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What We Can Learn From Margaret Thatcher

thatcher-by-newtonA week ago today, Margaret Thatcher died after suffering a stroke in London. The former Prime Minister of the UK was a revolutionary leader and one of the greatest conservatives of her time. Today, in a world facing many of the same problems that her world faced, we have much that we can learn from her.

“You don’t win by just being against things, you only win by being for things and making your message perfectly clear.” – Margaret Thatcher

Here in the US, for nearly a century now, the conservative party has been the “Nay” party. Conservatives have been the party against progressivism, against science, against change, against equality, etc.

When the conservatives have supported something, it has been on the basis of compromise. Conservatives such as John McCain and John Boehner have championed the fact that they can compromise, but when your party’s claim to fame is that it can deviate from its principles, you know your party is losing.

Conservatives are not the party for equality, they are not the party for jobs, they are not the party for the people. On the other hand, the liberals have been the party for change and for moving forward. Although conservatives know that they are the party for equality, for prosperity, for peace, for justice, and for progress, they have failed to articulate this fact.

“No great party can survive except on the basis of firm beliefs about what it wants to do.” – Margaret Thatcher

If the conservative and libertarian parties want to grow their membership, they need to go back to the basics. They need to examine and define their principles. From there, they ought to articulate their principles and move forward to put their principles into action.

A dynamic conservative party that is actually working to achieve its principles will cause a lot friction. The liberals will hate them more than ever, and things will get more polarized. But things often get worse before they get better. If we want to make progress, we must keep calm and carry on, even in the onslaught of attacks from the media and the left that will surely ensue.

“That nations that have gone for equality, like Communism, have neither freedom nor justice nor equality, they’ve the greatest inequalities of all, the privileges of the politicians are far greater compared with the ordinary folk than in any other country. The nations that have gone for freedom, justice and independence of people have still freedom and justice, and they have far more equality between their people, far more respect for each individual than the other nations. Go my way. You will get freedom and justice and much less difference between people than you do in the Soviet Union.” – Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher understood that conservatism is progressive, it is the way forward, it is the way to prosperity. We need more people like Margaret Thatcher.

In the current battle for supremacy, we mustn’t be blinded or confused. We must stand on principle. We must do what is right.

“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.” – Margaret Thatcher

Modern conservatives and libertarians can learn a lot from this witty, powerful, influential, idealistic woman. She understood why we need conservatism, and she excelled at articulating why that was. Perhaps we should all look into her ideology and see what we can learn.

If we want to change the world, we must not forget those that have done so before us. Let’s look at our principles. Let’s reason out our values. Let’s become anchored in our beliefs. Then we can move forward. Then we can grow. Then we can be the party for change, for progress, for the people, for prosperity.

Rest in peace, Margaret Thatcher. You will be greatly missed.

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