Margaret Thatcher RIP.

[xbebop]

Scoobes said:

xbebop said:
This is, of course, a sales-dominated website, so the conservative bias here is to be expected. I don't really want to argue for or against Thatcher, but I do want to argue for the people who despise her. (note: I believe that the unions were to blame for many issues, but I also believe that Thatcher could have handled the situation far more competently than she did).

Some comments I made on Reddit on the topic:

Try to empathize with those who despise Thatcher. Many of them have family who were miners, and thus had their way of life, their entire community, etc. destroyed. They put the blame on Thatcher. Whether or not it is correct to solely blame Thatcher is not relevant to the fact that people do hate her.

Whatever your field of work is, or whatever your father/mother/etc.'s field of work is, imagine that it were shut down by David Cameron. Imagine that this field of work sustained entire towns, and that those towns are now husks of their former selves

Imagine that tens of thousands of people lost their livelihoods because of this.
If you thought that one person had done this to you and your people, you'd be dancing in the streets celebrating his/her death as well. Sic semper tyrannis.

That's exactly why I can't empathise with those people. Nothing is ever that black and white, it's idiocy to believe it is. Whilst I can empathise with people that felt their community was destroyed, I can't empathise with people who hold a single person responsible nearly 30 years after the act and then celebrate her death because of this. It's not like the successive governments have helped matters so instead of "protesting" someone whose dead (and by being dead... ya know, can't do anything about it) why don't they actually try and force politicians to do something for their futures.

Indeed, they may be idiots--then again, many people are. I still find a way to empathize with them because, as a historian, it is always necessary for me to empathize with historical actors (you have to be able to see the world from the point of view of your subject).

I would like to say this, though: they could be dancing in the streets because it is the last victory over Thatcher and neoliberalism in general that they think they will have. Neoliberalism did not die with New Labour or with Thatcher; in fact, it's stronger now more than ever. University tuition is skyrocketing, the NHS is being slated for privatization, and so on. Parliament no longer cares about the poor, and they haven't for quite some time (i would say especially since Thatcher). Now that every party follows the neoliberal doctrine, those in the working class are left behind. They're no longer relevant--it is, as we would say here in the US, the "job creators" who are the main focus now. While they profit the vast majority of Britain will just get poorer. The GDP may (or may not) rise, but most people will never see the gains.

Thatcher's death, in the end, means nothing.