The contraversy of Margret Thatcher

I am unaware if any other democratic country has had such a passionate debate and anger over a political leader from over 30 years ago, but here in the UK, Margret Thatcher was such a figure. To this day, nothing splits politics more than this one woman, not even Labour and Conservative! This is not down to her policies, these are down to the woman herself.

Her policies were harsh, as well as unfair and no doubt holds roots to the many financial problems that have happened now (Reagen also holds the same roots, the two created the strong relationship our countries share to this day) but one thing is certain, she deserved the name The Iron Lady.

Thatcher was the strongest minded politician this country has had since Churchill. When she spoke in the commons, she held every politician to their claims, including her own peers. She brought fear to any politician that did now know their facts/policies/actions in deep detail. She fought till the end to keep Britian from merging any more with Europe because of her genuin love for the country, whether her vision of the country is reflected by the countries people is one still up for debate and continues to split the country into two. One thing can be said, she was never corrupt.

She went against diplomatic pressure and advice from peers on the Faulklands and faught back to retrive the islands. When she has her mind set, she has for very strong reasons that she would of thought over long and hard, with noteable devotion to look deep and hard until she formed her opinions (once again, her opinions on what was best still splits the country).

Watching the woman speak to a crowd, it is clear within the first moment that she is a genuin leader, as a person and a politician. She did not speak as they spoken since, masters of advertising their own political brand to the everyman, causing policies to become unclear and wide, outright lies being advertised in their 5 year political broucher. Her words were geniun.

The point of this is to try to learn from Thatcher. Why have we only had one such person in the past 50 years who was so devoted, strong minded, un-corrupt, inteligent and, no other way to say it, legendary (as her legecy is still living through continual debate with no end, it is the best word to use). All the characteristics of an Iron figure. Should not every political leader be an Iron figure?

Political leaders need to be strong minded to not be swade by money and bribes. Political leaders should be devoted to their country through passion and love, not through poll charts. They need to be inteligent enough to stand for their points with answers to every single question that should be addressed. They need to believe in their vision and represent that vision to the people.

Say what you like about Thatcher, her policies are one that I am far against, but as the woman she was, and the political leader she was, she was the damned best suited one for the job that this country has had since.

reply to post by Trolloks


Thank You...a breath of fresh air.....



Des

reply to post by alfa1


I looked but many were already nothing more than flame wars between the same people, or closed.

Plus this is just a rant, not in the general news forums. This is just an opinion being shared.

In the Democratic country of Guyana, formerly British Guyana, there was a very controversial figure from over 30 years ago called Forbes Burnham. See: en.wikipedia.org... This is just to challenge your opening statement, as people in the South American country of Guyana still regard Burnham's name with distaste. Suffice to say, while Brits may have felt second-class under Thatcher, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

I dont know about the "memorial" part of things for sure... but the threads devolved into a pissing match and ad homs let and right. On my own board I do have to close threads that are actually good ones to begin with, but eventually devolve into infighting and some really vile crappola. Im certainly not speaking for the mods here.. they can speak for themselves.. but thats why I thought the threads were closed. I doubt it was due to people not liking her.. or speaking ill of her. I do believe there are VALID complaints some have. Id just not be so ready to condemn ATS just yet for calling for some calm and less member infighting. There is NO politician I know of thats a saint.. I just cant believe that ATS would demand only niceties as there are British mods here that may have their own strong opinions concerning Thatcher. There is a HUGE difference between heated disagreement and discussion.. versus vile idiocy and ad homs toward those who disagree with you

If we keep the infighting and insults and the really ghoulish weirdness to a minimum, maybe some threads can stand. Threads directly "dissing" ATS or griping about mod decisions never have stood for very long.. and thats nothing new.

Originally posted by Advantage

If we keep the infighting and insults and the really ghoulish weirdness to a minimum, maybe some threads can stand. Threads directly "dissing" ATS or griping about mod decisions never have stood for very long.. and thats nothing new.

I wish the Mods could've kept the threads open. If they didn't realise what was coming when she died, they sure do now. These threads were never going to be for the faint hearted. IMO they should have stayed open and let the UK members get it off their chests.

Messageboards up and down the UK will be no different ( rightly or wrongly).

Maybe there is a way to give threads an 18-certificate.

reply to post by Trolloks


I agree.





