Most politicians aren’t worth the private wealth they confiscate. Let’s be honest: They’re parasites, not producers; they take away from the private wealth and psychological stamina of the population, rather than add anything to it. This wasn’t always true, but today it self-evidently is.
When Margaret Thatcher first became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1979, some claimed it was a man’s job. Thatcher ultimately proved herself more up to the job than any man or woman of her time—or today’s time either, for that matter.
When you consider some of the things the late Margaret Thatcher said during and after her terms in office, you start to realize the world was better off with her than without her—despite her having been a politician.
‘To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukemia with leeches.’
She might not have cured Britain of its socialism; but she understood it was a disease, and treated it as such through her policies. Find one politician in Britain or America—in either party—who grasps that today. Britain’s private economy started to grow again during her watch, and it has never been quite the same since she left. Her ‘watch’ was to get government the hell out of the way, at least as much as possible.
‘There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.’
Bingo. There’s no such thing as ‘social justice’ without individual liberty. Society consists of individuals. Unless they’re equal under the law, the concepts of liberty and ‘rights’ are meaningless.
‘If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.’
Actually, it’s leaders such as Thatcher who achieve greater admiration and fame once they’re gone. It’s the leaders who are acclaimed in their own day as messiahs who end up disappointing their followers—or worse.
‘Power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.’
Unlike any politician of today, or most eras, she understood that words and ideas were meaningless—without actions to back them up.
‘Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.’
She grasped that evil cannot survive except as a parasite on the good. Terrorists and other enemies—the faltering Soviet Empire during her time in office—have nothing constructive or positive to offer. When the good guys withdraw all moral sanction—and all subsidies—from the bad guys, the bad guys wither away. That’s how the Cold War ended without firing a shot, thanks in some measure to Thatcher.
‘You cannot lead from the crowd.’
Right again. The crowd is often wrong. If it weren’t, there would be no need for leaders in the first place.
‘I owe nothing to women’s lib.’
Of course she didn’t. A gang of angry victims can accomplish nothing. Only individualism will lift one’s spirit, and only individual rights will honor that spirit in practice.
‘Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.’
She understood that half a position is worse than no position at all. Only right and true positions can win, in the end—not wrong positions, and not half-baked ones, either.
‘Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.’
You rarely find a politician who says this, and even more rarely one who believes it. Because politics operates on promises, deceit and coercion. The rest of the world, by its nature, must operate on self-esteem, pride, accomplishment and satisfaction. Otherwise, where would the power-lusting and wealth-redistributing politicians be?
‘I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.’
Of course winning matters. If it doesn’t, then it means you care nothing about yourself, your life, or whatever it is you’re striving to accomplish.
‘To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.’
She nailed it. Consensus means absolutely nothing, at least when applied to principle. Imagine a ‘consensus’ between a dictatorship and a free society. Imagine a ‘consensus’ between truth and falsehood, between the claims that 1 plus 1 equals 2, or 1 plus 1 equals 3. Imagine ‘consensus’ between food and poison.
‘Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.’
Breathtaking in its accuracy. America was based on an idea. The idea was that the individual is, and always should have been, sovereign over his or her own life.
[In response to a question over whether she would make a “U-turn” on her controversial policies of privatization and cutting taxes]: ‘The lady’s not for turning.’
That’s the spirit with which freedom and liberty were first won; and will be won again, for sure. I read that there won’t be another like her again. Wrong. When the wrong leaders have finally done enough damage, the great ones always rise to the top. Thatcher’s equivalent will be back.
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