Thatcher

[rwdrs]

There can surely not be many devastated former coal mining areas where the streets are lined with appreciating classics? Agreed lots of people, like yourself it would appear have bettered themselves (if bettered themselves means being more affluent), Thatcherism maybe, maybe not and have become middle class. But that is not to say that the people who still live in these communities do not struggle to make ends meet at least as much now as then, they are certainly no better off for what Thatcher did and even more how she did it.

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After reading bigjohnie's first two comments, tell me that in northern England and Scotland ordinary working class people haven't become more prosperous . If this is the case what are all the Beemers and Audis doing "around his way"?

[rwdrs]

Agreed lots of people, like yourself it would appear have bettered themselves (if bettered themselves means being more affluent), Thatcherism maybe, maybe not and have become middle class. But that is not to say that the people who still live in these communities do not struggle to make ends meet at least as much now as then, they are certainly no better off for what Thatcher did and even more how she did it.

I'll tell you what I despise and it's a lot of the reason for the current financial crisis. I despise the way people jumped on the "housing market bandwagon", i.e. private individuals thinking they are suddenly property developers.
Real Del boy style, luvvly jubbly, "we can flog this place and make a nice few quid out of this old drum". That is the spirit of Thatcherism that stinks, people grabbing what they can regardless of the long term cost.

What is really worrying, is that the boom and bust years that of the late eighties should have taught all and sundry that driving house prices stratospheric was just not sustainable, but you try telling that to people hoping to make a profit from just living in a property for 5 years and looking to double their money

To be fair, the illusion lasted a hell of a long time and was only exposed as the charade it was due to the extraordinary circumstances of the US president letting Lehman Bros go to the wall...

[RSMEXICO]

I'll tell you what I despise and it's a lot of the reason for the current financial crisis. I despise the way people jumped on the "housing market bandwagon", i.e. private individuals thinking they are suddenly property developers.
Real Del boy style, luvvly jubbly, "we can flog this place and make a nice few quid out of this old drum". That is the spirit of Thatcherism that stinks, people grabbing what they can regardless of the long term cost.

I agree, it was her underpinning 'component' of the housing market and it being the centralised core of many of her domestic economic policies -that did unleash the spirit of avarice in many! This did go too far one way, but as much as anything else, if you unleash 'Free Enterprise', you also unleash the pitfalls of Human Nature. I would have preffered this though than the repression of thrift and financial talent imposed by the State.

I would wager - and she did tacitly admit it as I recall in her latter days - the current short-term 'boom and bust' of the housing market was not part of her thinking. But yes, that is to a good extent her fault. She was no bloody saint, but equally there is no such thing as Utopia. Politics and 'Society' are as such. . .