother.

In my opinion, those sad souls are just lonely and need to feel they are part of a group movement - quite literally - not knowing why they are there but knowing they are heading somewhere for a reason and getting recognition for it by being shown on television.

The whole event is just another example of how people are distracted from the really important things in our society and fobbed off with a make-believe reality that encourages passivity and sheep-like obedience.

I was glad to find that such republican sentiment existed and I would like to tell you about my ideas for a new democratic rather than autocratic and republican state its quite clear that governement has become elected dictatorship overcentralised and quite clear undemocratic it is my firm belief that this autocratic system is the reasoning for the present level of apathy among the population its a vicious cycle if they voted we may see governments coming and going far more often but we don't because they won't vote because they see it as pointless how can we break this cycle only with a revelutionary constitutional shake up as far as priveledge power and money go I'm firmly against these things however I have come to learn in my studies of politics and my understanding of communism/anarchism that we need a state the question is what sort of state? a democratic state close to the people who live within it and are a party to a social contract within it although I'm strongly socialist I believe every person is of worth and has a right to freedom equality andjustice before the law and can be a net contributer to the values and economics of society but once again I say at present it can't happen so I call for a republic in which power is decentralised decisions are made closest to the people they affect and powers and priveledges are written down and under the law.