Margaret Thatcher is dead

[Mysturji]

In other news, Thatcher has only been in Hell for one week, and in that time she has already managed to close down 10 furnaces.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

"Ding dong the Witch is Dead reached number 2!

Same as The Pistols' God Save The Queen managed - funny that...

Let the conspiricising begin!

[Clinton Huxley]

"Ding dong the Witch is Dead reached number 2!

Same as The Pistols' God Save The Queen managed - funny that...

Let the conspiricising begin!

It's something to do with the Illuminati, Danish bacon processors and Mr Jeremy Giddens.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

[klr]

[Svartalf]

Lacks singing (or gagged) munchkins

[DaveDodo007]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... 68785.html

...The disrespect was inevitable, as millions were opposed to her not because they disagreed with her, but because she’d helped to ruin their lives. If someone robs your house, you don’t say: “I disagreed with the burglar’s policy, of tying me to a chair with gaffer tape and stripping the place bare, even taking the pickled onions, which I consider to be divisive. But I did admire his convictions.”...

...She didn’t just create unemployment, she gloried in it. Her supporters in the City revelled in their unearned wealth all the more because they could jeer at those with nothing.

But this week Thatcher fans have been unrestrained in their abuse for anyone not displaying “compassion”. Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt and accept they’ve just discovered it. They’re all going to the doctors saying: “I’ve been getting this strange sort of caring feeling towards someone who isn’t me. Do I need antibiotics?”...

Bravo!

[DaveDodo007]

Anyone else think this is the biggest waste of energy since the mass-hysteria that passed for grieving over Diana?

Diana was a real case of mass hysteria for my money. She was almost a figure of fantasy. Swathes of the country went embarrassingly bonkers. Thatcher at least had a major impact, whatever one thinks of her.

This was a bad time for me as it led to my low opinion of my fellow Brits.

[pErvinalia]

They've banned Big Ben. "Ding Dong..".

[Hermit]

To me the whole "democracy" thing is a banquet for the Landed where we get to choose which butler brings us scraps from the table...

Thanks for the analogy. It condenses into a few words something that I have been ponderously trying to express for quite some time.

What is the better alternative, though? Tyranny - the hope to find a benevolent dictator - of any sort, be it a feudal lord, Marx's proletariat, or something like that? I think not. Neither is social democracy nor democratic socialism nor anarchy immune to sustained and systematic abuse of government power because in the long run even an initially idealistic administrative team will metamorphose into a ruling class à la Animal Farm.

Meanwhile, I tentatively agree with Winston Churchill's quip that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Most other forms of government will not even allow the public to change butlers, except through a violent overthrow, and the succeeding forms of government have historically turned out to be even less amenable to change via the formal expression of popular will - elections.


Oh, and regarding Thatcher: I wish it hadn't come to all the dancing on the grave. Much better if her mother had been keenly wanting safe and reliable contraception at the time, and that such was easily available.

[pErvinalia]

Let's have proper democracy though. Not the sham we have now.

[Hermit]

Let's have proper democracy though. Not the sham we have now.

Yes. Let's.

Got any concrete suggestions? The tenor of my post was pointing at a certain difficulty in that regard.

[pErvinalia]

I think one of the most useful things we could do would be to restrict the influence money has on political decision making. The other thing I would do is devolve more power to local units. I think you are from Australia, right? I've often wondered why have a state government as well as a local and federal. Aside from providing a basis for the senate, I'm not sure why we need to have governance at the state level. Getting rid of it I would assume would save a lot of money. And a lot of the power could be diverted to local government.

Just rough ideas, and not fully thought out, but it seems to me that there are some basic problems with people's votes and wishes being respected by politicians. The further decision making is away from the people, the more likely those decision will disregard the people's wishes.

[JimC]

Let's have proper democracy though. Not the sham we have now.

I think it is somewhat despairing to think of it as a complete sham. Accepting that tends to lead people into either numb acceptance, impotent cynicism, or violent overthrow with not much of a light at the end of the tunnel.

Better to think of it as flawed, and that some hard work and thought could at least make some measurable improvement, perhaps starting by altering the way political parties and election campaigns are funded, to reduce the influence of the wealthy end of town on the outcome. Other changes are possible, depending at the heart in reducing the apathy of voters...

[Hermit]

...it seems to me that there are some basic problems with people's votes and wishes being respected by politicians. The further decision making is away from the people, the more likely those decision will disregard the people's wishes.

That is exactly what I have said above: "in the long run even an initially idealistic administrative team will metamorphose into a ruling class à la Animal Farm", and that applies to any form of government.