Margaret Thatcher RIP

Talk about anything in here from the price of tea to the state of the economy!
User avatar
Keith Jordan
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 17151
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 6:54 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Cheshire, England

Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by Keith Jordan »

Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died at 87 following a stroke, her spokesman has said.

Lord Bell said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."

Baroness Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

She was the first woman to hold the post. Her family is expected to make a further statement later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155



I imagine this will delight some people and really bring out the bad in them.
User avatar
azza200
Judge!
Judge!
Posts: 2384
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 2:18 pm

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by azza200 »

What's the difference between Margaret Thatcher and my car?

My car takes 2 stroke
User avatar
rememberaday
Judge!
Judge!
Posts: 1571
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:45 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Gravity Eyelids

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by rememberaday »

Expect a masterful rant from Alan. :D

I don't know too much about her, can't really make a statement on her.

RIP anyways.

POST EDITED. Disgusting stuff I wrote.
User avatar
drafsack
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4370
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2002 7:53 am
Location: Krud City

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by drafsack »

azza200 wrote:What's the difference between Margaret Thatcher and my car?

My car takes 2 stroke
So what car is it as there aren't many two stroke cars on the road - in fact I would hazard a guess there hasn't been a new one on the road for 30 years - its the emissions you know.
User avatar
oldhippy
Judge!
Judge!
Posts: 1943
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:54 pm
Location: In my own little world

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by oldhippy »

Best news of the day. Fucking bitch.

isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk :lol:

I’m hoping for a double. The X terrorist Mandela is going to snuff it next.
User avatar
azza200
Judge!
Judge!
Posts: 2384
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 2:18 pm

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by azza200 »

drafsack wrote:
azza200 wrote:What's the difference between Margaret Thatcher and my car?

My car takes 2 stroke
So what car is it as there aren't many two stroke cars on the road - in fact I would hazard a guess there hasn't been a new one on the road for 30 years - its the emissions you know.
just a joke i saw
User avatar
Keith Jordan
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 17151
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 6:54 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by Keith Jordan »

What is it people hate about Thatcher? That she realised Britain was not going to be competitive at manufacturing so moved the nation over to service sector based economy by dismantling unprofitably industry? Should unprofitably industry be allowed to continue indefinitely?
User avatar
moom
Supreme Lord!
Supreme Lord!
Posts: 15156
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2004 2:41 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Dylan Moran as Bernie, in whom Ray Davies meets Pete Doherty. Otherwise, Tallinn, Estonia.

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by moom »

I'm not going to join the rants about her and certainly don't want to show disrespect if that's what she does not deserve (you Britons certainly know more than I do),

but

Morrissey finally got his wish. So did Roger Waters, I guess (what he obviously hated about her is Falklands' war).
Keith Jordan wrote:


I imagine this will delight some people and really bring out the bad in them.
Again, read above, but if I really hate someone I'm not going to love them after their death. That is normal, don't you think? Their death does not bring forgiveness.

Though it is surprising to hear that a once-leading industrial country has proved to be uncompetitive a few decades back.
User avatar
danielcaux
Supreme Judge!
Supreme Judge!
Posts: 2546
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:25 am
Location: Abya Yala

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by danielcaux »

moom wrote: So did Roger Waters, I guess (what he obviously hated about her is Falklands' war)
Not just the Falklands's war, I think a bigger reason for them really hating old Maggie was how she dealt with the miners communities back then in 1984:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... rs-society

For those miners and their families to be referred to as the "enemy within" by Thatcher was something they would never forgive and, if there is rejoicing at her death in those communities she set out to destroy, it can only be understood against this background.

Miners had always known that eventually any of the colleries would close and were always prepared to accept that as a fact of life and find employment somewhere else within the industry, but Thatcher's attack was wholesale. It was seen for what it was, nothing to do with economics, but purely an attempt to destroy the National Union of Mineworkers by wiping out the entire industry.

Thatcher exposed the sharp edges of class division in Britain and the strike of 1984/5 was as much a clash of values as it was about pit closures. Arthur Scargill and the miners represented the only opposition to the prime minister and her destructive and divisive values and, after the strike, the way was open for the most aggressive neoliberal policies. Thatcher and Reagan went on to facilitate a colossal transfer of wealth from poor to rich, leading to the world economic crash we now witness.

Thatcher was a divisive woman who created discord, not harmony.


On a little sidenote, the miners strike subplot (Benny losing his job and being sent to jail mostly as a consequence of Maggie closing down the mines) was the most interesting thing for me in the otherwise cheesy concept of Waters' Radio KAOS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6bxytxdKX0
User avatar
thefinalcut
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 836
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:57 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Argentina

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by thefinalcut »

Keith Jordan wrote:What is it people hate about Thatcher? That she realised Britain was not going to be competitive at manufacturing so moved the nation over to service sector based economy by dismantling unprofitably industry? Should unprofitably industry be allowed to continue indefinitely?
Are you serious?

