As discussed yesterday I am not a Sinn Féin supporter and to be honest I doubt if I ever will be. I complained yesterday about the political establishment here in our tiny republic and how they disingenuously used the media to discredit the reputations of Martin Mc Guinness and Gerry Adams. To make matters worse they used the tragic cases of Jean Mc Conville and David Kelly as sticks to beat the Sinn Féin leaders with, and I have a major problem in that I honestly believe that these political hacks don’t really care about the plight of these particular victims of the war in Northern Ireland.
Official Ireland sends out its message that Gerry Adams and Martin Mc Guinness will do for the electorate in the north but not for the privileged in the south, work that one out if you can? I have, and I don’t particularly like the answer I have come up with. I as much as anyone else am at the mercy of the spin doctors, these are the people that can convince us that America and Britain can wage justifiable war whilst our own citizens are not entitled to defend themselves from aggressors, which us brings us back to the state and the power entrusted in the few that actually run it. The real power in the modern world is with those who can control the media whether it be on television or in print.
Take Rte six one news for example or Prime Time, the presenters reverently refer to Government ministers as ‘Minister’ or as in the case of the leader of the opposition recently he was called ‘Mr Martin.’ This is a tiny example of state controlled television at work, and if anyone is convinced that the Frontline is anything more than a mouthpiece for government policy I wish to hear from them. You will notice that the interviewer never gets to the core of the issue, bland questions are asked and half answered with the hard questions left in reserve till the show times out and all are friends by the end.
However the Rte interviewers reserve their hardest questions for Sinn Féin, but only during elections the rest of the time they are invited to fall into the mediocrity that is state political discussion. Elections are different you see in that hearts and minds need only be swayed for a one day one event, and a prospective candidate can live or die on their current public perception ratings. It is in essence the quick and immediate kill and sure if the real truth emerges later so be it, they will think up something again to destroy the candidate at the next election.
This type of state media manipulation is bad for the citizen as not only does it steal the truth but it also robs us of any real political analysis of the candidates in question. Watching the recent Prime time presidential debate I felt that Miriam O’ Callaghan should have called the police such was the vigour with which she pursed Martin Mc Guinness. It was a good job that Martin has most likely endured worse in the hands of some special policemen up north, but hey wasn’t Miriam just asking the questions people wanted asked, and really needed answered. No in fact the questions she asked were not real or proper questions to ask a candidate for the presidency who is minister of education in the Northern Ireland Parliament, there was no fear that she might call him ‘Minister.’
Now I come to reasons why I don’t vote Sinn Féin and most likely never will, it is very simple I don’t trust them? I feel my readers shift in their seats exclaiming ’but isn’t that we were saying all along we don’t trust them.’ With respect I don’t trust them for a what I suspect is an entirely different reason to you not trusting them if you get my drift. I don’t trust Sinn Féin because they preach one message in the north of Ireland re- economic and social policy and another in our little republic. Martin Mc Guinness is playing political games when he boasts of how he and his friend Peter Robinson and his other pal Ian Paisley went to Wall Street and played their part in the further globalisation of Northern Ireland. In the north American multi-nationals are the solution even if in our experience it is at least worth a debate as to their real long term worth to our economy. Down here Sinn Fein project themselves as a party of the left well certainly more to the left than either of the Fianna’s and possibly most of labour.
Up north Sinn Féin are backers of austerity and support budgetary cutbacks like any good lazy government in power. Northern Ireland due to its history has no strong connections with the politicisation of the left, most of its politics historically has been drawn on religious or ethnic divisions usually both. Down south Sinn Féin are critics of austerity in my opinion rightly so but how do the two strands equalise? In the republic they speak of self development rather than the failed dependence on the might of the multi national, they make stirring speeches on how best to develop our natural resources, and how to re-claim our potentially enormous and lucrative fishing grounds.
As voter I don’t know where I am I have one crowd of conservatives preaching the merits of wall street, and another radical movement calling for immediate and significant change in the way we organise our society and economy. These surely are the questions that should have been asked of Gerry Adams during the general election rather than trying to ruin his reputation as a person. I know the presidency is not in itself a political role but Martin Mc Guinness could have been made answer about these inconsistencies, but he wasn’t and our state run television service presumed we didn’t need to know. Of course there is also a competition in place I would suspect as to which broadcaster will be the first to catch out the Sinn Féin hierarchy, as Vincent Browne did his best to claim the prize on Irelands independent channel if there is such a thing. I would ask Sinn Féin to come clean with us the voters as to which policies they are actually presenting to us before I for one could even consider giving them my vote.
