"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, May 09, 2009

WHAT WOULD MAGGIE DO? (THATCHER THAT IS! IT'S THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER FIRST ELECTION VICTORY.))


CAL THOMAS:

Republicans in America, now debating among themselves whether to appeal to "moderates" to rebuild their party, would do well to consider Thatcher's wisdom: "Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides."

Britain, like America, is not in turmoil because it once embraced the conservative principles of Margaret Thatcher — principles that worked.

Britain and America are in turmoil because they too quickly abandoned Thatcher's principles in favor of a superficial, "feel-good" philosophy. Using another food analogy, we want dessert before — even instead of — our vegetables, though we know what's best for us.

Lady Thatcher's official portrait will be unveiled this week and hung at 10 Downing Street. A greater honor would be for the British people to again "hang" her principles in their minds and hearts.

LORD SAATCHI - (EXCERPT):

... When Lady Thatcher was leader of the opposition 35 years ago, she founded the Centre for Policy Studies to express the benefits of free markets. The result was a revolution in economic policy, and four election victories in a row. Times change. By a Darwinian process, a new world order is evolving. But nobody knows its shape. To help define it, we need to do what she intended – search for real ideas with the zeal of a prospector hunting gold.

Beatrice Webb, the founder of the London School of Economics, used to say that people fall in love with funny things: “Some people fall in love with their chauffeur. I fell in love with Soviet Communism.”

Mrs Thatcher fell in love, too. With the exact opposite.

That is why she would despise the vision that is opening up before us –

  • in which the state controls your mortgage,
  • your bank account and your life insurance;
  • where the state routinely passes your papers from one government department to another,
  • your phone bills to the health department,
  • your health records to Revenue & Customs,
  • your tax records to the benefits department;
  • your car journeys tracked by state sensors;
  • your bus and Tube journeys caught on state cameras;
  • your foreign trips notified to the authorities;
  • every click on your computer available for inspection;
  • your identity card always ready for presentation;
  • one in three on the state’s payroll;
  • two in three receive a state payment;
  • cities where half the jobs are with the state,
  • and where the state has views on how you fill your rubbish bin.

Lady Thatcher would see this for what it is.

She would block it with every ounce of her body. Because she knows where it is headed.

Lord Saatchi is chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies

BRITAIN AND THE USA ARE HEADED BACK ON THE ROAD TO SERFDOM

WE MUST GET OFF. NOW.

TO DO THAT, WE NEED SOMEONE LIKE MAGGIE MORE THAN EVER.

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