Margaret Thatcher

[Christmas Tree 4920]

 

If you left school in 81 in ST and thought it was a land of opportunity then you are even more of a head in the clouds, blind, selfish cunt than I thought - which is some achievement.

 

"land of opportunity" is not what I said.

 

I said me and my mates all got jobs straight away. Sorry if that doesn't fit in with your bleak memories.

[NJS 4446]

"land of opportunity" is not what I said.

 

I said me and my mates all got jobs straight away. Sorry if that doesn't fit in with your bleak memories.

 

I find the idea of it being "easy" and all of a group finding work to be a bit implausible - most of my mates did get jobs (though not easily) and one or two did not for a long period. You may have been lucky enough on a small peer group level but not noticing how it was in general suggests more of a dreamy nostalgia on your part than overly bleak on mine.

 

(BTW I still think you're okay in general - its just when it comes to politics that you're an arse )

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

NJS was writhing around on his littered bedroom floor listening to the Smiths on some massive headphones and prodding a fork into his wrist.

 

CT meanwhile bought a rickshaw and started business immediately. He was a damn sight thinner in those days.

[Dr Gloom 22509]

'There's no such thing as society'

 

A famous quote that sums up the old witch well. It's the Tory mindset. Look after number one and fuck the have nots.

[Monkeys Fist 43582]

She not dead yet then?

Booo!

[Monkeys Fist 43582]

I'm curious CT, have always been a class Quisling, or is it just a recent thing?

[Christmas Tree 4920]

I find the idea of it being "easy" and all of a group finding work to be a bit implausible - most of my mates did get jobs (though not easily) and one or two did not for a long period. You may have been lucky enough on a small peer group level but not noticing how it was in general suggests more of a dreamy nostalgia on your part than overly bleak on mine.

 

(BTW I still think you're okay in general - its just when it comes to politics that you're an arse )

 

Im sure you think most people who could support a tory government an arse so no real offence take.

 

As for my gang of four, I got a job in the butchers, one at the local garage as a trainee mechanic, one in Binns, shields selling tellys and one for the council as a joiner. All I have is very happy memories of those late teen years however its fair to say politics was the last thing on my mind.

[Christmas Tree 4920]

NJS was writhing around on his littered bedroom floor listening to the Smiths on some massive headphones and prodding a fork into his wrist.

 

CT meanwhile bought a rickshaw and started business immediately. He was a damn sight thinner in those days.

 

[Christmas Tree 4920]

'There's no such thing as society'

 

A famous quote that sums up the old witch well. It's the Tory mindset. Look after number one and fuck the have nots.

 

What were you saying in the BUPA thread?

[Christmas Tree 4920]

The true measure of how Thatcher changed Britain (and lets face it she won three elections) is that the only way Labour could get back into power was to pinch the Tories clothes and become another tory party.

 

Thats what Blair did and most of the hardest grass root Labour supporters sat on their hands and did nowt because they were that desperate for power. Power over principles.

 

Sure she was single minded and ruthless in what she did and sure she got things wrong but she was about what was needed for the mess Labour had left us in.

 

Why anyone with any sense thinks a small sickly country with our economy could have continued to subsidise the coal industry, ship building and steel works against chinese peasants who would basically do the same job for 95% less wages amazes me.

 

My last word on this because its all been done before and quickly becomes very old board new board

[PaddockLad 17939]

The true measure of how Thatcher changed Britain (and lets face it she won three elections) is that the only way Labour could get back into power was to pinch the Tories clothes and become another tory party.

 

Thats what Blair did and most of the hardest grass root Labour supporters sat on their hands and did nowt because they were that desperate for power. Power over principles.

 

Sure she was single minded and ruthless in what she did and sure she got things wrong but she was about what was needed for the mess Labour had left us in.

 

Why anyone with any sense thinks a small sickly country with our economy could have continued to subsidise the coal industry, ship building and steel works against chinese peasants who would basically do the same job for 95% less wages amazes me.

 

My last word on this because its all been done before and quickly becomes very old board new board

 

The French and Germans continued to do it....but they may actually have given a fuck about folk who get their hands dirty for a living and not looked down their noses at them. Not to mention the social issues that that policy created in this country which now cost the country billions a year in benenfits and the culture it created.All this is widely derided by gobshites and loudmouths in the media and saloon bars who, like you, think she was mint when actually Thatcher laid the foundations for the fuckin mess we're in.

Edited May 11, 2012 by PaddockLad

[Monkeys Fist 43582]

Precisely.

The same Tory tits who bemoan the "benefits culture" conveniently forget that it was their Great Leader who created it in the first place!

Stagnation/selling of council housing stock, mass unemployment and destruction of manufacturing industries, wholesale destruction and demoralisation of entire communities all lead to it.

The housing issue , in my view, was a huge factor in creating the "underclass" we have today , who will live out their entire lives on state benefits.

