Margaret Thatcher Receives Critical Eulogy From South Africa

[FarrenH]

14. Reagan and Thatcher will be remembered in much the same way by large parts of the global south

As a South African, I remember entering my early teens with Thatcher and Reagan in power. How different my perception was then. Growing up under Apartheid, America and the USA with all their nominal equality and human rights were beacons of those things for me. I really believed the USA was Reagan's "shining city on the hill" and the viewed the UK in a very similar light. But with the dawning of greater global political consciousness I came to see them as enemies of those things, because of their support for fascist dictators, Apartheid regimes and absolute monarchs around the world. Both of them resisted attempts to make South Africa a pariah for its horrific policies until it was simply no longer politically tenable. Thatcher, like Reagan, was a force for evil in the developing world and was at the vanguard of a decades-long process of upward redistribution of wealth. Like Reagan, she produced nominal improvements by kicking the harmful consequences of her unsustainable policies down the road and fostering a toxic business culture . Like Bush 1, Major was sabotaged by the fruits of his predecessor's policies.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.