In message <3728D0FD.80F5CD0C at uniserve.com>, S Pawlett
<epawlett at uniserve.com> writes
>Yeah, the Thatcher quote is absurd. "There is no such thing as society, there
>is
>only individuals and their families". If you are going to allow for families
>why
>not society?
As Thatcher quotes go, I rather like this one about Tony Blair:
"I'm worried about that young man, he's getting awfully bossy" ! (in Peter Hennessy, the Blair Centre, Public Management Foundation, p 7)
The quote about 'no such thing as society' is supposed to come from David Hume (according to Samuel Brittan).
Thatcher is in the papers today, because 'acid tongued' ex-Tory minister George Walden (a fan of LM magazine...) has written that she was generally drunk all the time since leaving office.
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In message <372727EA.4DF4 at bouldernews.infi.net>, kayak3
<kayak3 at bouldernews.infi.net> writes
>I can agree with this. Alfie Kohn's boodk "No Compitition" makes a good
>argument that competitive sports are used in our society to enforce the
>notion that their are winners and losers.
I would have said that competitive sports are a good thing not a bad thing. A spirit of competition doesn't have to mean capitalism. The Soviets' Chess success always inspired me, as did Ethiopia's runners, or Cuba's Olympic boxers.
Isn't this a rather insipid version of socialism where we all go soft on each other for fear of demanding too much? Somehow co-operation alone seems to worthy to be true as a motive for achievement. Even a socialist society could gain from some healthy pressure.
-- Jim heartfield