All these people posting this picture :



should be ashamed of themselves.

reply to post by Advantage


www.abovetopsecret.com...Look absolutely no in fighting,just a collective of people who didnt like her,posting about their dislike for her including memories of living under her leadership.
It was in the rant forum.
If she is peoples idea of the best leader we have had,what does that say about the U.K.?
I dread to think.

Originally posted by Knobby

Originally posted by Advantage

If we keep the infighting and insults and the really ghoulish weirdness to a minimum, maybe some threads can stand. Threads directly "dissing" ATS or griping about mod decisions never have stood for very long.. and thats nothing new.

I wish the Mods could've kept the threads open. If they didn't realise what was coming when she died, they sure do now. These threads were never going to be for the faint hearted. IMO they should have stayed open and let the UK members get it off their chests.

Messageboards up and down the UK will be no different ( rightly or wrongly).

Maybe there is a way to give threads an 18-certificate.

You never know.. maybe they will clean one up and reopen it. Its happened before. I was well aware and alive during the time of Thatcher, but as an American I was not living the "Thatcher UK"... yet I still understand the problems. Some I understood even better with the more well informed and eloquent posts concerning her actions and their results.. short and long term. THOSE are the kind of conversations that ATS is best used for. Even I save my more vulgar and off color rants for other venues.

I hope maybe this will be one of those occasions that some can understand different perspectives and calling one down for voicing their well based feelings on what occurs in THEIR OWN country wont be so verboten from now on Thats what irked me.. those bashing Americans concerning our feelings on our own country/politicians, but okay with doing the same when it comes to themselves... not to mention the really weird ghoulish things. It can be an opportunity to bitch and whine over the injustice.. or one to learn and expand ( and learn to play the game by the rules).

Isn't it a bit strange that all the threads that think she was awful have been taken down. This is my opinion of Margaret Thatcher. How I feel about her death.


www.youtube.com...

As we pass through time, the rise and falls... we can only have so many greats at one time, regardless of your views on this women she was a great figure and will be remembered so.

That being said Stalin was great Vlad the Impaler too even Alexander the Great was a bad apple, I also personally think King Alfred was great and Clement Attlee also, Ghandi in his composition. What is important is that they are remembered for their greatness that they deserve... good or bad.

Cult's of personality, legends of how we see them.

She was a destructive figure. She politically behaved goegraphically. In the uk she destroyed jobs or created depending upon whether the area was. I lived in the period she was prime minister. Lots of these talking about how great she was obviously have not. What you all seem to be espousing is the view you would get on press releases.

In reality she used the SAS against people of her own county in the miners strike: disguised as police without numbers or any identifying marks. She closed at least one steel works as an experiment: this information was released later. The country is in parts still not over the damage she had done.

She stayed in power because she changed the lines on the areas for constituencies.She changed the lines cutting conservative areas up and absorbing labour areas together so that they were les of them: making it easier for her to get elected. Most of all using the army on your own people is the sort of thing people think about happening in China in Tianamem square, and in countries living under military rule, such as part of Korea. But it happened in the UK.

The fact is that if she was in power much longer that is where we were moving to. If we had another Margaret Thatcher, after her, then the people of the UK would be living in a police state.

reply to post by werewolf99


I agree, I live in a area of the UK what suffered harshly from the mess of her policies, it makes her no less great though even if her economic theories made no sense. Personally I'm glad this chapter of my country's history is closed and to be remembered as past, even if we are still suffering from her policies of way back then.

reply to post by werewolf99


For all of her tenacity ( which is admirable IMO) I do recall the term " vulture capitalism" used and that nice cartoon of a vulture with Marg's head on it... I THINK it was the Times! For me, as a woman, Thatcher was huge. An influence. Not so much for her policy as we understood it better as time went on ( and the long term ramifications) .. but a first and a woman who could make things happen... a woman that a totally male dominated arena listened to. She commanded attention. Ive not seen another woman come along who is quite like her. For that alone I admire her... but certainly hold no ill will toward those with such valid complaints and true instances of her policies effecting them badly.

This thread will be allowed to survive because it's pro thatcher.

Don't say anything negative about her or even have a different opinion because apparently...it's not acceptable. Even in the rant forum.

We can rant on Obama, Harper, Kim, Cameron etc...just not Maggie.

hmmmm?

Peace

Just awoke with a massive hanfover due to City doing Utd and I thought "ooo lets have a look at the Thatcher thread " and I was surprised it was closed really.
Like I said in the other thread, she destroyed many of my families lives but I do respect her just not for how she knackered the country up.