General Discussion
The Hinge of Fate The Iron Lady was not for turning. “Let’s burn coal, let’s forge steel, let’s build ships.” These weren’t words to cross her lips. “No, no, no.” Every vestige of our infrastructure had to go. And whilst she smashed our industry, compassion withered in society. Her “I” became “We”, a self-assuming royalty. She bred a culture of “Me”, “Me”, “Me” where the loadsamoney ...
@HuwMatthews2 Ooops. LOL! Someone once wrote that the pen is mightier than the sword. As the haiku says ...... "Let truth not wither in the desert of abuse; refuge of the blind" Words. I hope you enjoy part 3 of the Thatcher legend today.
@DJ You're absolutely right. Thatcher had a part to play in the ending of the "cold war" and I don't think I was writing out her part in history. I was correcting HuwMatthews2 view that the West had a "Victory" in the cold war and Reagan and Thatcher were the "victors" - that is jingoistic nonsense. There was no victor in the Cold War. It needed the coming together of politicians from both ...
Milestones to Disaster Be-skirted, assertive, she flirted with dispersing our industrial heart which she crushed with impunity and shattered communities. And before we had realised ….. Coal-mining was gone. Steel-making was gone. Ship-building was gone. Disappeared or privatised, as were our utilities. Water gone. Gas gone, and electricity. Railways were gone and council houses ...
The debate rages on both sides in the national media and that's the point - the divisiveness and a divided country is weaker than one where everyone is pulling in the same direction. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/owen-jones-thatcherism-was-a-national-catastrophe-that-still-poisons-us-8564858.html
For those of you who agree that public money should NOT be wasted on a state funeral for Thatcher (Let the family pay and use the money saved to improve the lot of those more in need) here's the link to a petition which is going to be submitted. Don't forget that Thatcher herself was opposed to spending of public money so why should she be the exception? ...
@HuwMatthews2 My comment was not that the cold war itself was a myth. It was a response to your comment about "Victory" and Reagan and Maggie being the victors - those are both an Orwellian myth. The cold war ended, there were no battles, there was a new leader in Russia (Gorbachev) with a vision for a different Russia - perestroika. Without him there would have been no end to the silent ...
Churchill wrote a superb personal history of the second world war. I can't compete with that but over the next seven days leading up to her funeral I shall post a view of her history/legacy. Here's part 1 - the gathering storm. It's obviously a personal view so please feel free to add comments and balance if that's possible. If you can do it in verse that would be great! The Iron Lady ...
@HuwMatthews2 There's a difference between decency and truth. The problem is that Thatcher is being eulogised in the tory press as the greatest peace-time prime minister of all time and is being accorded a state funeral. You can either sit back, keep stumm and accept that or say that this isn't a time for arrant hypocrisy and expose the propaganda for what it is. Thatcher was an assertive ...
She will have (as she wanted) a "ceremonial" funeral (same as Queen Mother and Princess Di apparently). To all intents and purposes it's the same as a state funeral but is technically one-step down because it doesn't require an Act of Parliament to enact. Still a waste of money which the country doesn't apparently have and which could be better spent on those who need to survive the benefits ...
