Thatcher

[xane]

In light of the BBC's sycophantic look at Margaret Thatcher's "25 Years", I was wondering if any older forum members care to share their memories of her time in office.

Although I have to admit I did vote for her once, my only excuse being the dire state of the opposition at the time. There is no doubt that her policies changed many aspects of British life, both politically, economically and socially, for better and for worse.

The heady days of the 1980's; high unemployment, high inflation, high interest rates, massive house price increases (and decreases), the good old boom and bust cycles, will we ever see their like again ?

And for those of you born too late to experience the joys of Thatcherism, what comment can you make about what you've heard abouth those days ?

"There were 150 of us living in shoebox in middle t' road" and all that ...

 

[granny]

Evil, hateful woman. Her fierce monetarist policies and the careful, deliberate and planned smashing of trade union organisation by her (and Keith Joseph - arguably he was the brains behind it) are what have left us with the crap employment practice of the UK today.

The UK works some of the longest hours in Europe, has some of the worst examples of workers rights and remuneration and increasingly we have a massively underpaid workforce with little to look forward to after doing your 50 years - all thanks to Thatcher really.

Yeah, I hate her.

 

[old.Tohtori]

She was funny in nuclear war on amiga 500

 

[Scouse]

The UK works some of the longest hours in Europe, has some of the worst examples of workers rights and remuneration and increasingly we have a massively underpaid workforce with little to look forward to after doing your 50 years - all thanks to Thatcher really.

Yeah. But we have loads of inward investment, relatively low unemployment and one of the worlds strongest economies for it all tho..........

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I remember growing up scared of her.

 

[~Yuckfou~]

She crippled the Unions, for that I love her.

 

[Wij]

She was an abrasive old bag but I can't help thinking back to the reasons my Dad told me he voted for her despite being a life-long Labour supporter. Basically, he wanted to be allowed to do a day's work once in a while. It's all very well having a job but it doesn't pay for anything when you're permanently on strike.

 

[Tom]

I remember life under Labour in the 70's. I remember my dad struggling to afford fuel for his van. I also remember the frequent power cuts.

Say what you like about Thatcher, the facts speak for themselves. Before she came to power, the trade unions pretty much ran the country. They crippled governments who dared not to do as they demanded. We had people doing jobs that weren't needed, or could be done by one person (the main reason for the high unemployment of the early 80's). We were antiquated, and the 'basket case' of Europe.

Every time you look down the road, just see how many English cars you can find. That alone represents everything that Thatcher steered us away from.

Now I don't forget things like the Poll Tax, or her overbearing style of leadership (the reason for her demise), but I think more credit should be given to the things she did right, rather than listening to the bleatings of leftwing politicians who now rest on their laurels to enjoy the benefits given to them by a leader who wasn't afraid of anyone, and had singular determination to do what she believed to be right.

 

[TriGGer]

I remember life under Labour in the 70's. I remember my dad struggling to afford fuel for his van. I also remember the frequent power cuts.

Say what you like about Thatcher, the facts speak for themselves. Before she came to power, the trade unions pretty much ran the country. They crippled governments who dared not to do as they demanded. We had people doing jobs that weren't needed, or could be done by one person (the main reason for the high unemployment of the early 80's). We were antiquated, and the 'basket case' of Europe.

Every time you look down the road, just see how many English cars you can find. That alone represents everything that Thatcher steered us away from.

Now I don't forget things like the Poll Tax, or her overbearing style of leadership (the reason for her demise), but I think more credit should be given to the things she did right, rather than listening to the bleatings of leftwing politicians who now rest on their laurels to enjoy the benefits given to them by a leader who wasn't afraid of anyone, and had singular determination to do what she believed to be right.

Just about says it all really

 

[Dr_Weasel]

Gawd Bless Her.

If she were about today, Id vote for her. But theres not a cat in hells chance I want the current Tories in power. Labour as nearly as bad as the torries were at the end of their reign. As to the Lib Dems, forget it, Im not paying 50% tax.

 

[granny]

I don't know why I come near these threads on this board, every time I do it just reminds me what a right-wing, reactionary bunch the vocal majority here are. It depresses me to be honest, the views a lot of people express here are child-like, ill-thought out and tabloidesque in the extreme.

And no, I'm not going to get dragged into an argument about it - I disagree with the majority of views expressed on the "political" threads here and I suppose that's a reflection of holding views that stand outside the borders of the general population's views. You can argue about it as much as you like, I'm not interested any longer.

So, I'm bidding these threads farewell. I know I've done this before but since the move to FH in the wake of the demise of BW these boards have gone downhill sharply and I really don't see any reason to carry on reading or contributing. The only game-specific areas that are any use are the DaoC ones and I don't play that any more.

So er... cya's.

 

[dysfunction]

So in short you are not going to express your views because they are not the same as everyone elses on here...

hmmmm

 

[~Yuckfou~]

stuff

It's called democracy. Basic politics, for one so educated in such matters I'm surprised you don't understand that.