 

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 4067]

Thatcher believed in monetarism which directly caused the 2008 crash.

Sale of Council houses lead directly to the roller coaster boom bust housing market cycle.

Mass ownership of shares. Now the poeple who own companies have no power over the self appointing boards who run them.

Destruction of manufacturing because that was where the unions were. Mass unemployment.

The 80's teachers strikes huge swathes of young people under educated.

 

CT so it's not just Jonas you talk bollocks about.

 

I left school in 1985 and had to join the army to have any hope of a job.

[Dr Gloom 22509]

 

 

What were you saying in the BUPA thread?

 

That I'd much rather pay higher taxes and have a better health service for all than pay for private care. But im fucked if I'm going to put up with a shit service when our taxes aren't providing what we need.

[The Fish 11068]

The true measure of how Thatcher changed Britain (and lets face it she won three elections) is that the only way Labour could get back into power was to pinch the Tories clothes and become another tory party.

 

Thats what Blair did and most of the hardest grass root Labour supporters sat on their hands and did nowt because they were that desperate for power. Power over principles.

 

Sure she was single minded and ruthless in what she did and sure she got things wrong but she was about what was needed for the mess Labour had left us in.

 

Why anyone with any sense thinks a small sickly country with our economy could have continued to subsidise the coal industry, ship building and steel works against chinese peasants who would basically do the same job for 95% less wages amazes me.

 

My last word on this because its all been done before and quickly becomes very old board new board

What a laughably simplistic way of looking at things.

 

Thatcher was instrumental in the decline of Britain as a society for me. She was really the 1st to really get the "I'm all right Jack" ideal ingrained into idiots up and down the country. Rather than finding (or heaven forbid, creating) new work for the coal miners, ship builders, etc. she just fucked them over and left them to live in poverty. She instilled the "What are MY rights, what do I get?" mindset, which, when followed by Labour's benefit based society has fucked up this country.

[Christmas Tree 4920]

If people take their red or blue blinkers off and leave the politics to one side, its pretty straight forward to see this and most other western countries problems.

 

Cost of Labour.

 

Dress it up and argue it six ways to sunset but as long as there is someone willing to make the same or better products for peanuts we are royally fucked.

 

To be fair this has been a growing trend post 2nd world war. Some governments have chucked money we dont have at it, others have created boom and bust scenarios.

 

Even the recent boom years inherited by Labour in 97 only further papered over the elephant in the room. Labour costs.

 

I dont think anyone really has a clue how or if the problem can be sorted. China will be the Super Power and eventually when they get fat and bloated like us, the band wagon will roll up in the next zone willing to work for peanuts.

 

We're fucked basically.

[RobH 0]

If people take their red or blue blinkers off and leave the politics to one side, its pretty straight forward to see this and most other western countries problems.

 

Cost of Labour.

 

Dress it up and argue it six ways to sunset but as long as there is someone willing to make the same or better products for peanuts we are royally fucked.

 

You don't compete on price alone. There are other ways to encourage people to invest in your country than the cost of labour, especially when there is the infrastructure and skill level already there.

[Park Life 71]

Labour was shifted abroad in the 80's when multinationals were making huge profits. THAT is when labour costs became AN ISSUE. Companies like APPLE that make huge profits AND use cheap labour abroad should be nuked.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Park Life

[Park Life 71]

The French and Germans continued to do it....but they may actually have given a fuck about folk who get their hands dirty for a living and not looked down their noses at them. Not to mention the social issues that that policy created in this country which now cost the country billions a year in benenfits and the culture it created.All this is widely derided by gobshites and loudmouths in the media and saloon bars who, like you, think she was mint when actually Thatcher laid the foundations for the fuckin mess we're in.

 

Germany is a classic example where a lot of quality and pricey products are made at home and companies continue to pay fair wages AND MAKE A PROFIT.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Park Life

[Dr Gloom 22509]

Germany is a classic example where a lot of quality and pricey products are made at home and companies continue to pay fair wages AND MAKE A PROFIT.

 

exactly. germany is a great example of the kind of economy we could have been.

[Park Life 71]

I'm all for import taxing anything made outside the EU. And there was a period when this was being considered, TILL THEY FOUND OUT THE LEVEL OF INVESTMENT OF OUR OWN COMPANIES ABROAD.

 

The best we can hope for now is Armageddon.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Park Life

[Monkeys Fist 43582]

 

 

The best we can hope for now is Armageddon.

With missiles made in China.

[Park Life 71]

exactly. germany is a great example of the kind of economy we could have been.

 

We probably haven't got the attention to detail tbf.

[Park Life 71]

At the end of the day THATCHER was just a spokesperson and a puppet for her right wing capitalist backers. She wasn't a visionary, very few are. Visionaries are killed at birth these days.

[Brock Manson 0]

With british missiles made in China.

 

FYP.