mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (10/02/83)
To counter some of the more rabid distortions of socialism that have
been flying around this newsgroup lately, I thought that it might be
interesting to see Neil Kinnock's view of Thatcherism. (He is the
leading candidate for the leadership of the British Labour Party).
Some of what he says may be exaggerated for electoral effect (this
was from just before the election), and some may be wrong, but it
shows what seems to be most important to a man who is on the left
wing of the Labour Party.
....
If Margaret Thatcher is re-elected as Prime Minister on Thursday,
I warn you, I warn you that you will have pain -- when healing and
relief depend on payment.
I warn you that you will have ignorance -- when talents are untended
and wits are wasted, when learning is a privelege and not a right.
I warn you that you will have poverty -- when pensions slip and benefits
are whittled away by a Government that won't pay in an economy that
can't pay.
I warn you that you will be cold -- when fuel charges are used as
a tax system that the rich don't notice and the poor can't afford.
I warn you that you must not expect to work -- when many cannot spend,
more will not be able to earn. When they don't earn, they don't spend.
When they don't spend, work dies.
I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark, or into
the streets in large crowds of protest in the light.
I warn you that you will be quiet -- when the curfew of fear and
the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.
I warn you that you will have defence of a sort -- with a risk
and at a price that surpasses all understanding.
I warn you that you will be homebound -- when fares and transport
bills kill leisure and lock you up.
I warn you that you will borrow less -- when credit, loans and
mortgages, and easy payments are refused to people on your melting
income.
If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday,
I warn you not to be ordinary,
I warn you not to be young,
I warn you not to fall ill,
I warn you not to get old.
....
(From the Toronto Globe and Mail, Sat Oct 1, 1983)
(No, I wouldn't vote for him, if I were able, but I think a lot of
what he said in that speech is true of Thatcher, Reagan, and our
local Conservatives.)
Martin Taylor