Posted by Tina
PJ Media, in service to America and liberty, brings a must read tribute to Margaret Thatcher from a man who lived in the Ukraine as a teen and spent free time listening to Voice of America or the BBC Russian Service on a short wave radio. His admiration for Thatcher and Reagan serves as a reminder…turns out he’s also an artist (see Thatcher, right). An excerpt:
Gradually, the news sank in: if Britain was indeed a socialist state, then everything we were told about the outside world was a lie. And not just any lie — it was an inconceivably monstrous, colossal lie, which our Communist Party and the media thoroughly maintained, apparently, to prevent us from asking these logical questions: if the Brits also had free, cradle-to-grave entitlements like we did, then why were we still fighting the Cold War? And what was the purpose of the Iron Curtain? Was it to stop us from collectively surrendering to the Brits, so that their socialist government could establish the same welfare state on our territory — only with more freedom and prosperity minus the Communist Party?
The next logical question would be this: if Great Britain wasn’t yet as socialist as the Soviet Union, then didn’t it mean that whatever freedom, prosperity, and working economy it had left were directly related to having less socialism? And if less socialism meant a freer, more productive, and more prosperous nation, then wouldn’t it be beneficial to have as little socialism as possible? Or perhaps — here’s a scary thought — to just get rid of socialism altogether?
Imagine huddling behind closed doors in your home and listening to the banned radio broadcasts from the West in defiance of the authorities…imagine a strong desire to hear something that sounded authentic…imagine the presence of an innate longing to be free!
Meanwhile, as funeral preparations are being made, and heads of state and mourners make plans to attend, the left is out in force demonstrating their stupidity, lack of respect, violent tendencies and childishness in the streets:
Crass, crude and rude.
Such is the face of “liberalism”. Progressives are always such a class act.
Yes, this is a momentous occasion, I think. I hope other political leaders are taking note.
We’ve been so civilized, up to now. She wasn’t guillotined, she was voted out. But the fact that we have been unable to contain our glee at her death is most decidedly noteworthy.
Libby, it is indeed noteworthy. When we can hold such great contempt for those in high office that none are safe from mockery and scorn in life or in death, I think we’ve crossed a line. It’s something for history to judge, but I think it’s a symptom of an a-moral society… we’ve lost our sense of proportion, if not dignity. Say what you want, but Thatcher made many reforms that only increased liberty, opportunity and that grew personal wealth in the UK.
Libby, your comment seems calculated and covert. Is it a thinly veiled caution?
Momentous and noteworthy in what way?
Are you suggesting leaders with Thatcher’s ideas should back down…”take note”…otherwise, contained glee will/could spill over into violence…or, a guillotine solution?
Jack I support your idea that we have become an amoral society, we are also a malleable society. The average citizen today is a far cry from the independent thinkers that came to America looking for religious freedom or the citizens that made and built this country from the founders to the lowliest citizens, slaves, that dared to run or teach themselves to read in defiance of their masters and the law.
John Lennon moved to America to escape the horrible economic conditions Thatcher “inherited” from her predecessor. Her policies greatly improved those conditions for every citizen and the world.
I pray America will survive Obama and will be once again set on a better path b someone like Thatcher.
“Say what you want, but Thatcher made many reforms that only increased liberty, opportunity and that grew personal wealth in the UK.”
For some, for a few, mostly bankers in London. Alas, in the north of England she has created a large and seemingly permanent underclass, not to speak of the mutant sheep in the Lake Country.
Hey, Ho, the Witch is Dead!
“John Lennon moved to America to escape the horrible economic conditions.”
No. Taxes. He didn’t need health coverage and resented his tax rate. But there are worse things. We have armed crazy people roaming the streets.
What do you think is paid for with the bulk of the taxes he wanted to avoid? it did not matter.
Government is the big nonproductive money and opportunity sink.
You progressives are such liars.
Crazy people find ways to arm themselves. Geesh you can’t even tell the truth about that.
“You progressives are such liars.”
John Lennon, while enjoying his 28 percent, was not murdered by an armed crazy person?
Overall Thatcher improved conditions for all classes. What individuals do, or fail to do, with opportunities that open to them under better economic conditions cannot be set at the feet of any leader.
Gross domestic product per person rose more in Briton under Thatcher than in any other highly socialized nation in Europe. Yes, that means the wealthy make more money, but it also means there are more jobs and opportunity for others as those wealthy people invest their money back into the economy. Spending on social programs continued (never below 39%) so the needy were not harmed (sorry to disappoint).
Your problem is that you can’t stand the thought of someone earning and keeping wealth he has earned. This comes from the silly notion that there is only so much wealth in the world and if someone is getting richer someone else must be getting poorer. This is a lie. Wealth is produced in a dynamic and vibrant economy which means that opportunities increase.
We are now experiencing the exact opposite and real threats to the poor and the middle classes are happening. There is little opportunity to work, to create personal wealth through saving or to invest for the middle class. Under the Obama socialist polices people are limited in their ability to survive, grow in wealth, and attain a higher level of security. The unemployment rate for young people 18-28 is over 20% in America. They are losing today and will have lost at least a decades worth of saving and wealth building power.
It disgusts me that progressives continue to lie about policies that work to create greater opportunity for everyone and, by the way, DO NOT HARM the dependent poor…they do it for political control (and individual political wealth)…disgusting. Progressives are not people who serve or act for the common good. Progressives exploit people out of an egotistical need and sense that they know best how to run people’s lives and the world
What does Lennon being shot by a crazy person have to do with your previous comments or Thatcher’s economic policy?