So unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that Britain’s first female prime minister has bitten the dust. I however, was completely unaware of this until I crossed over onto British soil after a trip to Amsterdam to visit a friend and got up to date via 1 zillion notifications vis a vis the magic of 3G. Now, with social media making it possible for literally EVERYONE to have an opinion on ANYTHING, when something on this sort of scale happens, stuff tends to blow up pretty big. Normally, everyone starts to believe they have a real insight into politics and society, and I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing as it opens a positive discourse etc etc (bar a few REALLY STUPID COMMENTS FROM VERY UNINFORMED INDIVIDUALS), so I thought I’d dissect a few of the hot button debates circulating the world (the internet) right now as I also have a few opinions on it all. Theres a surprise.
The “Misogyny” debate
Okay, don’t groan, but this ones quite interesting. Obviously in a sea of negativity from those felt oppressed by Thatchers regime, some people are going to sit there slapping their heads saying DON’T YOU SEE WHATS HAPPENING HERE. Yes, she was truly evil. I know we have to be careful when we spew vitriol but that woman was definitively an arsehole, as is the way with many politicians. Maybe no one in recent British power has done anything quite as ghastly as Maggie, but they’ve certainly done some pretty shady things, we only have to look at the last month of political disarray from our ever so economy efficient leader and part time moron David Cameron, a minion of the Conservative politics Maggie set the bar for, tax the rich less (LOL) and privatise the NHS (double LOL) to solve our economic crisis (THAT YOU GUYS KIND OF PUT US IN). And whilst I’m sure my personal epitaph for our Prime Minister will not be anything sweet, I wonder if the whole county will have a fucking street party to celebrate his demise? She may be the first woman prime minister, but she certainly is the most hated, and my feminism seminars I’ve been taking the past two years seem to heavily suggest that the Iron Lady may have been a victim (in the loosest sense for someone with no heart) to misogyny. I can kind of already hear the idiots calling now “Don’t hire a lady again, just look at what Thatcher did”. It kind of sucks our first big break into British politics was a serious ball breaker that is hated by many, but fucking up as badly as she did (or as well, depending on your political stance), is pretty much x1000 by the fact she’s a woman. Terrible. Dated. Wrong. Many will disagree. But when was the last time people partied all night because a male politician died? I haven’t seen excitement on my timeline like this since the Olympics.
Obama said she broke the glass ceiling for females. Russell Brand aptly said that the shards fell onto the woman and blinded them. Some see her as an icon for feminism but I see that as problematic. Just because she’s a female doesn’t mean she supports equality, and she made that quite clear when she tried to systematically screw the working classes and decapitate the north, and much much more (I’ll touch on all the details of why she is kind of the worst, don’t worry).
The “Too Young To Understand” debate
India Knight, an idol of mine to some extent, tweeted rather wittily the other day something along the lines of “Judging from my timeline, there were a lot of politicised angry socially aware 3 year olds in the 80’s.” Though I suppose apt, I mean I wasn’t even alive when she was running our country, it insinuates that because someone didn’t live through something that they didn’t feel the aftermath, or aren’t allowed to have an opinion on said leaders policies. I certainly don’t like Hitler very much, but it would be incredulous to say I wasn’t allowed to write my A-Level history paper on his policies and the effects they had on Germany post war because I wasn’t kicking about 1939-1945. I think its really important for young people to know about their countries histories, the knock on effects of government decisions and to maybe get an understanding of why every service in the UK that isn’t free costs an arm and a leg. Privatisation is still seriously ruining shit for the UK and when they slice and dice and sell off the NHS for every penny they can squeeze and the next generation are still annoyed about it, I’m not going to tell them they can’t be because they weren’t alive when it actually happened. The whole idea of Thatchers Children is really important here too, so many children grew up in near poverty in the 1980s, what with their council homes being sold off, their milk being snatched and their parents losing their jobs. Just because they were in nappies don’t think this stuff didn’t seriously effect them for life. Being politically and socially aware is essential, the more who are, the less likely we will keep hiring in useless politicians who must cry in their pillow at number 10 every night when they realise what state the country is in, probably due to the ill advised nature of their predecessor.
The “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” debate
People are seriously happy about Maggie dying. Not everyone of course, but people threw impromptu parties in celebration. People sang Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, asked her to rust in pieces, burn in hell, and for people to rejoice. I’m with them. I know that my opinion isn’t everyones, but I just genuinely think she is vile. The fact that as a friend put it, the queen of privatisation is getting a state funeral is ridiculous and absurd. This lady went into a pointless War in the Falklands, opposed unions and their power, supported the apartheid and referred to Mandela as a “terrorist”. She introduced poll taxes, and how cold do you have to be to announce to Britain that there is no such thing as society before ripping apart communities to try and work on some economic relief. All that happened was unemployment rose to a level not seen since the Great Depression and thousands lived in averse poverty. For those who aren’t familiar with that tales of Maggie, I suggest watching Billy Elliot, it sort of sums it up (but not really). So its no wonder Britain wanted to make it very public that they weren’t really a fan of Thatcherism. However, when the riot police and paint bombs get involved in your impromptu celebrations, you know you’re just taking it too far with this whole crowd mentality thing. Fucking up your home town to prove a point about rebelling against the government is seriously detrimental guys, you thought that’d have clocked in by now (those who knew me in 2009 may perhaps see some sweet irony with this one).
The “Don’t Speak Ill of the Dead” Debate
I get it, speaking ill of the dead isn’t really very classy, but when you’re a public figurehead who decimated a country over 11 years, that rule probably doesn’t apply anymore, you’ve kind of set yourself out there for victimisation, and she has been used as venom since I can remember, popular culture to parents, all of them have shaped my understanding the evil that took her form. Of course there are also some positive things she has done, all leaders have strengths to an extent or they wouldn’t be elected in, but to concentrate on all of the positives and scorn at others who threw an anti-wake is kind of like saying “GUYS, I know Mugabe was like this terrible warlord responsible for mass murder or whatever you’re saying, but he also is a leader of a country and he’s trying to improve it, cut the guy some slack, show some respect.” I’m sorry to any who are actually mourning over Maggie and having a bit of trouble comprehending the hate that ignited in the eighties burns really strong still today. Her poor children who are now parentless and open every news outlet to something critical, and of course the rich who got richer due to her really clever taxing system and privatisation plans. It probably is cutting pretty deep, but I guess so are the wounds of those who lived unsuccessfully under her power. My personal favourite attempt at getting some respect where it was due for Thatcher was Piers Morgans tweet. Anyone else, literally anyone, and perhaps I’d say fair enough, but Morgan sycophantly addressing his millions of followers with “She’s dead. What more do you want? Show some respect” was completely laughable. Piers, last time I checked not long ago you were in the spotlight because you got caught for hacking into a dead girls voicemails to sell papers. Show some respect for the dead indeed. Also if we’re really going to do this whole “how could you celebrate someone dying” maybe you should check yourself out long and hard next time you go down the park on bonfire night to watch the fireworks.
In all fairness to the old bird she had a good run, she exceeded the life expectancy of females that dropped whilst she was in power, so good for her. However I don’t think Britain has lost anything to be proud of, just another citizen washing out to sea, gone but never forgotten. I also think I might be psychic because about 2 days before she bit the dust I questioned when she was going to go then later had a dream in which she died. Must’ve been something in the air.
punching 