Death

The big news today was the death of our first lady PM. It was interesting to watch the ‘great divide’ on Twitter – those who truly believed she was the best thing since sliced bread on one side and those who hated everything she stood for on the other. What really got to me was our need, in general, not to speak ill of the dead. We were implored not to say nasty things about her because her loved ones could read it.

I believe that it is two-faced to criticise people when they are alive and then go all soppy and start saying how wonderful they were after they have died. I hope that I can say how much I care about people when they are alive, when it really matters. By the same token, if I dislike someone during their lives they will know about it and I would look pretty stupid if I then start extolling their virtues when they’re gone.

As for the ‘thinking about their families’, first of all they are only too aware of how people felt about their mother. How much concern was expressed for the people destroyed during that term of government as they were trampled underfoot (sometimes quite literally in the case of the miners)? Who cared about those who lost their manufacturing jobs (over 2 000 000 of them) and couldn’t get a home as social housing was stopped and sold off.

They all had people who loved them too. Nobody in that government showed them any compassion.

Let us not forget that it was also the time when banks were deregulated and public utilities were sold off, opening the doors to the ‘competition’ we are all paying for now.

Love her or hate her, she certainly left a legacy. For those much younger than me, it is worth reading what she did before you come out with any sweeping statements.

But don’t lecture me on twitter for expressing my feelings. I openly said I disliked her when she was alive. I am not going to go all gaga after she has gone.