In response to a comment left on my blog yesterday I found the following article in An Phoblacht, [Republican News] from Thursday June 3rd 1999, I thought it might be of interest.
The background to the current search for bodies at locations around the country can be traced back to the first IRA cessation in 1994, when several West Belfast families whose relatives had been killed by the IRA in the 1970s and buried in secret graves contacted Gerry Adams in relation to the return of their remains.
Gerry Adams met the families and promised to do all that he could to resolve the matter. For Sinn Féin, the issue of the missing bodies is a clear matter of human rights and justice for the families involved and the party has said from the outset that all of the bodies should be returned with utmost speed so that the anguish of the families can be eased.
The Sinn Féin President commented this week: ``I am sorry that the bereaved families have been subjected to the trauma and pain arising from these killings and from the long wait they have had until now to have the bodies returned
``There is no easy way around this issue. It is part of the process of reconciliation which has come about because of the peace process.
``People are very upset by the harrowing scenes. This is a very painful chapter in our history. The enormity of the tragedy is effecting everyone on the island, but most especially the families involved.''
Adams has also said that unlike those who have attacked republicans for years, Sinn Féin recognised the injustice of the situation and spoke out against it and worked to see the bodies returned.
Sinn Féin has said it believes the IRA is being genuine in its attempts to deal with the issue. The IRA has apologised to the families. The hope now must be that all the remains will be located and returned to their families as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Gerry Adams urged individuals with more precise information about the location of the bodies to provide details to the commission appointed to aversee the returns of the remains.
``There is always a possibility that someone out there has some little piece of information or that someone's memory has been triggered by the television images that we have seen. If that is the case then I would certainly urge such individuals to give such information to the commission as soon as possible.
``I like everyone else believe the fact that this is going on for so long is a source of unimaginable pain for those that are witnessing it. I think the whole nation is watching and I hope that the remains will be retrieved as quickly as possible,'' he added.
Adams said that his understanding, having been in touch with the intermediaries over recent days, is that all information uncovered by the IRA is in the hands of the commission.''
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
Politics Perceptions, Criminality and the Election.
Years ago my brother read British comics like the Lion and the Valiant or was it the Hotspur I cant remember now but they contained all sorts of non-sense with footballers playing without boots becoming cult heroes, and motor bike cops who solved crimes, with the reader having to spot the clues. They had second world war stories also and in these the Germans were referred to as Krauts and the Japanese as Nips. But have no fear the world was a different place then and there was none of this awful political correctness that blights our sensibilities now. In the main people sort of laughed at it and reasoned well that’s what that crowd deserve for loosing the war, and when I was growing up people didn’t really talk about the war as such it was referred to in sort of hushed tones, like somehow we might be accused of something in relation to its waging, and after all were the gallant Irishmen who fought not sort of frowned upon by the masses for serving the Queen. Oh yes the good old days before the arrival on these shores of the politically correct breed, and they have slowly but surely taken the fun out of almost everything.
Not that everything was sweet then either, it is difficult to imagine that many of the awful revelations re- our past and our treatment of women and children and the poor in general thrived in the face of such ambivalence and within a culture that was controlled by the church and its closest ally the state. For in Ireland the state was and is an institution it is not representative of citizenry but rather it is the iron hand that negates its citizens into divisiveness based on class which by its nature leads to conflicts of interest, and the separation of agendas which in the cold light of day serves only the elite few.
