Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Post Thatcher and idea 95 is Nature Vs Nurture Plus giveaways

So Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after a stroke.

Now some historians are of the view that history is not all about leaders and politicians but when you have lived through a leader such as Thatcher it is difficult to disentangle one's own life from the events that are shaped to an extent by the political forces of the time.

Mrs T
It's interesting to look at how the UK media and British people have reacted.
Thatcher when premier was very much a Marmite character, Elvis Costello a popular songwriter and singer at the time (your honour) famously composed a song for her in 1988. It is good to see that the tea loving Morrisey (presumably with something to promote) is spouting/tweeting on about Lady Thatcher with his usual considered approach.

On reflection some see the Thatcher period as a necessary adjustment - for me it is hard to believe some of the obstacles put in place by 'state-ist' bodies like the nationalised Telephone industry but as has been pointed out the power that many working people had in their workplaces has been traded for influence as a consumer. And many, many people had their lives and communities deeply affected by the changes seen in the 1980s.
So as we'd expect it is not a devil or a saint but something of a mixture of the two that we mourn and for people of a certain age it is significant as it was their time that they were making their ways. For those in their 20s she's a little old lady and Posh boy Cameron as the only politician that they're aware of.
So perhaps the passing of Mrs T is just a chance for those who are now in the vanguard of the chattering classes to reflect on their influences.

It will be fascinating to see in 20 years time if the state has further rolled back its influence on our lives and if 'people' have taken greater ownership and control of their own lives and communities.

Anyone want this?

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I've got back the urge to get rid of things I don't need/want that might be of use (less landfill)
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Big Idea 95 Nature or Nurture?


Although Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace worked out a theory to explain evolution the mechanism was not nailed down until Watson and Crick did the work on DNA showing how genes carried traits forward. Gregor Mendel a hidden away Austrian Monk should not
be overlooked as well for his pioneering work on hereditary traits.
This was all very good stuff for determinists (they probably saw it coming) but surely learning and culture where factors along the with what was delivered in the DNA?

Here's a (short)video about the debate