Thatcher

Wouldn't activism, initiated by her death, also be, in a sense, a celebration of her death? (what I'm saying is that if activism required Mrs T's death to get it going, then it's not true activism, it's just activism playing on the publicity that her death will give it).

It seems to me that many are putting all the blame on her for what has happened, yet if you really believe she is solely responsible to the extent that some people are exclaiming (and some of it very nastily (and unnecessarily so, as that will achieve nothing for the good of all)), then you are missing the fact that governments are not just run by a single person. Yes, the country didn't do well, for many people, in the years she was Prime Minister, but is she the solely responsible party in that?

All Love and Reiki Hugs

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the final passing away of Maggie T.:

I was going to start a thread, but seeing how things were kicking off elsewhere, decided against it!

The country wasn't actually functioning that well before she took over! The 3 day week, and days when the electricity was off for hours every night. Callaghans Winter of Discontent, wasn't it?

She won three consecutive general elections, so despite what the haters say she did have popular support.

And love her or loathe her, not since Churchill has someone so dominated British politics.

She divided the country - those who were rich obviously loved her since it was them that she supported. A different story though to most who were working class. She single-handedly decimated the trade unions, from which they have never recovered, introduced the disastrous Poll Tax...I could go on.

Today there are street parties celebrating her death, in Brixton, Derry, Belfast and Glasgow. She had a destructive impact on many.

That said, I feel sorry for what Carol Thatcher revealed about her mother, i.e. that her life was over once her role of prime minister ended. It's sad that work is the only measure of someone's life. There is more to life than work ethics..... I am spiritually focused and my life would seem to be inconsequential to most conventional people, but it has an unseen quality that can't be measured materialistically.

I can see this getting rather heated and have nothing to add accept, I would like to say how your words touched me Amy.

I am spiritually focused and my life would seem to be inconsequential to most conventional people, but it has an unseen quality that can't be measured materialistically.

TC x

I remember going to bed with a candle, the neighbours having to use our gas cooker in order to eat, the piles of rubbish. But more than that I remember my parents being terrified of what would happen next. And when my father did lose his job - thankfully for a short time - I remember that panic. Things were so bad my father wanted to emigrate to Germany - to be with his wife's family. Germany was productive and always did what needed to be done.

When situations are dire, as they were in the 70s, you need a strong leader, a radical, a new way of looking at things. Baroness Thatcher was that strong leader.
I think what makes her great - politics aside - is that she still stirs debate, emotion. She brought passion back into politics and made us interested in the workings of government. Through her passion I learned more about politics than at any other time.

I rejoice that she is now at peace. And I hope that all those who are still angry can find peace in themselves. I couldn't imagine how awful it must be to be angry for 30+ years.
Christina

She divided the country - those who were rich obviously loved her since it was them that she supported. A different story though to most who were working class. She single-handedly decimated the trade unions, from which they have never recovered, introduced the disastrous Poll Tax...I could go on.

Today there are street parties celebrating her death, in Brixton, Derry, Belfast and Glasgow. She had a destructive impact on many.

That said, I feel sorry for what Carol Thatcher revealed about her mother, i.e. that her life was over once her role of prime minister ended. It's sad that work is the only measure of someone's life. There is more to life than work ethics..... I am spiritually focused and my life would seem to be inconsequential to most conventional people, but it has an unseen quality that can't be measured materialistically.

But it was the WORKING class she helped most with sale of council houses . OK in retrospect we may feel that was not a good thing with the lack of social housing - but by the tenets of the time house ownership was a good thing.

I remember growing up in a country that was run by the unions. The 3 day week was horrendous.SOMETHING needed to be done - and she did it.

I agree there is much more to life than work - but if you listen to what her staff said about her she was a caring woman. So there WAS to her than JUST work - even if she felt she could not achieve as much out of office as she wanted

I can see this getting rather heated and have nothing to add accept, I would like to say how your words touched me Amy.

TC x

Thank you. 🙂

But it was the WORKING class she helped most with sale of council houses . OK in retrospect we may feel that was not a good thing with the lack of social housing - but by the tenets of the time house ownership was a good thing.

I remember growing up in a country that was run by the unions. The 3 day week was horrendous.SOMETHING needed to be done - and she did it.

I agree there is much more to life than work - but if you listen to what her staff said about her she was a caring woman. So there WAS to her than JUST work - even if she felt she could not achieve as much out of office as she wanted

Really? You truly believe that the working class is who she helped most? She helped some of them who were in a financial position to be able to afford buying their council house. As you concede, this came at the price of halting building sufficient social housing. A legacy that has had a lasting impact today (amongst many of her detrimental legacies).

She helped the working class most? Tell that to the broken communities she has left in her wake, e.g. closing the steel works. ...to the ghost towns she helped to create that still exist today. She even announced that there was no such thing as society - cleverly relinquishing herself of any guilt she may have had pangs of conscience over.

Yes she cared....about such matters as privitisation. Did she care about the countless innocent lives that died in her name over the Falklands war? She was known as the Iron Lady....iron can mean strength, it is also a cold metal.

She badly lacked compassion - this was her (most blatant) main fault.

But it was the WORKING class she helped most with sale of council houses . OK in retrospect we may feel that was not a good thing with the lack of social housing - but by the tenets of the time house ownership was a good thing.

It was not so much the selling of council houses that was a problem (both Labour before her and the Torys before Labour had suggested it). It was the selling them off and at the same time stopping building any more council houses that led to the shortage.

She oversaw the start of the destruction of the welfare state - finally put to rest by Cameron.

She also had such an influence on Tony Blair and New Labour that there is now no left-wing political party. That was, according to many, the thing she did that she was most proud of - a blow to democracy.

A blog from someone that met Thatcher: [url]Craig Murray » Blog Archive » Margaret Thatcher[/url]

A blog from someone that met Thatcher: [url]Craig Murray » Blog Archive » Margaret Thatcher[/url]

Thanks for this - very revealing.

You have to wonder about what she accomplished when her funeral arrangements have to take into account heavy security. :rolleyes:

It was not so much the selling of council houses that was a problem (both Labour before her and the Torys before Labour had suggested it). It was the selling them off and at the same time stopping building any more council houses that led to the shortage.

She oversaw the start of the destruction of the welfare state - finally put to rest by Cameron.

She also had such an influence on Tony Blair and New Labour that there is now no left-wing political party. That was, according to many, the thing she did that she was most proud of - a blow to democracy.

I remember very well the problem that local councils had to use the money rised by the sell of social housing to build more. And that Blair when he became prime minister went to see Thatcher, assumingly for her divine blessing :rolleyes:

The Thatcher government were very clever, they gave out "sweeties" to the masses like council houses and shares in privatised companies. A bit like the Roman emperior given bread out to the plebs. What happened to those shares, well they were sold on for a quick profit, and so went to the fat cats. And that was the idea, to asset strip the country and to allow ownership by international corporate interests. This was really what "free enterprise" was about. What the Tories started in the 80's was taken forward by Blair and now Cameron.