Told You So -- Thatcher

Several quick thoughts. Sorry for the quick writing style. No time.

Told you Thatcher would be in the “buzz”. Corporate media conglomerations shape public discussion. There’s a movie to sell. Even “liberals” will help sell it. No such thing as bad publicity.

Great stuff from Robert Reich.

The Decline of the Public Good

”Meryl Streep’s eery reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” brings to mind Thatcher’s most famous quip, “there is no such thing as ‘society.’” None of the dwindling herd of Republican candidates has quoted her yet but they might as well considering their unremitting bashing of everything public.”

”“Privatize” means pay-for-it-yourself. The practical consequence of this in an economy whose wealth and income are now more concentrated than any time in 90 years is to make high-quality public goods available to fewer and fewer.

In fact, much of what’s called “public” is increasingly a private good paid for by users — ever-higher tolls on public highways and public bridges, higher tuitions at so-called public universities, higher admission fees at public parks and public museums. ”

I say again, great stuff. Read it.

Truer words have never been spoken. I heard it from a real liberal -- Michael Moore. (Roots are further back, probably.)

One of the most ironic things about capitalism is that the capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with. Actually they will give you the money to make a movie that makes them look bad, if they believe they can make money off it.”

We can change our society for the better. It’s been done before. Corporations and wealthy people are not invincible.

Don Brown
January 6, 2011