It is with this in mind that I reflect on the presidential election and also the last general election where upon we have had the two most recognisable faces in Sinn Fein stand for election. Before I continue I must state that I abhor violence and I am at one with the victims of violence no matter where and whom they might be. However I am also a realist and when I examine the world in which I live taking away the violence that is owned by criminality, I will take a look at what we would regard as justifiable violence like in the case of sovereign countries engaging in war. I was born in 1958 five years after the Korean conflict and just after the war started in Vietnam in 1955,with American involvement beginning in 1965 and it came to a conclusion in 1975,and so on until we come to the unofficial wars in South America, and on to the debacle that was and is Iraq and Afghanistan.Of course there were skirmishes in the Balkans and Libya along the way and Britain had its own little crusade in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, each one of these conflicts have been justified at least to a level of acceptance to what I term the general populace. Who are it seems quite adept at accepting that violence can be used to settle conflicts in far way regions were despots have threatened not only their own citizens but our way of life also, and violence can protect us from such fall outs from conflict like oil shortages, and trade embargo’s etc. Recently we had the commander in chief of the American armed forces and the commander in chief of the British armed forces welcomed and wined and dined by our little outraged nation. If a proper examination of these countries conduct whilst engaging in war and even as to whether they were legally entitled to go to war was to take place, I wonder how many people would approach them with photographs of their loved ones and demand an explanation. But you see it is alright because these people are our friends so we are advised and who are we the general populace to argue differently.
Forgive me but my mental image of the general populace is not very flattering I tend to imagine a middle-aged couple sitting in a comfortable room watching the Six One news and commenting occasionally with observations like, ‘isn’t that terrible,’ and ‘the yanks will sort them out,’ and ‘I don’t trust anyone with a beard,’ and ‘they should take the dole off of them,’ I could go on but I wont you get my point.
Now when Gerry Adams stood for election for the last Dail the knives were out and sharpened and we had the political opportunists foaming at the mouth in anticipation of making a kill. Here was a man with a sinister past a member of the IRA no less a murderer and a protector of murderers. Not a great start for anyone trying to convince the electorate that this man is right man for them. To put things in context the political establishment were asking people to believe that a man like Gerry Adams who had just led his people down the road to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland was not a fit candidate to serve in Dail Eireann. Now I wasn’t present at the Good Friday agreement negotiations, they took place without me and no matter how sore I am about it I just wasn’t there and that is it, but honestly would it be too much to argue that the very parties that were sticking the knife into Gerry Adams in our election were instrumental in nominating both him and Martin Mc Guinness as peacemakers and men of vision during these negotiations?
During the recent campaign they tried to pull the same trick on Martin Mc Guinness as was tried against Gerry Adams, in the latter’s case they brought up the Jean McConville issue, this mother of ten went missing in 1972 her body was found accidentally in 2003 on a beach in Co. Louth. An ex-IRA, man accused Gerry Adams of ordering her execution this accusation Adams has always denied vehemently. Then Martin Mc Guinness was faced by David Kelly who lost his father Paddy who was a serving soldier and was killed in the freeing of the kidnapped Don Tidy in 1983. I would ask why this young man didn’t get his local TD to raise the matter in the Dail or if indeed he had any evidence of a crime why didn’t he go to the authorities. I may be wrong but the only television piece I saw on this issue was of him presenting or rather confronting Martin Mc Guinness with a photograph of his deceased father. One thinks that if Martin Mc Guinness is in politics for thirty years why confront him with this now and indeed why confront him at all without some evidence that he was involved in this crime. People will argue that Gerry Adams topped the poll in Louth and the allegations about Jean McConville didn’t do his election prospects any harm as in effect there is not a grain of proof pointing to any wrong doing by Gerry Adams. That is true but with the odd exception the people of the Louth constituency are not particularly the target of the spin. Louth is a border county and the people who live there know that they lived in war zone for over thirty years and they also know what is required to both make and keep the peace. Also we will see how many of the outraged politicians take the Jean Mc Conville case forward and win some sort of resolution, this unfortunate family who have been left high and dry by politicians, the fact that these victims are deemed as no longer news worthy or worth an interest by these political hacks now that the political scarring of Gerry Adams is no longer pursuable, is it not the worst example of cynicism?