She had dismantled the british working class at the time, that´s the main reason why people hate her, I think.

Let´s not forget she´s a criminal war as well, by ordering to sink the Belgrano because it was "a danger" to her ships. Nasty.

I don´t hate her, in fact I admire the love and passion she felt about her country and how she stood for her thoughts.

The 'Queen' is dead boys... :D :-;
User avatar
thefinalcut
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 836
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:57 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Argentina

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by thefinalcut »

oldhippy wrote:Best news of the day. Fucking bitch.

isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk :lol:

I’m hoping for a double. The X terrorist Mandela is going to snuff it next.

And the bloody US media treating her like a noble and humanitarian lady...

Fuck imperialism, fuck the USA and the ones that support them.
User avatar
The Gunner's Dream
Lord!!
Lord!!
Posts: 3906
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:58 am
Gender: Male

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by The Gunner's Dream »

thefinalcut wrote:fuck the USA and the ones that support them.
That is a bit extreme. It is also quite ignorant of the fact that most Americans are at odds with the way the country is being run, myself included.
User avatar
nosaj
Supreme Lord!
Supreme Lord!
Posts: 8263
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Vortex spiral...its cool!

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by nosaj »

Keith Jordan wrote:1. What is it people hate about Thatcher?
2. That she realised Britain was not going to be competitive at manufacturing so moved the nation over to service sector based economy by dismantling unprofitably industry?
3. Should unprofitably industry be allowed to continue indefinitely?

1. Her politics

2. Well, it is interesting that Germany has made manufacturing (esp. cars) work, where as most Western countries have had a harder time. There may have been another option. As an outsider it looks like her decision is 50/50 for ex-paitriot Brits I know.

3. Why does it have to be profitable? Can't we change the world toward a sustainable model, rather than mere profit with limited resources and a growing population.

Anyway, just sayin'. I really have no idea.
User avatar
rememberaday
Judge!
Judge!
Posts: 1571
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:45 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Gravity Eyelids

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by rememberaday »

The Gunner's Dream wrote:
thefinalcut wrote:fuck the USA and the ones that support them.
That is a bit extreme. It is also quite ignorant of the fact that most Americans are at odds with the way the country is being run, myself included.
What I hate is ignorant people who think that America is "the greatest country in the world" and that without it, humanity would be over (trust me, I've actually met such people!). I don't hate Americans, they are just normal people(the normal ones at least) like other citizens of different countries. I just find the USA and it's policies a tad hypocritical and self-oriented to really believe what it does is in the interests of the "greater good of the world".

BTW, I've researched a bit more on Thatcher, and I think she's a bitch. Not as much of a bitch as Ayn Rand though.
User avatar
Keith Jordan
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 17151
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2002 6:54 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: Margaret Thatcher RIP

Post by Keith Jordan »

nosaj wrote:1. Her politics

2. Well, it is interesting that Germany has made manufacturing (esp. cars) work, where as most Western countries have had a harder time. There may have been another option. As an outsider it looks like her decision is 50/50 for ex-paitriot Brits I know.

3. Why does it have to be profitable? Can't we change the world toward a sustainable model, rather than mere profit with limited resources and a growing population.

Anyway, just sayin'. I really have no idea.
1 - That would seem to make sense!

2 - Germany specialise in high value adding manufacturing and Britain does too but to a lesser extent with our aeronautics and what like. We also specialise in high end pharmaceuticals which is a bit different to digging coal out of the ground like in the good old days. As other countries have industrialised, like China, the old fashioned working class jobs have moved abroad where they are paid a lot less to do the same work and so the abuse starts all over again like Britain had in the industrial revolution I guess. So we can now specialise in more "value adding" things to drive forward medicine and technology that increases lifespan and quality of life... arguably....

3 - If a business cannot sell what it is doing to cover the costs of doing that activity, then they will run out of cash very quickly. Profit is the excess of revenue less costs and is used to grow a business by acquiring new customers, investing in new technology and the like. Its also used to make some money for the business owners which is celebrated a success in America and look at with contempt with what seems like the vast majority of people in UK and perhaps Europe (especially France).

The pursuit of profit causes many good things to happen - life expectancy increased for example - but also at a cost of perhaps spending less time with family. I guess if people take responsibility for their own lives and decide how much work how much leisure, then that is not so bad. I guess that is what Thatcher was driving at with her policies, out with the old unprofitable industry and in with the new high value adding. Making people take personal responsibility for their lives instead of relying on "the state" whatever that is. An excuse perhaps.