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From France to the Phillipines, from Jamaica to Japan, from Malaysia to Mexico, from Sri Lanka to Singapore, privatisation is on the move...The policies we have pioneered are catching on in country after country. We Conservatives believe in popular capitalism-believe in a property-owning democracy. And it works! ... The great political reform of the last century was to enable more and more people to have a vote. Now the great Tory reform of this century is to enable more and more people to own property. Popular capitalism is nothing less than a crusade to enfranchise the many in the economic life of the nation. We Conservatives are returning power to the people. That is the way to one nation, one people.

Margaret Thatcher#32

PolicyEconomyCapitalismDemocracyOwnership

About this quote

What does it mean?
Thatcher promotes privatization and property ownership as the economic equivalent of political voting rights.
In plain terms
She believes letting people own property gives them as much economic power as voting gives political power.
What can you take from it?
Economic ownership can be a form of political freedom for ordinary people.

Where it applies

  • economic policy speeches
  • political manifestos
  • privatization debates

Putting it to work

  • promote property ownership
  • advocate privatization
  • frame economic policy

Questions to consider

  • Is property ownership a true measure of economic freedom?
  • How does wealth distribution affect democracy?

Another view

Equating property ownership with voting rights ignores systemic barriers to wealth accumulation.

More from Margaret Thatcher

  1. Socialists cry 'Power to the people', and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean-power over people, power to the State.

    Permalink to quote #31
  2. In a decision of the utmost gravity, Labour voted to give up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent unilaterally. Labour's defence policy-though 'defence' is …

    Permalink to quote #33
  3. Don't you think that's the way to persuade more companies to come to this region and get more jobs-because I want them-for the people who are unemployed. Not a…

    Permalink to quote #30

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