There is a strand of working class people made good by hard work in the Tory Party - Mrs Thatcher was the embodiment of that and why she was the way she was - nothing was impossible. One step too far though, the poll tax. ...
There's a saying that nothing's worse than a recovering addict. Thatcher was that way, since she worked her way up, anyone should be able to, much in the same way some of those who's been able to stop smoking, drinking or using drugs think people who can't do it are weak, that it's their own fault, after all, how hard could it be when they were able to? It's in the heart of the liberal idea of people being responsible for their own lives, therefore individuals should have as much room to develop themselves into what they want to be, in other words, less taxes, less regulations, more freedom to the individual in an economical sort of way. It was at the core of Thatcherism, and it's still at the core of neo-conservatism. Sounds familiar? Sure it is, it's what republicans are talking about when they proclaim the idea of small government.
The problem is, though, that not all people are able to "pick themselves up by the boot straps", in fact, quite few are able to transform their lives in the way those people do. Glenn Beck has done it, which brings me back to the annoying nature of an ex-addict. I applaud those who can do it easily, it's a great gift to have. But it's very arrogant to base a country's policies on the idea that everybody have that ability, just because you are able to showcase some success stories. It's no more relevant to real life than the plackards outside BL factories stating "BL Chairman up 38 % - BL Workers up 3.8 %".
and in my opinion no regions are treated much differently, the problem is the tories spin it that way and make their middle-england-upper-middle-class heartland feel hard done to.
Do I hear wispers of "real America"?