… it would be wrong to write her off, culturally. Thatcher, in fact, leaves a quasi-literary legacy, much of it unintended, that's inescapable. As was said of Christopher Wren on his death, if you want to find his legacy, just look around you. First, there's her own oft-repeated biography, the archetypal tale of rags to riches, of the provincial grocer's daughter who became the first woman to be the queen's first minister. This latterday Dick Whittington story has already inspired at least one movie (The Iron Lady), and many biographies, with more to come.
It seems that Thatcher's passing has brought to market an awful lot of sour grapes in Britain.
Sour grapes isn't what it's about. For example: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/mark-steel-you-cant-just-shut-us-up-now-that-margaret-thatchers-dead-8568785.html
ReplyDeleteSorry. This piece is just as mean-spirited as the rest. If one's politics is such that one can't find it in oneself to observe the Roman dictum "de mortuus nihil nisi bonum," one's politics is an exercise in corruption.
ReplyDeleteI think "mean-spirited" is a much better description than "sour grapes", which was the expression I wanted to take issue with.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is unseemly to dance on someone's grave, but I'm not happy with the Roman dictum, "de mortuis nihil nisi bonum". How long does one have to wait before it's socially acceptable to criticise the deceased? I incline more to Voltaire's: "On doit des égards aux vivants; on ne doit aux morts que le vérité." Which means: "We owe respect to the living; to the dead we owe only the truth." (“Première Lettre sur Oedipe”)
I agree. "Mean-spirited" is a better choice of expression. As for how long one should follow the Roman rule, I would say until sometime after the funeral rites, and family and friends have had time to grieve. To interrupt those not just with political debate, but political denunciation is, in my view, a demonstration of a coarseness of character one should be ashamed of. As for the truth, well, that can be so elusive. I am not sure I know the truth about myself. But I'm pretty sure no one else does.
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