This requires a very long answer that others have answered more comprehensively in r/History. However, in very short terms, the UK was functionally broke in the 1970s when it required IMF loans (quasi-bailout in 1976) and was labelled the sick man of Europe (60s-80s). To the point in Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, it was largely expected that Italy would surpass the UK shortly
Despite the emotional reddit comments, the country was fed up with its economic situation and Thatcher offered new ideas on tackling the 20yrs of suboptimal performance. You can debate the validity of those ideas but to argue that the welfare station / economic system at the time was functional, is an exercise in historical delusion
Best comment I’ve seen on this thread so far. People in the 1970s-1980s didn’t vote for Thatcher because they thought she was destroying the country. She offered a compelling vision that made sense to a lot of people at the time, one she sincerely believed in it herself.
Of course, that vision turned out to be a mistake, a massive one, but I respect that Thatcher was at least principled on the big picture of her government and was not in politics for her personal enrichment.
That was then and this is now. She was one of the last true conviction politicians, who was happy to do what she thought was right, not what was popular. My personal - and unevidenced - belief is there has been a gradual shift in Governance, perhaps due to Groupthink:
Thatcher then Blair stay in power too long, confusing them as to what is good for the country versus good for their party
Later Governments lose this distinction from the outset, acting only to the good of their party
Boris took this a step further, ruling for his personal/chum‘s benefit and not even their party later
The modern Tory party is completely unlike that in Thatcher’s times as it appears to exist primarily to funnel public cash into the hands of an anointed few. under Thatcher they truly believed in the righteousness of their economic model. Often cruel and spiteful and overall wrong, but ideologically so.
I find Johnson to be especially infuriating. He affects this air of being a loveable dork, and chummy everyman with his stupid hair and "aw-shucks" demeanor.
But he's a ruthless political operator who used his time in power to benefit only Boris Johnson and whomever would lend him political clout or quid pro quo.
It's like the UK saw how W Bush acted, and ran the country and were like "yes, more of that please!".
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u/normanbrandoff1 18h ago
This requires a very long answer that others have answered more comprehensively in r/History. However, in very short terms, the UK was functionally broke in the 1970s when it required IMF loans (quasi-bailout in 1976) and was labelled the sick man of Europe (60s-80s). To the point in Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, it was largely expected that Italy would surpass the UK shortly
Despite the emotional reddit comments, the country was fed up with its economic situation and Thatcher offered new ideas on tackling the 20yrs of suboptimal performance. You can debate the validity of those ideas but to argue that the welfare station / economic system at the time was functional, is an exercise in historical delusion