Kort om ulighed

På Tory-partiets konference 10. februar 1980 indtog Margaret Thatcher talestolen og leverede sit så mindeværdige angreb på politisk flip-flopperi:

To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the “U” turn, I have only one thing to say. “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

Med al respekt, så er dette ikke det bedste citat. Nej, det bedste finder man i hendes afskedstale i House of Commons. Det socialistiske labourmedlem Hughes fra Southwark-kredsen går i klinch med Thatcher over den stigende økonomiske ulighed i samfundet:

… during her 11 years as Prime Minister, the gap between the richest 10 per cent. and the poorest 10 per cent. in this country has widened substantially

I Danmark ville vores statsminister (viser erfaringen) sige noget i retning af: “Det er ogsÃ¥ for dÃ¥rligt.” Thatcher, derimod, kommer med et — i mine øre og øjne — guddommeligt klarsyn:

The hon. Gentleman is saying that he would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That way one will never create the wealth for better social services, as we have. What a policy. Yes, he would rather have the poor poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That is the Liberal (læs: socialistisk…) policy

Og da labour-medlemmerne åbenbart har svært ved at forstå logikken, forsøger hun sig igen:

I think that I must have hit the right nail on the head when I pointed out that the logic of those policies is that they would rather the poor were poorer. Once they start to talk about the gap, they would rather that the gap were that—[indicating[—down here, not this—[indicating[—but—[indicating.] So long as the gap is smaller, they would rather have the poor poorer. One does not create wealth and opportunity that way. One does not create a property-owning democracy that way.

Netop. Helt korrekt. Færdig arbejde. Der er ikke mere at komme efter. Sådan er det bare.

Og hvis man ikke bare vil tage Thatchers ord for gode varer, så kan vi også finde en passage i Ludwig von Mises Socialism, der siger akkurat det samme, bare med andre ord:

It is untrue that some are poor because others are rich. If an order of society in which incomes were equal replaced the capitalist order, everyone would become poorer.

Vi skal have flere danskere til at forstÃ¥, at socialdemokraterne — den dag i dag, tænk engang — hellere vil have, at fattige bliver fattigere, bare sÃ¥ længe at de rige ogsÃ¥ bliver mindre rige og indkomstuligheden falder… Hvilket sært menneske- og samfundssyn.