"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.' They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It's our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation."
(The Great) Margaret Thatcher, 1987.
The key quote is not "there is no such thing as society", but "There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation".
How convenient for the "left" to isolate that one quote without reference the rest of what she said. And how it all rings true again after 13 years of a Labour government.
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