Junior economics and government and politics major
In my eyes, Margaret Thatcher was the most devilish politician who wasn’t named Ronald Reagan. Her idiosyncratic notion of laissez-faire economics completely remolded the British Conservative Party as an anti-labor and anti-poor monstrosity. She safeguarded corporate exploitation and perniciously dismantled the welfare state with no remorse for human suffering. If the world never has to endure the malicious wrath of another Margaret Thatcher, I will rest easy.
One more thing: I respect the Iron Lady more than I respect most American politicians.
Why? Thatcher actually stood up for her own personal concepts of justice and governance. Thatcherism may be the political opposite of my views, but when Britain was reeling from massive hardship — causing a generation of young people to feel disenfranchised and “lost” while her male counterparts bumbled around like morons — she ascertained political power and instituted reform she believed would save the nation without reservation or concern of dissent.
Every time I watch cable news or scan The Wall Street Journal, I’m disgusted by the hypocrisy, ineptitude and foolishness American politicians demonstrate. These politicians seem more interested in gaming the system than revolutionizing it. While stoically orating menial talking points ad nauseam, their chief worry isn’t you or me, it’s projecting a facade of perfection.
It’s unclear how we’ve devolved from the days of political giants like Robert Kennedy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Maybe it’s the omnipotent presence of special interest groups deforming the politicians’ identities with money. Maybe it’s political correctness constricting the discourse. With leaders quaking in fear of offending others, it’s safer to regurgitate the same stale lines, rather than fiercely uttering controversial yet awe-inspiring knowledge. Maybe our ignorance has induced us to fall for these cheap tricks.
No one knows where the great leaders went, but they are dearly missed. Washington is hideously littered with an overabundance of “politicians” but very few “leaders.” A politician is only fascinated with endorsing positions that are empirically popular. For example, it is no coincidence so many politicians began supporting same-sex marriage recently, since it has gained majority approval.
In regard to campaign commercials, the constant barrage of politicians being “pro” education, women, freedom, America, etc. is grotesquely repetitive. Who the hell doesn’t support these things?
Where is the honor in all of this?
Politicians are concerned with winning elections, which have principally devolved into glorified prom king or queen popularity contests. We as a society must reject these politicians and return sovereignty to the leaders.
Leaders embody action and conquer with their resilience, savvy and aptitude. Lyndon B. Johnson was notorious for using the “Johnson Treatment,” his unique version of debating with uncooperative legislators. The treatment consisted of rapidly bombarding the opposing party with statistics and impassioned arguments in a menacing fashion, leaving a psychologically scarred congressman submissive to Johnson’s will.
Was he controversial and contentious? Certainly. Did he alienate and infuriate? The Democrats permanently lost their Southern majority as a consequence of his policies. However, Johnson was responsible for a record-low percentage of Americans under the poverty line, the invention of Medicare and Medicaid and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It’s futile to deny the efficacy of his leadership.
Our nation desperately craves revitalized ideas from leaders, not the same tired ideas of the past. New leaders such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren seem determined to embrace the task — but this is not enough. Until leaders, rather than politicians, mesmerize our nation, the same miserable cycle of mediocrity will perpetuate.
The Iron Lady is emphatically not my idol. But without an iota of doubt, she was a leader who deserved her title. Rest in peace.
Marc Priester is a sophomore economics and government and politics major. He can be reached at marcpriester@gmail.com.
