Political deaths

Last year, two political leaders died. Both had been the subject of films of their life. Both were strong characters, evoking strong reactions. Both did things that earned them criticism. Both had an international role. I am talking about Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela of course.

The responses to their deaths were markedly different though. In truth, the outpouring of hatred against Mrs Thatcher was something I struggled with, but understood - I am a child of her time, and she is the one who turned me into a political person, because I saw the damage that she did. She made a difference to the country - and the world - by being firm and uncompromising.

And being wrong.

I am not going to go into the ways that she was wrong, but the present economic situation is one result of her type of argument. Her ideas only work if a) we have constant growth and b) wealth trickles down to everyone. Both are mistaken, and dangerously so. In the short term, it works, but it is unsustainable.


Mandela was not someone looking for a short-term quick fix. 30 years as a political prisoner is probably a good training for not wanting quick fixes. If the state had wanted a quick fix, it would have executed them all, rather than imprisoning them. Mandela wanted a real fix, a long-term solution to black rule in South Africa.

As has been pointed out, the problems of South Africa have not all been solved. His work has not finished, but then he knew that it wouldn't be. He had a view on life that was not just about what he would achieve in his time as president; not even what he would achieve in his lifetime. It was about what his long-term legacy would be.

So it is wrong to judge him on the basis of what he has already achieved, because he has simply started a process that has produced substantial benefits to many millions of South Africans, and will be seen, in time, as the turning point for that nation. The time when peace became a possibility.


Very few of us will ever have a hundredth of the influence that either of these people have had, and continue to have. But if we can take something from Mandela, and be prepared to look at the long term, beyond us and beyond out time, then we might find that our influence is greater and more substantial than we know. Forgoing the immediate gains for long term reward is a part of Christian teaching, traditionally. I think that forgoing immediate gains for other peoples longer term benefit is an even better approach. And even harder.

Baroness Thatcher is dead

Just in case you haven't noticed. I am intrigued by the vehemence of the responses to this event, despite the fact that I am aware that she always provoked strong reactions. So I wanted to take a look at this reaction and her legacy.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I am not celebrating her death, because it is wrong to celebrate the death of anyone, whoever they are, and whatever they have done. Especially, as in this case, where she has left family behind who are mourning for their loss. As John Donne said, no man is an island, everyones death diminishes me.

Having said that, I remember her time in power - I was in my 20s at that time - and I remember some of the impact of her policies. I was also around and in my teens during the previous regimes, and I remember the "winter of discontent". I am talking from my experience partly, and I think this gives me a different perspective on the events from the many who have discussed her legacy.

In her first term of office, she was a revelation in UK politics. She did a whole lot of really good things, bringing a degree of stability after a period of serious unrest. The turmoil of the previous years needed a firm hand, a strong leader to bring some of the unrest to a halt. She was firm, decisive, certain of what she wanted and ruthless in getting there.

Given the number of u-turns our current government has managed, there is a part of me that longs for strong leadership. Right or wrong, the endless vacillation of the current administration is a real problem.

Unfortunately, after her first term, the Thatcher legacy turned into one that turned me against her and her policies. I will admit that I voted for her after her first term, but in her term of office, I turned completely against the Tory part and policy. As someone who might have been a natural right-wing supporter, that is a real issue.

The problem is that the later Thatcher legacy is rampant individualism, and the worship of money above all else. It is these two that really reflect the long-term impact of her term in office.

The first one is her famous reported comment that "there is no such thing as society". What she taught people is that the important thing was the individual, not the society, with the infamous "trickle-down effect", with the belief that if you enabled and supported the individuals who were making money and running the businesses of the nation, then the benefits would work their way down through the business, to all of the workers.

If you want to know why David Cameron supports the bankers, and appears to hate the poor and those on benefits, this is the reason, and this is the legacy of Thatcher.

Unfortunately, as she did not get to realise, it is utter crap, because what happens if you just let the rich get on with it, they take and take more and more money, putting it away, and not using it to "trickle down" to others. If they do spend, there is a tendency to spend abroad, to spend with others who are also wealthy, not to enable their own society or their own business or workers.

What is the Thatcher legacy, in reality? It is the Blair government and the Cameron government, and the increasing lies and abuse of the poor that we see today. It is the rampant individualism that the show, not taking the responsibility for others that Thatcher had counted on.

I have heard one person argue that they are more than happy not to be working in the mines, but rather to be working in an office. One part of me agrees - I would rather work in an office than down a mine. Unfortunately, most people work in offices these days because Margaret Thatcher started the decline of the manufacturing and resourcing industries. The danger of office work is that this is, often, easy to outsource to another country, something that employers may do if it is cheaper. This focus on profit and not on society - the local country in this case - are the results of the Thatcher era.

And, of course, if your job is outsourced and you are unemployed, then it is up to you to sort it out, which is individualism, because you can't expect the state to bail you out. The money your employers will save will, eventually, trickle down to you, surely. Except it won't.

So I understand the hatred shown towards Baroness Thatcher. I do not share it, because it is not the person to whom this should be focused - it is her policies, her legacy. As an old woman, who, I genuinely believe, was trying to do her best, I have sympathy. However the Thatcher policies, the legacy that she has left behind, I hate and loath with a passion, because she was very mistaken. She failed to listen to others, which indicates an arrogance that is extremely dangerous in a leader.

So Thatcher - a sad old lady who deserves some dignity in death. Thatcherism - a legacy that is destructive, damaging, and hideous. Each casualty of the seriously screwed-up policies of this current administration is a child of the Thatcher era, a result of the loathsome policies she introduced.

That is what really makes me sick.