As many of you will know, God refrained from blessing me
with a vast interest in politics! In fact, I think my political gene is pretty
much absent so let’s approach this subject from a different angle.
The Iron Lady:
conjuring up a statuesque image appropriate to Maggie’s standing in political
and world history. Whether you love her or loathe her, the course of history has
never run smoothly and all great leaders leave behind both their legacy and a
great deal of dispute. The stronger the leader the harder it is for opposing
factions to reconcile and this has been very obvious since her death.
Now let’s put Maggie's life
into a familiar framework, the one we use to promote success.
Achievement:
Maggie’s era gave birth to a new political term, ‘thatcherism,’
which really is a great achievement. Whatever your views, Maggie led the
life she wanted and achieved her goals. How many of us can say that? Maggie
always pushed until she got her desired result. Yes, she lacked flexibility and
the willingness to compromise, yet at times that was for the benefit of all. To
be focused consistently is hard; Maggie had the vision, focus and discipline to
follow through and those are the qualities we should aspire to.
‘you don’t know what
you don’t know.’ Therefore no-body knows what would have happened if
someone else were in power at that time. We all could have remained in a
dreadful position for much longer! What we do know is that she was voted in on 3 occasions despite opposition, so that tells us about the general consensus.
‘The same actions
produce the same results.’ Because Maggie took risks and did things
differently the country as a whole moved forwards. In doing so, the face of
politics changed at a time when this was required; a key factor.
‘We look to leaders
for inspiration.’ Despite the disasters inflicting specific communities
within the UK, Maggie inspired many everyday people to get up and have a go at
taking control of their lives. The booming economy grew partly as a result of
mass inspiration. We know that there is no such thing as equality- a level
playing field does not exist in real terms, so sadly there will always be casualties
but there were also many winners.
‘Holding onto values.’
Knowing who you are and what you believe in helps make you a contented
person. Once you start changing your values confusion enters. Maggie stuck
solidly to her values and received admiration for this particular character
trait. If you have values you can approach life honestly and stand up for the
actions you take with no regrets; I imagine Maggie had very few regrets
following her premiership.
‘Greatness.’ It
takes a lot of courage to stand up and be counted. For this reason, many of us
grumble and complain without doing anything to put the world to rights. The top
is a lonely spot despite support from family, friends and colleagues. If you
want to taste the glory you have to have guts and Maggie certainly had guts!
‘Lesson to learn!’ There
is always a lesson to learn and here is an important one from the negatives. Humility is a rare and vital quality, one that Maggie lacked in general, however none of us are perfect and we
need to be accepting of other people’s weaknesses, even forgiving where appropriate.
Overview
Politics is a hard road to go down because, as a leader, your
actions and decisions affect so many lives. People will laugh because of you
and people will cry. You take the responsibility for peace and war. As a nation
we do not like an indecisive government either, it makes us feel vulnerable, so
when all is said and done Maggie’s approach to her role was appropriate.
History was made, with Maggie the first and only female Prime Minister to date. Whilst the book has been closed on her life, the course of history has been
written and will continue throughout the ages.
Jaz McKenzie
Here is an article giving clear historical content re: Maggie Thatcher, by Gregory Boyce: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-passing-of-the-iron-lady-remembering-england-s-margaret-thatcher
If you would like to write for ~IB~ contact itsbraap@live.co.uk
Comments
Post a Comment