It is frustrating to see such political dirty tricks come into the political debate, I take it as a grave insult to the intelligence of the electorate and their analysis of politics on this island, the slanted information is definitely aimed at my RTE six one viewers but are they that prevalent, perhaps they are when one examines the overall results of the last election. One wonders about the motivation of the ruling classes and their relationship with Sinn Fein in particular, I must make it absolutely clear at his juncture that I am not a Sinn Fein supporter I have never voted for them and I am unlikely to vote for them any time soon. But for the powers that be in this little republic to blatantly try and trick the Irish electorate by the planting of disingenuous red-herrings to try and sway public opinion is wrong in my view and should be challenged and rebuffed. These same parties of power left a small portion of its citizens alone and undefended in 1969, they were expected to struggle and suppress the might of the British army whom at his stage were at one with a corruptive and un-representative government in Northern Ireland. These nationalists citizens of our state were left without defence against not just an army but also against para-military forces like the B-specials and later the UDA. Houses were burned to the ground people were evicted from their homes many of them fleeing south over the border to places like Donegal and Dublin, the citizens of this country were under threat but we chose not to protect them in any fashion. Young men were arrested and interrogated sometimes brutally beaten and then came the greatest breach of human rights of all with the introduction of internment. The spin of course was that this wasn’t a war and that the IRA had no mandate to defend the citizens of our state but it did by definition because we as a sovereign nation refused to defend our own citizens thus leaving the void for the IRA to fill.
We now hold the high moral ground and accuse those who fought what was a war and not the silly titled ‘the troubles,’ as we later christened it. This was of course a conflict very much of our own making in that had we responded as any other nation on this earth would have,and defended our citizens the conflict may never have escalated the way that it did, and I fully accept that it was a dreadful conflict with victims on all sides brutally killed and maimed, I also fully accept that as the conflict progressed it was hi-jacked by criminals and splinter groups on all sides many of these engaged in criminality and in many ways it became a threat to all of our citizens basically because it had no coherent leadership at that time.
Lastly the greatest disservice perpetrated by successive Irish governments was in its failure not only to protect its citizens in the north of Ireland but also us here in the south, there is and there never will be any accountability by those who destroyed so many lives in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974. Maybe when Gay Mitchell comes canvassing I will show him a Photograph of a beautiful young neighbour of mine form Sallynoggin who died on that fateful day, and I will demand he names the perpetrators.
Not that everything was sweet then either, it is difficult to imagine that many of the awful revelations re- our past and our treatment of women and children and the poor in general thrived in the face of such ambivalence and within a culture that was controlled by the church and its closest ally the state. For in Ireland the state was and is an institution it is not representative of citizenry but rather it is the iron hand that negates its citizens into divisiveness based on class which by its nature leads to conflicts of interest, and the separation of agendas which in the cold light of day serves only the elite few.
It is with this in mind that I reflect on the presidential election and also the last general election where upon we have had the two most recognisable faces in Sinn Fein stand for election. Before I continue I must state that I abhor violence and I am at one with the victims of violence no matter where and whom they might be. However I am also a realist and when I examine the world in which I live taking away the violence that is owned by criminality, I will take a look at what we would regard as justifiable violence like in the case of sovereign countries engaging in war. I was born in 1958 five years after the Korean conflict and just after the war started in Vietnam in 1955,with American involvement beginning in 1965 and it came to a conclusion in 1975,and so on until we come to the unofficial wars in South America, and on to the debacle that was and is Iraq and Afghanistan.Of course there were skirmishes in the Balkans and Libya along the way and Britain had its own little crusade in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, each one of these conflicts have been justified at least to a level of acceptance to what I term the general populace. Who are it seems quite adept at accepting that violence can be used to settle conflicts in far way regions were despots have threatened not only their own citizens but our way of life also, and violence can protect us from such fall outs from conflict like oil shortages, and trade embargo’s etc. Recently we had the commander in chief of the American armed forces and the commander in chief of the British armed forces welcomed and wined and dined by our little outraged nation. If a proper examination of these countries conduct whilst engaging in war and even as to whether they were legally entitled to go to war was to take place, I wonder how many people would approach them with photographs of their loved ones and demand an explanation. But you see it is alright because these people are our friends so we are advised and who are we the general populace to argue differently.
Forgive me but my mental image of the general populace is not very flattering I tend to imagine a middle-aged couple sitting in a comfortable room watching the Six One news and commenting occasionally with observations like, ‘isn’t that terrible,’ and ‘the yanks will sort them out,’ and ‘I don’t trust anyone with a beard,’ and ‘they should take the dole off of them,’ I could go on but I wont you get my point.
