Legacy of Evil

It's the elephant in the room, isn't it?  The demise of Thatcher, that is.  I've refrained from commenting on it so far, which I know some people will find strange.  They will have been expecting me to be rejoicing over her death.  After all I'm one of those 'horrible leftie socialists' the sanctimonious wankers in the Daily Mail and elsewhere online have been wailing about.  Yeah, like I don't remember the way you bastards reacted to the recent death of Hugo Chavez, someone who actually worked to help the poorest of his people.  Anyway, I decided that I wasn't going to dignify the evil old witch's foul legacy with a display of joy on my part - she really isn't worth wasting a good drink on by toasting her passing.  Sadly, her apologists haven't been so restrained and I've had to endure what seems like an endless barrage of rewritten history casting her as some kind of saviour. Frankly, I had enough of their sycophantic worship of Thatcher when she was in power.

The thing is that I lived through the years during which she blighted this country with her premiership.  Unlike those seeking to canonise her, I have a clear memory of what went on and I'm afraid it is somewhat at odds with the way they want to cast it.  They bang on about Thatcher's legacy.  I agree she's left a legacy - our still unbalanced economy, shorn of its manufacturing base by her adherence to the crackpot economic theories of Milton Friedman.  Oh yes, then there's her mantra about society not existing, instead it's all down to individuals looking out for themselves - still our society is blighted by this selfish attitude.  It is the mind set that enable people to think it is OK to demonise the poor and disabled.  I also haven't forgotten that Thatcher was a staunch supporter of the apartheid regime in South Africa, not to mention a friend of General Pinochet, (and mass child molester Jimmy Savile, let's not forget).  But, of course, they always end up coming back to 'her' victory in the Falklands War, how it showed her 'bravery' and resolve.  Except that none of it would have been necessary if Thatcher's defence cuts, including the proposed scrapping of the ice patrol ship HMS Endurance,  hadn't been taken by the Argentinians as a signal that their invasion wouldn't be opposed.  So, there you have it, Thatcher may be dead, but I won't be celebrating until we've finally killed off her poisonous legacy.