Hagiology is in our genes. Even the most impolite of persons is described as very well mannered in death.
Many are describing Margaret Thatcher as the 'Iron Lady' who saved Britain from the brink of disaster by privatising, I would argue the society. Most of them haven't seen the Thatcher years, I haven't either. But I have at least witnessed some of the impact Thatcherism had on contemporary Britain.
The place which saw the first industrial revolution is now bereft of any industry. The same applies with agriculture. If Thatcher had converted the country into a shop, being a grocer's daughter herself, her Labour protege Tony Blair and his Chancellor Gordon Brown transformed Britain into a land of city-centric speculation.
Gambling often pays more than productive activities, but that is a matter of chance. Blair made hay when the sun shone and now the British people are paying the price.
Thatcher years were marked by large scale privatisation. This may seem sound business to an MBA or a business analyst, but a country is a tad different from business. The privatisation of British Telecom, British Airways or BP might seem good business but only the profit motive might make the stakeholders of these blue chip companies extremely reckless. Then they might only be guided by profit maximisation and dispose the companies off failing to do so. In that case the biggest looser would be the country and it's people. Yet David Cameron describes Thatcher as a lion-hearted patriot.
Public sector is not without inefficiency but resorting to privatisation as a way of ensuring efficiency only highlights the failings of the government. It is extremely risky to privatise certain things, as there is more to society and ethical sustainability than profiteering. Some call it commanding heights, others describe them as core infrastructure. Leaving them to the market is compromising with national interest and aspirations of the hardworking people.
These days people talk more in favour of privatisation not only because government is inefficient, which no one would deny, but also for the simple reason that privatisation dominates the popular intellectual discourse. This is the fall out of the Washington Consensus and its architects can thank Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan for that.
The legacy of Thatcher and Reagan would be the age when government is less important and a society that is far more insecure.
Friedrich August Hayek has finally taken his revenge over John Maynard Keynes.
Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant.
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com
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