And Regan Thatcher economics has slavishly been copied with the same disastrous results. We see here. Strong economy with a fucked up society. Milton Friedman and Benjamin Spock two simplifiers that fucked up a generation. On Apr 9, 2013 4:12 PM, "n...@6haroldplace.co.uk" <n...@6haroldplace.co.uk> wrote:
> 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 > > _______________________________________________ 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
