Comparison of Ideology

1133 Words3 Pages

Margaret Thatcher
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money” – Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England. Her father, Alfred Roberts, was one of the most important influences in her life and was the one who introduced her to the world of conservative politics. He was a devout Methodist, a local businessman, lay preacher and local mayor. They lived within the close community of the local congregation, surrounded by strong values of charitable work and personal honesty. She was later accepted to Oxford University to pursue a career of becoming a research chemist. Her views were deeply influenced by one of her instructors, Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. At the same time, she became interested in politics where she was elected as the president of the student Conservative Association at the Oxford University. She earned her degree in 1947, and worked as a research chemist in Colchester and in Dartford. During her free time, she studied law and became a barrister in 1954. In 1951, she married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, and had twins in 1953.
Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to serve a Western political party and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. From 1979 - 1990, she served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and became a prominent leader for democracy in the Cold War against communism and the Soviet Union. Thatcher had similar ideals as Ronald Reagan expressing a strong anti-communism, supporting capitalism and having an individualistic point of view throughout 1980s. She was an anti-socialist and she believes in reducing the role of government to reduce taxation, promote private bus...

... middle of paper ...

... have a positive and a negative impact on others. With Margaret Thatcher supporting individualism, she values more about the freedom and the individual rights of people than the security and harmony of the society. She desires a smaller role of government in the society and believes that if everyone is free to pursue their own happiness, positions in society would emerge naturally as people’s potentials are discovered. On the other hand, Mao Zedong’s extreme collectivism perspective believes that all people should be equal, focusing more on the well being of the group than individual rights. He believes that the group is as strong as the weakest link in the group and that revolutionary change is inevitable and violent. Individualism and collectivism are two different principles but with a mixture of both, it can create a balance and a better structure of a society.

Open Document