Over the last two days, since
Margaret Thatcher's death, a feeling has been rekindled inside me that I had
forgotten about and has been sorely missed.
Over recent years, I've become
complacent and apathetic towards politics, and it took the death of
this remarkable, divisive, woman to get me thinking again.
The person who I am now is because of
her. She is the reason that I became interested in politics and
chose to study politics at university. But growing up, she was the
antithesis of everything that seemed just and right.
Don't get me wrong here. I was brought
up in a middle class household, my father worked his ass of his
entire life to reach the pinnacle of his profession and provide a more than
comfortable upbringing for my brother and I. My parents benefited
hugely from many of the policies that Thatcher implemented. But
those same policies destroyed so many people, they decimated
communities, brought discord to the streets of Britain and Ireland
and divided a nation.
From my early teens I felt something
was wrong. What I saw going on around me just didn't seem right. My
parents never expressed their political views to me, they didn't tell
me how to think. I was left to make my own mind up. However, like me,
my father had chosen to study politics at university and our loft was
filled with an Alla-din's cave of political and philosophical
literature: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Locke, Rousseau, Plato et al. I
devoured every one of them. I took on board what they said about the
human condition and society. Then, I looked out of my window and was
dismayed by what I saw.
As I progressed through my teenage
years, my political convictions grew stronger. Most of my peers and
many of their parents seemed to be of the same mind as me. Now, I
look back and wonder if these people were just being righteous
and sanctimonious. My friend's parents were not working class, but
successful, affluent, middle class professionals. What right did they
have to declare affinity for the miners and the teachers and the
Irish and every other group and community that Thatcher sought to
quash? Did it really effect their own lives?
No. Is the correct answer. But, can a
decent human being stand around and ignore what is happening around
them? Again. No. Is the correct answer. Did my wearing of the
'Support the Miner's' badge during my secondary school years help
those miners in any way? Probably not. But did my refusal to pay my
poll tax, take part in demonstrations and risk the threat of fine and
imprisonment have any impact on the Conservative government's
abandonment of that policy. Well...for that one I would like to say
yes. Because it wasn't just me, a student. It was the working class,
it was the middle class (those that had benefited most from
Thatcher's policies). It was pretty much everyone who saw an ill
thought out and unfair policy and did the correct thing. They
protested until the government, that they, the majority had elected,
conceded that they were wrong. It was a great moment for democracy at
it’s finest.
So, now I sit here watching yet another
‘expert’ reflect on her legacy. Did she make Britain into the
country it is today? I have to concede. Yes, she did. But, at what
cost? The gap between rich and poor is at it’s greatest since the
post war years. The amount of people claiming welfare is higher than
it ever was before she took the reigns of power. Our economy tilts on
the edge of either great economic gains or abject depression
depending on which kid decides to ‘have a gamble’ today.
If she had never existed where would
our country be today? Probably similar to a Spain, or a Portugal or a
Greece. Then again, why are those countries in such dire straits?
Because of the federalism and mis-thought out policies of the European Union....
The irony makes me laugh!
