Very sad day with the passing of Margaret Thatcher, a dynamic, intellectually gifted, foresightful leader who brought her nation out of economic and cultural despair. Additionally, with her close friend and ally, Ronald Reagan, they broke the back of the belligerent, war-mongering Soviet Union.
However, despite my admiration for her and great interest in all she accomplished for Britain and the free world, I must admit that she didn’t regularly come to mind. Therefore, it wasn’t till today, while reading the comments on her passing, that I realized that when she was elected her nation mirrored much of the state our country’s in today, and for almost precisely the same reasons.
For example, at the outset of her eleven years in office, “infuriated by Britain’s image as the “sick old man of Europe,” she set out to dismantle Britain’s cradle-to-grave welfare state, selling off scores of massive state-owned industries, crushing the power of organized labor and cutting government spending with the purpose of liberating the nation from what she called a “culture of dependency.”
In an obituary today, in the liberal bastion’s flagship outlet The New York Times no less, Joseph R. Gregory writes that “Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” of British politics who pulled her country back from 35 years of socialism, led it to victory in the Falklands war and helped guide the United States and the Soviet Union through the cold war’s difficult last years, died Monday. She was 87”
Her principles known as Thatcherism were founded in the belief that economic freedom and individual liberty are interdependent. That personal responsibility and hard work are the only ways to national prosperity. And that the free-market democracies must stand firm against aggression.
As for similarities to where the U.S. is right now: 17 months into her first term, in October 1980, “Prime Minister Thatcher faced disaster. More businesses were failing and more people were out of work than at any time since the Great Depression. Racial and class tensions smoldered so ominously that even close advisers worried that her push to stanch inflation, sell off nationalized industry and deregulate the economy was devastating the poor, undermining the middle class and courting chaos.”
Her response was, “My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.”
She also believed that “Pennies don’t fall from heaven – they have to be earned here on earth."
And here’s a quote that to me is simply perfect. “I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.' They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It's our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.”
Along the same lines -and remembering that her close association with the U.S. developed when Reagan was president- she opined in her book The Path To Power (1988) that “There are significant differences between the American and European version of capitalism. The American traditionally emphasizes the need for limited government, light regulations, low taxes and maximum labour-market flexibility. Its success has been shown above all in the ability to create new jobs, in which it is consistently more successful than Europe.”
And now, two of her best, both of which are absolutely still perfect today: The first, “Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy,” can be seen as we watch the EU crumble, proving their governance practices are ancient, dysfunctional and backward.
And the last, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money,” is going on right now as we sit here under almost $17 trillion in debt while the incumbent’s yelling and screaming for additional taxes on the “rich.”
So, as I said at the start, it’s amazing that this brilliant human being was so insightful and unequivocally correct about not only political philosophy, but also regarding how the world really works.
That’s it for today folks.
Adios
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