Yes, Queen Elizabeth Should Matter to Americans—And Here’s Why

G’day luvs—I know a lot of you are sick of hearing about the royals (Daisy included), but I recently saw a video by clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson that I had to discuss.

Watch Peterson’s take below:

What I found particularly interesting was his take on how Queen Elizabeth served as a sort of “check and balance” to the 13 prime ministers that came and went when she was in power. I had never thought of it this way.

 “You had someone around to intimidate all your prime ministers. That’s a really good idea, and I’m sure she did a fine job of that, you know,” Peterson said.  

I think is true. The set up in the United Kingdom is unique in this sense. It was almost like Queen Elizabeth was the wise parent in the room making sure things didn’t get out of control. Peterson notes how psychologically it’s beneficial for a leader—who undoubtedly has monarchical temptations—to have to face this powerful queen who has been around for years and seen it all.

Even if you dislike the monarchial system, you have to admit Queen Elizabeth was a class act. She was also widely loved and respected in her country. All good qualities in a leader. If you were a new prime minister coming in, would you want to tick her off? Probably not. And I think it’s good for our leaders to have a little bit of intimidation now and then.

Queen Elizabeth was also practically free of scandals during her 70-year reign. This is pretty much unheard of in today’s political world (Biden is probably sniffing some girl’s head as we speak). Peterson pointed out there were “scandals in her family” but also jokingly added “…you have a family, if people knew what your family was doing, don’t you think there’d be scandals?”

As conservatives, I also think we need to respect what she ultimately stood for. First and foremost, she was the protector of the faith. She withheld tradition. She exemplified what it meant to serve your country without wavering (the woman worked almost until the day she died). These are all qualities I wish HALF our elected officials had. Our country would be in a better place if they did.

While we love our freedom and the stars and stripes, I think we can still appreciate Queen Elizabeth and recognize her death matters. Who else is like her in the world? No one. She was our last connection to old values. The USA is the best country in the world, but we also need to recognize where we came from, and that many of our values and traditions derived from our tea-sipping heritage.

Of the commonwealth, Peterson said, “Well, maybe we’ll wise up and recognize that we have something absolutely precious to guard. And then maybe we’ll guard it.”

So, I say thank you, ma’am. Thank you for your service. Thank you for setting a great example all those years. And thank you for reminding us that sometimes a few good things can come from “outdated” traditions.