Read Milton & Rose Friedman's "Free to Choose" when I was in high school, it changed me. I'll never forget the part about school vouchers, and never respected the teacher's unions or bureuacracy after that. Friedman didn't just influence Thatcher tho, but Ronald Reagan's administration too-- one of the better ones in America-- and possibly even Jimmy Carter administration.

Not sure I ever actually finished the book, as most of the concepts seemed almost self-evident after reading a few chapters. Even vouchers is a compromise, and at that young age I wasn't interested in comprimises. Still not, really. You gotta fight for what you believe in, all the way, or you just get manipulated. Compromise is what OTHER people do.