Subject: RE: carol thatcher death threats
From:
Stu
Date: 10 Feb 09 - 03:39 AM
"Not irritated that a discussion is going on, just irritated that so many threads are hi-jacked by people with agendas, and with seemingly inadequate debating skills."
Don't we all have agendas? Don't well all have a vested interest in the matters we discuss here (even those inarticulate and uneducated souls who are to crap to debate properly - whatever that means)?
I am a licence payer to a public service broadcaster, so if someone who is receiving remuneration from the BBC says something inappropriate, I'll comment on them as I see fit. I am a tax payer, so seeing as my money goes supporting the Monarchy which they accept, despite the fact I would much rather it didn't, I have a right to air my view on her and her family how I see fit. I was actively involved in Tory party politics as a Young Conservative and understand the machinations of the Senior Association at the time of Thatcher (around the time of the People's March for jobs) and therefore have some right to comment as I see fit. In fact, I will comment on any aspect of our life, culture or society, local to global, as I see fit.
We have a history a robust, vigourous and sometimes heated debate in this country which seems to be gradually being eroded into some sort tepid slimepool of mediocre discussion. It saddens and depresses me to see some of the responses to these debates ("stop calling him/her names! They're not here to defend themselves" etc etc) as if this absolves these people of some responsibilty to they way they behave at our expense and when beamed into our homes; it seems we're losing sight of the fact as a nation our iconoclasm and recalcitrance are some of our strongest traits, and expressing these feelings is becoming increasingly frowned on in this society and in this forum. This would be understandable were there a cultural reason for this; I think the Americans are very different in this respect in that they come across as less cynical of authority and celebrity (they are more positive towards success as a culture than we are to be sure), but the truth is in this country we are becoming less likely to speak out vehemently on issues criticising public figures that ever before, and that's not a good thing.
In the end, many people seem to forget these debates are not personal either and although we all loose our rag occasionally and type something we later regret, what the heck - simply admit you were wrong.
So I think Carol Thatcher is an unthinking, boorish lout and her mother is a contemptible old harridan who disgraced our country and was instrumental in destroying the feeling we all belong to the same society.
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sj