Now when Gerry Adams stood for election for the last Dail the knives were out and sharpened and we had the political opportunists foaming at the mouth in anticipation of making a kill. Here was a man with a sinister past a member of the IRA no less a murderer and a protector of murderers. Not a great start for anyone trying to convince the electorate that this man is right man for them. To put things in context the political establishment were asking people to believe that a man like Gerry Adams who had just led his people down the road to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland was not a fit candidate to serve in Dail Eireann. Now I wasn’t present at the Good Friday agreement negotiations, they took place without me and no matter how sore I am about it I just wasn’t there and that is it, but honestly would it be too much to argue that the very parties that were sticking the knife into Gerry Adams in our election were instrumental in nominating both him and Martin Mc Guinness as peacemakers and men of vision during these negotiations?
During the recent campaign they tried to pull the same trick on Martin Mc Guinness as was tried against Gerry Adams, in the latter’s case they brought up the Jean McConville issue, this mother of ten went missing in 1972 her body was found accidentally in 2003 on a beach in Co. Louth. An ex-IRA, man accused Gerry Adams of ordering her execution this accusation Adams has always denied vehemently. Then Martin Mc Guinness was faced by David Kelly who lost his father Paddy who was a serving soldier and was killed in the freeing of the kidnapped Don Tidy in 1983. I would ask why this young man didn’t get his local TD to raise the matter in the Dail or if indeed he had any evidence of a crime why didn’t he go to the authorities. I may be wrong but the only television piece I saw on this issue was of him presenting or rather confronting Martin Mc Guinness with a photograph of his deceased father. One thinks that if Martin Mc Guinness is in politics for thirty years why confront him with this now and indeed why confront him at all without some evidence that he was involved in this crime. People will argue that Gerry Adams topped the poll in Louth and the allegations about Jean McConville didn’t do his election prospects any harm as in effect there is not a grain of proof pointing to any wrong doing by Gerry Adams. That is true but with the odd exception the people of the Louth constituency are not particularly the target of the spin. Louth is a border county and the people who live there know that they lived in war zone for over thirty years and they also know what is required to both make and keep the peace. Also we will see how many of the outraged politicians take the Jean Mc Conville case forward and win some sort of resolution, this unfortunate family who have been left high and dry by politicians, the fact that these victims are deemed as no longer news worthy or worth an interest by these political hacks now that the political scarring of Gerry Adams is no longer pursuable, is it not the worst example of cynicism?
It is frustrating to see such political dirty tricks come into the political debate, I take it as a grave insult to the intelligence of the electorate and their analysis of politics on this island, the slanted information is definitely aimed at my RTE six one viewers but are they that prevalent, perhaps they are when one examines the overall results of the last election. One wonders about the motivation of the ruling classes and their relationship with Sinn Fein in particular, I must make it absolutely clear at his juncture that I am not a Sinn Fein supporter I have never voted for them and I am unlikely to vote for them any time soon. But for the powers that be in this little republic to blatantly try and trick the Irish electorate by the planting of disingenuous red-herrings to try and sway public opinion is wrong in my view and should be challenged and rebuffed. These same parties of power left a small portion of its citizens alone and undefended in 1969, they were expected to struggle and suppress the might of the British army whom at his stage were at one with a corruptive and un-representative government in Northern Ireland. These nationalists citizens of our state were left without defence against not just an army but also against para-military forces like the B-specials and later the UDA. Houses were burned to the ground people were evicted from their homes many of them fleeing south over the border to places like Donegal and Dublin, the citizens of this country were under threat but we chose not to protect them in any fashion. Young men were arrested and interrogated sometimes brutally beaten and then came the greatest breach of human rights of all with the introduction of internment. The spin of course was that this wasn’t a war and that the IRA had no mandate to defend the citizens of our state but it did by definition because we as a sovereign nation refused to defend our own citizens thus leaving the void for the IRA to fill.
We now hold the high moral ground and accuse those who fought what was a war and not the silly titled ‘the troubles,’ as we later christened it. This was of course a conflict very much of our own making in that had we responded as any other nation on this earth would have,and defended our citizens the conflict may never have escalated the way that it did, and I fully accept that it was a dreadful conflict with victims on all sides brutally killed and maimed, I also fully accept that as the conflict progressed it was hi-jacked by criminals and splinter groups on all sides many of these engaged in criminality and in many ways it became a threat to all of our citizens basically because it had no coherent leadership at that time.
