I can’t resist quoting this from R. Emmett Tyrrell's farewell to Lady Thatcher:
The enduring existence of Lady Thatcher’s critics is proof that, just as Scripture says “the poor you shall always have with you,” so will you always have those who exploit the poor. By that I mean the welfare workers, the endless squads of counselors, the theoreticians of poverty, and, forget not, those popinjays who feel very good about themselves because they can abominate those who really have done something about poverty. I have in mind Lady Thatcher and her co-conspirator President Reagan who got their countries economies going again, providing jobs and — when needed — relief for the down and out.
Read the whole piece—it’s always good to remember Margaret Thatcher’s greatness.
But I quoted it for another reason: Tyrrell is onto something I talked about in an earlier post (“Mad Women”). In it, I noted how how professional, feminist activists thrive (literally) on on anger:
You rarely hear women activists saying that women are doing well. To acknowledge that women are doing well runs counter to a lucrative narrative. Where would Hillary be without “women’s issues” such as the drive for equal pay (achieved in reality but still a potent rallying cry)? The question here is cui bono–who benefits?
The Civil Rights movement was one of the great achievements in American history. But a lot of activists nurse a sense of grievance today because they are professional activists. It’s their job. It is how they earn a living or get elected or obtain support from a federal program. The same thing appears to be happening to the women’s movement.
Welfare workers need poor people.