Thatcher Legacy
- Thread starter deuce42
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hodad said:
Education and prisons are service industries. If private management can do a better job for less money we all win. Parking enforcement seems Ok for privatization while there is a gray area as it is literally law enforcement. Education seems ripe for reform and union power there seems to disproportionately benefit teachers over students. If private schools can do a better job it seems like a no brainer. Some Atlanta educators have been getting bad press lately from cheating scandal to conceal substandard performance.
I am not sure I understand why government workers need unions? To protect the government workers from their employer, our own government? It seems a little too easy to use collective influence to trade votes for contract concessions in a quid pro quo, if not openly explicit, subtle and implicit.
There are other issues with the prison system and the huge number incarcerated, while no doubt many deserve to be in there, it seems a couple centuries behind what we should be capable of. While we do need to keep incorrigible miscreants separate from a safe public, many are more a danger to themselves than others.
Sorry to feed the veer. Public vs private may not be the largest issues for those industries, while performance does seems correlated with public vs private management.
JR
strangeandbouncy
Well-known member
I too grew up in the Thatcher Years.
Whilst I abhor pretty much everything she stood for, and have great regret for much that she did, (Gen. Belgrano and the decimation of British Heavy Industry, for instance ). I have to say that I admire her greatly. You do not have to agree with her policies to recognise her greatness. Tony Benn (erudite Left-wing politician) has been most eloquent on this subject. It was astonishing that she ever got to power in the first place, given the mysogeny of the establishment. She was apparently extremely kind to all that worked for her, and took great care to keep abreast of the personal lives of her staff. She was permanently at risk of attack from the IRA. She lost two of her closest friends to terrorism, and they damned nearly got her at Brighton. She addressed the party conference the same day they were blown up. She had cojones of steel.
Democracy works with opposing factions. It is not by chance that the party out of power is called the opposition. The current generation of politicians could learn a thing or two from her generation about agreeing to disagree.
She always did what she thought was right. It matters not to me that I disagreed with her. I can but only respect people of principle, and especially those who stand by theirs.
- Bizarre that the woman who achieved the most did nothing at all to further the advancement of women!
ANdyP
Whilst I abhor pretty much everything she stood for, and have great regret for much that she did, (Gen. Belgrano and the decimation of British Heavy Industry, for instance ). I have to say that I admire her greatly. You do not have to agree with her policies to recognise her greatness. Tony Benn (erudite Left-wing politician) has been most eloquent on this subject. It was astonishing that she ever got to power in the first place, given the mysogeny of the establishment. She was apparently extremely kind to all that worked for her, and took great care to keep abreast of the personal lives of her staff. She was permanently at risk of attack from the IRA. She lost two of her closest friends to terrorism, and they damned nearly got her at Brighton. She addressed the party conference the same day they were blown up. She had cojones of steel.
Democracy works with opposing factions. It is not by chance that the party out of power is called the opposition. The current generation of politicians could learn a thing or two from her generation about agreeing to disagree.
She always did what she thought was right. It matters not to me that I disagreed with her. I can but only respect people of principle, and especially those who stand by theirs.
- Bizarre that the woman who achieved the most did nothing at all to further the advancement of women!
ANdyP
SSLtech
Well-known member
The immeasurably wonderful John Peel (for those beyond the borders of the UK who don't know him, the single most important figure in modern music in the UK) in a short clip from the later 1980's. Some interesting questions related to Welsh language music, and -right at the end- a question about Margaret Thatcher and her effect on British music, where he seems to reinforce (probably far more eloquently than I ever could) the influence on music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1texHwlo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1texHwlo0
Since Chavez somehow got associated with this thread, it is timely to report the election results. Chavez's hand picked successor won with a razor thin 50.7% of the vote, with many reports of vote irregularity. In light of the heavily biased media, and restricted access for the opposition this narrow win is not convincing to the public. Polls (?) gave him a 20% lead before the vote.
We'll see if the typical strong arm government can hold civil order. Cuba has tens of thousands working in Venezuela to maintain the status quo. The opposition threatened to cut off the free oil that Cuba desperately wants and needs.
For a little irony, while Venezuela starves due to collapse of the local farm industry (capital flight and government price fixing), they can get gas for something like $0.06 per gallon. In border areas, Venezuelans drive their cars across the border to Columbia and siphon out the gas to resell.
Interesting times, I fear this one isn't over. I don't see Cuba giving up their sweet (oil) deal without a fight. The public there seems tired of the revolution and hungry for some actual democracy, not more Chavismo.
JR
PS: The upcoming election in Iraq has triggered a rash of car bombs, mostly in Shia areas to foment civil war, with some targeting politicians more willing to work within the political system. Apparently Alkeida does not endorse democratic process.
We'll see if the typical strong arm government can hold civil order. Cuba has tens of thousands working in Venezuela to maintain the status quo. The opposition threatened to cut off the free oil that Cuba desperately wants and needs.
For a little irony, while Venezuela starves due to collapse of the local farm industry (capital flight and government price fixing), they can get gas for something like $0.06 per gallon. In border areas, Venezuelans drive their cars across the border to Columbia and siphon out the gas to resell.
Interesting times, I fear this one isn't over. I don't see Cuba giving up their sweet (oil) deal without a fight. The public there seems tired of the revolution and hungry for some actual democracy, not more Chavismo.
JR
PS: The upcoming election in Iraq has triggered a rash of car bombs, mostly in Shia areas to foment civil war, with some targeting politicians more willing to work within the political system. Apparently Alkeida does not endorse democratic process.
