April 9th - Let's all talk about Margaret Thatcher

 Taking a day out from my usual musings to join in the debate about MT.   Wondering if there is something about British etiquette which doesn't allow too much criticism in the early days after someone's death which might be why she's been portrayed in such glowing terms - the saviour of the nation according to the Daily Mail -  in spite of the fact that I've got a sneaking feeling that she laid the foundation for much of what's wrong today.  
This morning's Today programme gave us a representative of the Adam Smith Institute saying that as a result of her work people today feel they have much more control over their lives (what world does he live in I wonder?). TODAY then moved on to a clip from an interview with Margaret Thatcher who, after saying that central to her philosophy was the idea that individuals should take responsibility for their own lives was asked how individuals who got very rich could be restrained from leaving the poor in misery, came up with the idea that it was just a question of changing the culture so that with individual freedom comes social responsibility. Haven't noticed much of that recently!
So, where do my gripes about MT lead me?  
First, selling off Council houses now leaves us with a social housing problem.
Second, the great share-owning democracy was a sham - far fewer individuals now own shares than they did pre Thatcher
Next, she de-regulated the financial services which gave a massive bonanza for some but look where its led us ..
Then there was privatisation - are we really better served now that our essential services are in private hands?
And what about the fact that she presided over the country at a time when our manufacturing industry was in terminal decline?
Perhaps her death, reminding us as it does of what 'Thatcherism' is all about, is timely because I'm coming round to the view that although free-market unregulated capitalism isn't doing most of us much good we're still intent on exporting it to the world.   Must think about that next.