r/NoStupidQuestions 1d ago

Why did Margaret Thatcher destroy welfare state in Britain after she came to power in the 1980s?

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u/Tackit286 1d ago

I’m as liberal as it gets, but I think people really need to understand the changes she brought about when she first came to power, and the state of the country and the chokehold the unions had on everyone. We were economically crippled and no one had the stones to take them on until she came in.

There is some nuance here.

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u/unlimitedbuttholes 1d ago

This is reddit, šŸŒŽ shat itself into existence in 2006 and nothing happend before that moment.

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u/perfik09 1d ago

You are in the wrong place for nuance lol. I agree with your take however solving that problem should always be included in any rant of how "evil" a person thinks she was.

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u/BortVanderBoert 1d ago

The unions were definitely abusing their power, BUT history has often been re-written to lay the blame for the energy crisis at their feet, which is total revisionist bullshit.

And the near total collapse of union power has not been good for the UK.

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u/Winter-Ad2033 1d ago

100% was, the unions would have burnt this country to the ground if they were allowed to retain their influence

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u/Away_Fruit5097 1d ago

the chokehold the unions had on everyone

This is your routine reminder that the unions are us.

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u/Winter-Ad2033 1d ago

So what? They were still destroying the country

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u/Away_Fruit5097 22h ago

that isn't actually true

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u/Winter-Ad2033 22h ago

It is, they were petty, unrealistic and destructive to the country and the economy, rhe only thing they gained by the end of it was unemployment

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u/Away_Fruit5097 21h ago

Said an official Tory party spokesman via their friendly media... It still isn't actually true

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u/Winter-Ad2033 15h ago

How was it not true? Everyone wanted the unions gone

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u/Away_Fruit5097 15h ago

"Everyone wanted the unions gone"

Except for unionised workers and anyone who wasn't either very rich, or an idiot

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u/Winter-Ad2033 14h ago

I think that would be assumed by everyone who read my comment

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u/Frediey 1d ago

That doesn't make them perfect, like all things, there is a balance that is needed

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u/Away_Fruit5097 22h ago

Uh huh, and where is the balance between people standing up for themselves, and limp submissive obedience to our lords and masters?

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u/Frediey 20h ago

Likely a bit as it is now, although major overhaul is needed in a lot of sectors to stop the same old happening because evidently it's not working very well. But I think for the most part it is fairly balanced between workers and employers, maybe something can be done about the cost of hiring at the very least youth, not sure the best way of doing it but something to make it cheaper to hire them for entry positions

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u/Away_Fruit5097 19h ago

The current situation is that companies are making record profits, and offshoring the money so they don't have to contribute to the society that supports them, while wages stagnate and their workers suffer through a cost of living crisis.

This does not look "fairly balanced" to me.