Lastly the greatest disservice perpetrated by successive Irish governments was in its failure not only to protect its citizens in the north of Ireland but also us here in the south, there is and there never will be any accountability by those who destroyed so many lives in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974. Maybe when Gay Mitchell comes canvassing I will show him a Photograph of a beautiful young neighbour of mine form Sallynoggin who died on that fateful day, and I will demand he names the perpetrators.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
The Arrogance of the Brilliant
I am confused and bemused, absolutely shocked to tell the truth here we are the citizens of this tiny island we are bang in the middle of austerity and misery and what do we get? Bono yes you are reading correctly Bono and not just the great man but we also have politicians you know those guys that make all the sincere promises but then when reality bites they have to park them, yes those guys. We also have our brilliant entrepreneurial business sorts who found the geographical confines of this little nation a little restrictive and they like Bono found better places to make and keep their loot.
It was laughable to hear them discuss our plight with such detachment and in very concise business speak as well which is nice of them. One guy informed us that within the next five years some shoppers in America will not use money at all, which is great news for us idiots who need to buy basics like bread and milk but can’t afford to pass the wanted posters outside our local store. Yes he went on to tell us that it will all be done over a phone line, and the shop will debit our accounts as we buy unlimited amounts of permanently discounted groceries. Well doesn’t that beat Banagher as the fella said, and thanks so much to this innovative businessman for spreading the gospel, and sure wont our consumer lives be all the richer for it,. I can hear people all over the country saying ‘well couldn’t we do with a few more like him,’ and they are right aren’t they, I mean this country has never built its economy on the brains of entrepreneurs now have we?
No Ireland has always built its economic planning round the sound ideology of collective responsibility the strong protecting the weak, the harvesting of our massive natural resources of gas and oil, all of this combining with the fruits of our fishing industry,and boy that is why this country is booming, oh sorry it is not like that here, that is why we have Bono and the boys in suits talking bollocks with our politicians is it not.
It is of course laughable that we citizens should bow to the entrepreneurial types who ride on the crest of the very wave that has engulfed us. Are we the citizens of this country that naïve to think that even if they had the odd good idea that it is going to save our lost souls? I liken it a little to those telethons they ran in the eighties when we had well know guys like Pat Kenny throwing off his suit and appearing in a nice jumper his granny knit and he asking us to dig deep to support something that we the people and by proxy our government should have been doing anyway. Why don’t we have a save Ireland concert we could have it in the Phoenix Park, get Ryan Tubridy to front the television phone in and we all can pledge to save the nation. We could even have Bono saying something really emotive near the end, and it will bring tears to peoples eyes and we will all remember where we were on the memorable night.
It is times like this when one wakes from a nightmare of huge proportions to think about jumping ship, who knows maybe the sth of France nice and warm or Italy, or dear old England. But the nightmare continues as soon as you realise that the empire has not only spread but it has actually dumped its toxic waste on us little Europeans to such an extent that it is unlikely to heal itself over time. What is the fall out of this cynical and evil dumping well if you watch the media, have you noticed a shift in the way that news is reported, for example whilst we all know that some very greedy people scam welfare, but when it is presented as one of the major ills facing our economic well being, it is disingenuous to say the least. The neo-liberal agenda is further served by staging this tribute to those entrepreneurial types I spoke of earlier, how can the Taoiseach sit smugly feting the business brigade when he must know that only through state intervention the state been us the citizens can we create the correct conditions for employment and growth. Do we need to continue with the cap in hand to multi-nationals who will soak up their tax breaks before bolting to India or someplace, or do we need as a state to control our natural resources at least one bank and one state credit union, our health and education services, if we were to control the core of our society surely by proxy it would create a lively economy an attractive investment proposition for foreign companies, and a real base for the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
I am sure the business types will go back to their various nests in whatever countries have benefited from their wisdom. They will have tales to tell by the fireside as their children listen in awe at the sad tales emanating from the oul sod. Tales of people lying on hospital trolleys all over the country citizens on urgent waiting lists to see specialist who may save their lives. Special needs children without the extra teachers they need to improve their lives, and nurses and doctors who are overstretched and exhausted from long hours and poor resources. They will tell tales of a society that judges and punishes people based on their level of income, a society where individualism is rewarded over conscience, where even the once sacrosanct teachings of religion have been replaced by a must have consumerism. They will tell of a society controlled by the media and corrupted by rogue financial interests, but at least they will have got Bono’s autograph and hey he might even write a nice song about the injustice, and we can all learn it and sing it.