 

[Jupitus]

I don't know why I come near these threads on this board, every time I do it just reminds me what a right-wing, reactionary bunch the vocal majority here are.

You really think that with 6 replies you have enough to form a statistically representative sample on which to base a statement like that? Have a beer, Granny, relax and dig out those [over-reaction] tags

 

[Trem]

I like Granny, but that reaction is a typically lefty reaction, either we have to like it your way or you throw a strop.

I aren't biased either way when it comes to politics, they are all liars.

 

[Stimpy]

Only thing I remember is the day she resigned from office, I was in school and our teacher came in and told us, for some reason it seemed like a really exciting thing but I have no idea why I was happy about it because I was only about 10 at the time.

 

[maxi]

You really think that with 6 replies you have enough to form a statistically representative sample on which to base a statement like that? Have a beer, Granny, relax and dig out those [over-reaction] tags

I completely agree with granny though, you only have to have read the old Iraq War debate thread to see it. 50 odd pages of 'we should go to war just to piss off those lefty twats' type of statements.

Reactionary is the perfect description for a lot of peoples posts on here. It's what comes from totally half-assed, semi thought through 'ideas'. But thats a lot of peoples idea of humour around freddyshouse, flippant and casual racism/sexism/homophobia etc always brushed off with 'take it easy' or 'its only a gag'. Very few people seem to follow a train of thought right through to the end, they stop as soon as the most obvious and easy answer makes itself clear.

The worst thing is, the people who do this...they think theyr'e the smartest motherfuckers on earth. Meatheads.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

*snip*

I love S Club 7s music. Really superbly done. <insert bullshit here>

 

[Trem]

The thing is though Maxi(and I like you as well), did anyone actually say anything that wasn't true about Thatcher? Or did they just state what she did and our thoughts on it?

 

[maxi]

deadmanwalking:
I think i could post about 20 or 30 instances where someone has said exactly what you have, your'e refusing to listen, you've taken offence(where they may have been none to take) and you've replied with some incredibly predictable reply.

I'm pretty sure you didn't spend long thinking about my post and you said the first thing that came into your head, you've just proved my point.

 

[maxi]

The thing is though Maxi(and I like you as well), did anyone actually say anything that wasn't true about Thatcher? Or did they just state what she did and our thoughts on it?

I'm not contesting that(I know the country was in a bad state before thatcher, but I don't think she did us many favours either), I'm just agreeing with granny on the point of blatant right-wing reactionary behaviour on the forum. Disguised as wit.

 

[leggy]

There was actually no point to your post maxi. There was also no need for DMW's either.

How about you stop starting arguments, the pair of you, and continue with the rivetting discussion about an old lady.

 

[Wij]

The thing is though Maxi(and I like you as well), did anyone actually say anything that wasn't true about Thatcher? Or did they just state what she did and our thoughts on it?

You're supposed to only point out the bad things that Mrs Thatch (oo - Ben Elton) did. To point out any of the good things would be the same as agreeing with everything she did and therefore the same as eating babies. People can't seem to cope with having multiple viewpoints on differing aspects of an issue. I've never voted Tory in my life but having stated that union power in the 70s needed to be curbed for the sake of the country it seems obvious to me now that I'm a Nazi. Heck, I probably voted BNP instead. Brand me a racist aristocrat slave-trading war-monger please. I derserve it. Pass me a baby, I'm peckish.

 

[maxi]

Ben Elton.

No there's a Hippopotamus if ever there was one.

 

[Trem]

Thank god Wij can make the point I tried to make in an intelligent way. Im stoopido

 

[FuzzyLogic]

[Austin tries to resist to Fembots]
Austin Powers: [muttering] Baseball, cold showers, baseball, cold showers.
[One of the fembots stands over him and opens her legs]
Austin Powers: Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day! Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day!

Sums up my attitude really

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yes, there is a distinct anti 'lefty' presence on the boards.

Deal with it.

DAoCers put up with their own digs and insults, us lefties should be able to too.

Everyone has to put up with stuff like that, particularly in politics. It's a very delicate matter after all that means a lot to people. If some of the right wingers in here can't see past their own faces and even listen to an outside opinion, that's their fault and they'll be the ones kicking their stupidity in hindsight.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

deadmanwalking:
I think i could post about 20 or 30 instances where someone has said exactly what you have, your'e refusing to listen, you've taken offence(where they may have been none to take) and you've replied with some incredibly predictable reply.

Oh right so that was what it was. Thanks for telling me what i was thinking!!

Was having some problems then.

 

[Trem]

If some of the right wingers in here can't see past their own faces and even listen to an outside opinion, that's their fault and they'll be the ones kicking their stupidity in hindsight.

But it was Granny who didn't like the opinions and hes even left so he doesn't have to read about other peoples opinions anymore.

I'm sorry I don't type what I think very well anymore.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

He's left so I can't agree with him?