they don't care about us

Today can't go past without me writing down some thoughts about Thatcher, just for my own journal purposes. I once read that a true Thatcher child is one whose education was during her period of power. If that is the case, then I am one. I started school in 1979 and was 16 when she resigned. While I was in school GCSEs and the National Curriculum were brought in and funding was slashed all over the place - I noticed the lack of money in the arts and sudden dominance of technology, the lack of books, not enough chairs, not enough staff to cover our lessons. A direct result of that is the importance I place on education - education that is rich in resources and opportunies for children to discover their potential rather than be chased through an economically-driven moulding system.
There are hundreds of other things I can say about her time in power but I'm going to remain in the realm of generalisms. My generation were the first in Britain to think that a news item such as "In his speech today, the Prime Minister...." sounded wrong, because the PM is female. That's something quite fantastic. I don't know about other women of 'round about my age, but I also found it inspiring that, despite the overt sexism of the science teaching we recieved, Thatcher was a scientist. That felt like a big fuck you to all those teachers who ignored a girl with her hand raised to answer a question in physics because he felt that only boys can understand electricity. And a big fuck you to careers advisers who told girls to choose biology because chemistry would be too hard for them. (Biologists, you are allowed to feel insulted at this point).
Her statement that there is no such thing as society inspired me to study social science - starting with sociology A level and ending not so long ago with the completion of an MA in Social Science. Studying political science and all the other subjects (including physics, so FU Mr Physics Teacher) through what felt like a lifetime of study showed me something - broadly speaking, they really don't care about us. No party that has been in power since Thatcher has been a significant improvement on her reign.
As you know, I left the UK when I was 20 and only briefly returned when Blair was in power. I believe that the political system in Switzerland is better and fairer than the one in the UK. And the education system my children are in is different world to the impoverished system I experienced.
What else did I learn from Thatcher? It's a good idea to listen to other people, maybe they have a better idea than me. That being an Iron Lady is a crap idea - in the words of Morrissey "it takes guts to be gentle and kind" - refusal to change makes one cruel and irrational. Kindness, listening to others, believing in a sense of connection between people (society!), all that makes the world a nicer place to be in. The ends don't justify the means - you can't mould education, healthcare etc around your own idea of what the world should be like. Sleep is important - I have little respect for boasts about how little people sleep.
So, thank you Maggie Thatcher, for making me a kinder, less stressed, gentler person than I may have been otherwise. Thank you for letting me know that girls can be anything, even scientists and prime ministers. Thank you for convincing me to leave the UK and provide my children with something better than your legacy left them with.

ps - this is Shish dancing to Wacko-Jacko - not hard to guess which song :-)
pps - thank you for all the congratulations yesterday - I will work hard to get round to each of you personally :-))
ppps - I have decided that I agree that Joe is a good name for the cockerel - however, whilst Tree might be a good enough surname for our Dear Leader, it sounds a bit silly for a chicken. So, the obvious choice is "Joe Cocker". This leaves his lady wife needing a name. She is a very nervous bird, which might help you with your suggestions.....