It was laughable to hear them discuss our plight with such detachment and in very concise business speak as well which is nice of them. One guy informed us that within the next five years some shoppers in America will not use money at all, which is great news for us idiots who need to buy basics like bread and milk but can’t afford to pass the wanted posters outside our local store. Yes he went on to tell us that it will all be done over a phone line, and the shop will debit our accounts as we buy unlimited amounts of permanently discounted groceries. Well doesn’t that beat Banagher as the fella said, and thanks so much to this innovative businessman for spreading the gospel, and sure wont our consumer lives be all the richer for it,. I can hear people all over the country saying ‘well couldn’t we do with a few more like him,’ and they are right aren’t they, I mean this country has never built its economy on the brains of entrepreneurs now have we?
No Ireland has always built its economic planning round the sound ideology of collective responsibility the strong protecting the weak, the harvesting of our massive natural resources of gas and oil, all of this combining with the fruits of our fishing industry,and boy that is why this country is booming, oh sorry it is not like that here, that is why we have Bono and the boys in suits talking bollocks with our politicians is it not.
It is of course laughable that we citizens should bow to the entrepreneurial types who ride on the crest of the very wave that has engulfed us. Are we the citizens of this country that naïve to think that even if they had the odd good idea that it is going to save our lost souls? I liken it a little to those telethons they ran in the eighties when we had well know guys like Pat Kenny throwing off his suit and appearing in a nice jumper his granny knit and he asking us to dig deep to support something that we the people and by proxy our government should have been doing anyway. Why don’t we have a save Ireland concert we could have it in the Phoenix Park, get Ryan Tubridy to front the television phone in and we all can pledge to save the nation. We could even have Bono saying something really emotive near the end, and it will bring tears to peoples eyes and we will all remember where we were on the memorable night.
It is times like this when one wakes from a nightmare of huge proportions to think about jumping ship, who knows maybe the sth of France nice and warm or Italy, or dear old England. But the nightmare continues as soon as you realise that the empire has not only spread but it has actually dumped its toxic waste on us little Europeans to such an extent that it is unlikely to heal itself over time. What is the fall out of this cynical and evil dumping well if you watch the media, have you noticed a shift in the way that news is reported, for example whilst we all know that some very greedy people scam welfare, but when it is presented as one of the major ills facing our economic well being, it is disingenuous to say the least. The neo-liberal agenda is further served by staging this tribute to those entrepreneurial types I spoke of earlier, how can the Taoiseach sit smugly feting the business brigade when he must know that only through state intervention the state been us the citizens can we create the correct conditions for employment and growth. Do we need to continue with the cap in hand to multi-nationals who will soak up their tax breaks before bolting to India or someplace, or do we need as a state to control our natural resources at least one bank and one state credit union, our health and education services, if we were to control the core of our society surely by proxy it would create a lively economy an attractive investment proposition for foreign companies, and a real base for the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
I am sure the business types will go back to their various nests in whatever countries have benefited from their wisdom. They will have tales to tell by the fireside as their children listen in awe at the sad tales emanating from the oul sod. Tales of people lying on hospital trolleys all over the country citizens on urgent waiting lists to see specialist who may save their lives. Special needs children without the extra teachers they need to improve their lives, and nurses and doctors who are overstretched and exhausted from long hours and poor resources. They will tell tales of a society that judges and punishes people based on their level of income, a society where individualism is rewarded over conscience, where even the once sacrosanct teachings of religion have been replaced by a must have consumerism. They will tell of a society controlled by the media and corrupted by rogue financial interests, but at least they will have got Bono’s autograph and hey he might even write a nice song about the injustice, and we can all learn it and sing it.
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