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Thatcher still packs them in By Leslie Gray Streeter Dispatch/Sunday News |
"There is far more goodness in human nature than bad." |
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York Dispatch |
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Emphasizing the importance of morals, hard work and social justice, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher spoke to a sold-out crowd of about 1,200 at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York last night. |
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Thatcher's speech focused on how American and British societies, both dominant world cultures that "have led the attack...and defeated the forces of evil," were built on basic moral and social principles that, when abandoned, can bring about that society's decline. |
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These "fundamental values will not change and will continue to apply in whatever circumstance," she said "...There is far more goodness in human nature than bad." |
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Thatcher appeared as part of the Junior League of York's "In the Spotlight" speaker series. |
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Jane Lyter, outgoing Junior League president, said Thatcher's "name came up again and again" in the speaker selection process. The York group is the "only League of our size (about 100 members) to (host) such leaders of her caliber." |
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Spoke 45 minutes: Thatcher spoke about 45 minutes about the values of hard work, strong families, stiff and just sentences for criminals, especially those who harm children. |
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She also discussed her optimism for the term of newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair, and common British and American social problems like welfare and the increasing number of single mothers. |
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Personable but businesslike, she later took questions from the crowd. At one point, she was unable to hear a question about human rights and sweat shops. |
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"Something about Mr. Clinton?" asked Thatcher, who eventually came to the edge of the stage, bent down to have the woman repeat the question in her ear, then popped back up and answered the question, barely skipping a beat. |
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Although the former prime minister did not mention Northern Ireland or acknowledge the Irish protesters outside, she condemned the forceful occupation of other countries, like Iraq in Kuwait---something that, ironically, protesters accused her of doing in Ireland. |
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"These days you don't attempt to take someone's land by force," she said. "If you do, you will be thrown out." |
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She expressed concern about Hong Kong, which reverts back to Chinese rule after more than a century as a British colony. |
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Thatcher said she hopes the new rulers will stick to the agreement that democracy will continue in the country, which she said has thrived economically and otherwise. |
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"I said 'Please, can we get another 50-year lease?" she joked. |
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"I'm reasonably optimistic. (If the agreement is broken, China) will be condemned in the eyes of the world." |
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Audience members said they enjoyed the chance to hear, in person, such an important world figure. |
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"It was very, very good," said Justus H. Eigenrauch of South York. |
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"She's a very strong woman, who had an immense impact on what's happened in the world over the past years. She still had a lot of interesting things to say." |
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Alison Trout of Shrewsbury said she found Thatcher "fantastic". |
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"She has conservative family values." |
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The Junior League is currently in the selection process for next year's speaker, Lyter said. |
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The York Dispatch |