So, Margaret Thatcher is dead.
Whoever runs it, the capitalist system must exploit and oppress the working class; that is its inherent nature. And to do the job as ruthlessly and callously as the system demands has come to be called Thatcherism. Based on the hard evidence of history, Thatcher had not been governing capitalism, but it had governed her. Just as it governed the Labour government before she came to power and New Labour which followed. When Thatcher was Prime Minister she endlessly repeated the slogan “There is no alternative” (shortened as TINA). In economics, politics and political economy, it came to mean that there was no alternative to the status quo of their economic system and economic liberalism. She may have been just doing what capitalist conditions at the time demanded, but she did so with gusto, enjoy doing it, and that it is not a necessary requirement in a capitalist politician. That's what makes her such a hateful figure and no doubt why millions up and down the country will be rejoicing at her demise, particularly the miners who she set the full coercive power of the state upon and who were baton-charged into submission.
The Iron Lady, the Hollywood depiction of her life, endeavours to portray Margaret Thatcher as compassionate and principled rather than than the arrogant and dogmatic class warrior for the wealthy, who not only scoffed at ideas of social conscience or solidarity but even denied the existence of "society" itself. Thatcher’s speech in 1988 to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland reveals her callousness when she proffered a biblical validation for her view on how capitalism should work. Quoting St Paul she said, "If a man will not work he shall not eat". This has now been part and parcel of the ruling class ideology which has driven state policy down to Cameron who still peddles it to workers as part of his divide-and-rule strategy. However, today, far from Thatcher’s brazen, heartless “There is No Alternative”, we now get Cameron’s deceitful rhetoric of “We’re All in this Together” .
Whoever runs it, the capitalist system must exploit and oppress the working class; that is its inherent nature. And to do the job as ruthlessly and callously as the system demands has come to be called Thatcherism. Based on the hard evidence of history, Thatcher had not been governing capitalism, but it had governed her. Just as it governed the Labour government before she came to power and New Labour which followed. When Thatcher was Prime Minister she endlessly repeated the slogan “There is no alternative” (shortened as TINA). In economics, politics and political economy, it came to mean that there was no alternative to the status quo of their economic system and economic liberalism. She may have been just doing what capitalist conditions at the time demanded, but she did so with gusto, enjoy doing it, and that it is not a necessary requirement in a capitalist politician. That's what makes her such a hateful figure and no doubt why millions up and down the country will be rejoicing at her demise, particularly the miners who she set the full coercive power of the state upon and who were baton-charged into submission.
The Iron Lady, the Hollywood depiction of her life, endeavours to portray Margaret Thatcher as compassionate and principled rather than than the arrogant and dogmatic class warrior for the wealthy, who not only scoffed at ideas of social conscience or solidarity but even denied the existence of "society" itself. Thatcher’s speech in 1988 to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland reveals her callousness when she proffered a biblical validation for her view on how capitalism should work. Quoting St Paul she said, "If a man will not work he shall not eat". This has now been part and parcel of the ruling class ideology which has driven state policy down to Cameron who still peddles it to workers as part of his divide-and-rule strategy. However, today, far from Thatcher’s brazen, heartless “There is No Alternative”, we now get Cameron’s deceitful rhetoric of “We’re All in this Together” .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXi-VYy_Yw
ReplyDeleteMind you, after the champagne has been sunk, reminding people of the "Socialist Standard" article "Why the Left Needs Thatcher", printed many years ago, is a sobering. :)
"Thatcherism" is merely the name for a certain period in the capitalist system.
Agreed. Lots of countries had their Thatchers, from Pinochet to Reagan to arguably Turgut Ozal. The second Cold War was fought more against their"own" people than against the Soviets - much as all wars are. But it is good to cheer the death of one's enemies - even when they are legion.
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ReplyDeleteYou are lucky to be able to say that! I know of at least three forum member that have been suspended and had their posts removed for simply complaining about how nasty some of its members are!
ReplyDeleteWe just disappeared as did our posts! No explanation! Very ominous?
Nothing like an ex-member scorned for siding with an obvious anti-socialist who hasn't realised that Russia is now capitalist.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this blog is not the appropriate place for you to continue your vendetta against the party you once were a member of. You still have its discussion list forums to air your grievances. You were not banned from them, simply suspended, as you yourself point out.