QUOTE (JeffG @ Jun 28 2009, 10:33 AM)
I don't agree that prosperous = selfish, which is what you seem to be saying.
What I said was prosperity can
appear selfish. As you become prosperous, you get bigger houses, cars and one becomes more protective of their wealth. This could be demonstrated through people buying houses and then encapsulating themselves with what suits them best, regardless of their neighbour.
QUOTE (JeffG @ Jun 28 2009, 10:33 AM)
I am all for prosperity, and I like to think that the majority of people, prosperous or not, still have consideration for people other than themselves.
I would as well, but often when people do things like vote, they are thinking of themselves first.
QUOTE (JeffG @ Jun 28 2009, 10:33 AM)
Thatcher's statement that "there is no such thing as society" encouraged the opposite. I am firmly of the belief that things really started to go downhill around that time.
That phrase, I think, has been misinterpreted. The purpose of the passage was to explain that people need to take responsibility for them selves and stop expecting the the state (the state is created by society) to bail themselves out. It was never meant to say go and get everything you can.
Here's the section I mean...
"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that
if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.'
They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It's our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour.
People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation." Margaret Thatcher, October 31 1987.
QUOTE (JeffG @ Jun 28 2009, 10:33 AM)
Yes, there were some good things, like curbing the power of the unions. Actually, I'm not sure who I dislike more: Thatcher or Arthur Scargill
I know what you mean.