This thread has drifted from a vindictive uncaring Thatcher and her legacy, to a political debate on the merits or otherwise of socialism compared to full blown capitalism (in all its sickening face to this day)
I will make comment again in reference to that woman only and leave the socialist/ capitalist debate to the side for now
Some of the comments made about the times of the miners strike and the antics of Arthur Scargil also show a complete and utter mis understanding of the reality of what that woman did to particular parts of the country
I live where there are many villages,each village had a coal mine,there are no big towns or cities where alternative employment would be found,the lifeblood of the community was the colliery,you either worked there or in some sort of service capacity,either to the colliery or the community
In heavily populated areas,the burden of the loss of major industry could be managed by transferring to other work where possible.it would be difficult,but there may be other options available
In the mining areas,there was no alternative,there was and is no means of seeking employment,there were no manufacturing or other works available at all
She closed the pits and with such speed and ferocity that the communities were shattered
The miners themselves had already been sledge hammered by the length of the strike,they had relied on food parcels from myself and others in the community to feed themselves and their families,the closures were another hammer blow on top and the final nail in the coffin of whole communities
The woman carried out these closures with no interest in preparing our communities for the effect of the loss of its only employment
The aftermath of her actions resulted in not only nearly the whole of the working population being without employment or prospect of employment,it caused the young generation to have nothing,absolutely nothing, to aspire to
There was almost 100% unemployment of the youngsters for a whole generation,they in turn grew older and their kids were reared in households where employment was an alien concept,a rare experience for almost all that grew up there
Society where I live changed and reflected the damage this woman carried out
The communities were and are wastelands,the social structure was broken and remains so to this day
She not only took away our work or prospect of work,she took away hope,she destroyed a way of life,she is the most detested politician ever to be mentioned amongst my people,she will never be forgotten
Remember, these areas mined coal often with great loss of life,decimated health and almost slave labour wages until post war when the value of the coal that was mined was finally reflected in the wages of the miner
They worked for the rich man,lived in the rich mans slums,were obliged to buy their food and clothing in the rich mans shop and the descendants of the rich man,the woman herself, and her friends and fellow despots,wreaked carnage on my people as reward for their ill gotten gains,she did it for little more than revenge on those miners for daring to try and maintain their post war living standard
Coal from these areas that had lined the pockets of wealthy people from far off cities for over 200 years,we saw nothing of that wealth,we had the worst living standards,hardly any infrastructure,our roads, rail,housing was and is 3rd world compared to most areas
Our coal financed much of the life of Great Britain plc and was rewarded with Thatcher
Making the areas prepared to withstand the closures would have been no more than common sense, and perhaps empathy with those who were to be hammered for the wealth they had guiven her kind
Instead she chose not give a damn.the sacrifice of generation upon generation was thrown aside, in the same disgusting attitude as displayed in all the years past by these leeches who preyed on my people and our natural resources,our natural resources which made them the wealth in the first place
How this creature can be respected and even revered by ordinary people is mind boggling