Fairly obvious that a figure like Thatcher was going to produce divergent views and that is what you get in a democracy and I'm good with that, but I'm not prepared to take socio-historical/socio-political lessons about what it has been like in this country under this woman and her legacy from an ex-pat, of what...40 or 50 years, or from someone whose racist views have seen him kicked-off this list twice that I can remember.
I grew up in Wakefield in the 80's and saw the effect on the kids and families around me, it was disastrous and it was deliberate. Unemployment soared and all the attendant social problems followed. Some of the major problems we face today are directly traceable back to her government - can't get a place on a housing list? You can thank Thatcher's sell off of the council housing stock and not rebuilding behind that - of course it is easier to blame immigrants. Can't get decent contract of work (with defined hours, rather than "zero hours", with proper rates of pay etc) thank the government that took on and weakened trade unions, removed legislation to assist the individual worker and protect them against the whims of bosses, whilst simultaneously freeing business owners from their obligations to the workers and communities they are situated in (if you don't like it I'll take my business to China where I can employ people for one tenth of what I should pay here, and they'll work longer and in worse conditions, but hey that's capitalism for you!); we hear that one of the problems that is holding back our current recovery is the lack of any manufacturing in our economy...well who got rid of that then? Apparently it was a "price worth paying"; and of course she was party to the so-called big bang in the banking industry, the de-regualtion of which laid the groundwork for the 2008 collapse and which also sowed the seeds of the "grasp all I can" society - in fact there was "no such thing as society" - a mentality that leaves us with the some of the worst venal aspects of Britain today. I've just heard some ridiculous woman on the radio arguing that she "opened up democracy in this country by making many millions more shareholders" - arrant nonsense, we owned the chuffing things in the first place and shareholding does not equal democracy. The selling off of many state industries...because the market will ensure that the buyer gets the best deal possible. Not really worked out like that has it, but then it was never meant to. The buyer gets shafted as the prices soar again and again, bearing no relation to the rate of inflation nor to the actual quality of the service that is provided. Buyers are trapped in an effective cartel of a few big businesses that co-exist reasonably happily living off their share of the fat...pensioners and the poor have to chose between heating and food. ...and Labour's shameful failure to put some of this right, is not something that I support. Something historical that cannot be denied is the fact of her being the first woman prime minister which is an admirable achievement. She did little for other women but, in fairness she never set herself as a champion for women. She claimed to be a self-made woman; well I know plenty of talented women who could do a whole lot more with their talents if only they'd had the foresight to marry a millionaire businessman. One final personal point, I'm an active trade unionist and I am surrounded by hard-working fellow trade unionists and I utterly refute the one-eyed anti-trade union nonsense written on here in the last couple of days. I do understand those who say that they don't wish to celebrate the death of any human, and in most cases I would agree with that view - but in this case, fuck that, she did more damage to more people's lives and deserves little but our scorn. And it will be interesting to see what reaction comes forth from all those lifting their skirts in horror at some of the reactions to Thatcher's demise when Mandela dies, sometime soon, as seems likely. Below is a link to a blog written by a former "insider" - an foreign office mandarin - he reflects on the Thatcher he knew through work - the last three paragraphs are particularly enlightening.<http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/> _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org MARCHING ON TOGETHER
