The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady, she was known as, was one of the stalwart figures of English conservatism.  During the 1980's, at a time when the U.S., Canada, and Britain all had conservative leaders, you can undoubtedly know that both Ronald Reagan and Brian Mulroney admired her big-time.

If only more conservatives could live up to her defense of liberty.  Her strong defence of the Falkland Islands, her stance against world socialism during the Cold War, are the pillars in which she help define our future in the Western world.

Rest in peace, Baroness Thatcher.  And thank you.

Here's a list of some of her famous statements, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

• "If a Tory does not believe that private property is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom, then he had better become a socialist and have done with it." - Article for Daily Telegraph ("My Kind of Tory Party") (30 January, 1975)

• "And I will go on criticising Socialism, and opposing Socialism because it is bad for Britain — and Britain and Socialism are not the same thing. (...) It’s the Labour Government that have brought us record peace-time taxation. They’ve got the usual Socialist disease — they’ve run out of other people’s money." - In a speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October, 1975) [1]

• "Some Socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers in a State computer. We believe they should be individuals. We are all unequal. No one, thank heavens, is like anyone else, however much the Socialists may pretend otherwise. We believe that everyone has the right to be unequal but to us every human being is equally important." - In a speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October, 1975) [2]

• "A man's right to work as he will, to spend what he earns, to own property, to have the State as servant and not as master: these are the British inheritance. They are the essence of a free economy. And on that freedom all our other freedoms depend." - In a speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October, 1975) [3]

• "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, because there is no such thing as an entitlement unless someone has first met an obligation." - Interview 23 September 1987, as quoted in by Douglas Keay, Woman's Own, 31 October 1987, pp. 8–10.