How do you see Thatcher?

Thatcher's economic policies divide opinion even today; there can be no doubt that her neoliberal economic policies brought about the downfall of a large amount of Britain's manufacturing base, but by the same token, it was her government's technology/service driven policies that set up the economic boom of the late 1980's.

What do you think, economic goddess or a PM sent from hell?

Reply 1

username2228735

15

Pros:
- Her policies tamed inflation (albeit for a shorter period than hoped);
- She reduced the power of the government in key areas and industries. Say what you will, it allowed many retail investors to gain a share of a profitable enterprise;
- The 'Big Bang' created an environment for an ambitious individual to make it 'big'.

Cons:
- A lot of the manufacturing industry was ruined and few of the towns of this era have recovered;
- It can be argued that the low regulation during this period contributed to the economic crisis in 2008 (I don't personally agree with this line of argument).

As a firm believer in free markets and trade, she is definitely one of my heroes.

Reply 2

the bear

20

It is insulting to refer to this great lady as Thatcher.

Reply 3

espicton98

11

I think that her economic policies were so damaging to the social elements of society that they outweigh any of the 'gains' some people claim she made.

Oh wait society doesn't exist does it according to her?

My point exactly. Her ignorance to Britain's social predicament and perpetual hits to the working class makes her no more than an absolute cow in my opinion. She also had the potential to do so much for women's rights and the transition between second and third way feminism. Did she? no.

C**t :u:

Reply 4

viddy9

16

Original post by thehistorybore

Thatcher's economic policies divide opinion even today; there can be no doubt that her neoliberal economic policies brought about the downfall of a large amount of Britain's manufacturing base, but by the same token, it was her government's technology/service driven policies that set up the economic boom of the late 1980's.

What do you think, economic goddess or a PM sent from hell?

Mrs. Thatcher presided over the fastest rise in inequality in British history, unemployment was at a record-high and we saw poverty on a scale not seen since the 1930s. The neoliberal economic policies she started off directly led to the global financial crisis of 2007-08. Her use of the police force when it came to the miners was also borderline criminal - despite her so-called commitment to "freedom", she was a Statist when it suited her.

She was proudly friends with numerous genocidal dictators and autocrats, from Pinochet to Suharto to Saddam Hussein, and even had the SAS train the Khmer Rouge after they had just committed the genocide of 1.7 million people in Cambodia. Under her reign, the UK was proud to support the US-backed terrorist campaigns in Nicaragua and other countries in Latin America, notwithstanding the fact that the International Court of Justice had found them to be illegal in 1986.

She was a loony Prime Minister who proudly supported mass murderers, was complicit in atrocities and crimes against humanity, and who unquestionably worshipped at the shrine of the "free-market", although it's debatable whether she was a worse Prime Minister, domestically, than David Cameron. She should have no support today amongst the British public, given her ties to mass murderers, but apparently that's fine for some people.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

zetamcfc

19

Original post by espicton98

I think that her economic policies were so damaging to the social elements of society that they outweigh any of the 'gains' some people claim she made.

Oh wait society doesn't exist does it according to her?

My point exactly. Her ignorance to Britain's social predicament and perpetual hits to the working class makes her no more than an absolute cow in my opinion. She also had the potential to do so much for women's rights and the transition between second and third way feminism. Did she? no.

C**t :u:

Rather interesting. As the working class people who I have known and were alive during Thatcher's time actually seem to like her :s-smilie:

. What I find more interesting is that, those who seem to truly hate her the most, are not those who's jobs were lost, but those who merely apposed her ideology from their ivory towers and could not understand why the people elected for her 3 times in a row.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

espicton98

11

Original post by zetamcfc

Rather interesting. As the working class people who I have known and were alive during Thatcher's time actually seem to like her :s-smilie:

. What I find more interesting is that, those who seem to truly hate her the most, are not those who's jobs were lost, but those who merely apposed her ideology from their ivory towers and could not understand why the people elected for her 3 times in a row.

we must come from very different areas then. My grandad was a miner and my mum lived through the miners strikes. I know lots of people who were around in this era, from various parts of the country and the consensus appears to be that they detested her. I would be foolish not to admit that there were cases of people who did adore her contrary to what she was doing to them unwittingly.

Reply 7

Serine Soul

18

Margaret Thatcher...

...the Milk Snatcher

Witch

Original post by Serine Soul

Margaret Thatcher...

...the Milk Snatcher

Incidentally, the Thatcher government also cut off supplies of milk to Vietnamese children in the aftermath of the US aggression against Vietnam.

Reply 10

Cato the Elder

3

Original post by viddy9

Incidentally, the Thatcher government also cut off supplies of milk to Vietnamese children in the aftermath of the US aggression against Vietnam.

Good.

Reply 11

El Salvador

21

It's Her Ladyship The Right Honourable Baroness Kesteven (PBUH), Lady of the Order of the Garter, Member of the Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society to you.

Reply 12

viddy9

16

Original post by Cato the Elder

Good.

Nice to encounter someone who literally supports killing children on this lovely Sunday evening.

Humanity still has a long, long, long way to go.

Reply 13

ChaoticButterfly

20

Original post by Cato the Elder

Good.

lol

Original post by viddy9

Nice to encounter someone who literally supports killing children on this lovely Sunday evening.Humanity still has a long, long, long way to go.

They're communist children. So it's fine. We had to kill them to save them from communism.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 14

Reue

20

Original post by thehistorybore

What do you think, economic goddess or a PM sent from hell?

One of the greatest leaders this country has ever had.

Reply 15

Cato the Elder

3

Original post by viddy9

Nice to encounter someone who literally supports killing children on this lovely Sunday evening.

Humanity still has a long, long, long way to go.

We killed children by refusing to provide them with milk? Yeah right...we were under no obligation to feed the enemy's children.

With my eyes

She successfully destroyed socialist Britain and should be praised for that. However, she is not exempt from criticism; I notably dislike how she centralised the country, by reducing councils' funding and concentrating most public spending in the South-East. She let several northern cities die without any solution. I believe that the transition from a planned economy to a liberal one could have been done with more empathy for the miners.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 18

Inazuma

20

A god amongst mankind.

Reply 19

Sisuphos

7

This is subject to revision but:

She was a social conservative and I am not. She was religious and thought highly of religion and I am not and I mostly don't. She was a hawk in foreign policy and I'm not. She was a fierce nationalist and I'm not.

What's left? I liked the free-market rhetoric (and sometimes, the policies) and I liked that she was principled and determined. She was clearly charismatic.

How do you see Thatcher?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you