Why we wont face the truth?

It is a terrible thing. The consensus, the public consciousness, why is it so awful you might ask? Because it is usually wrong—and it is very damaging. We in Ireland are very good at half truths, misconceptions and in many cases downright lies.

We tell lies at all levels. It finally spills over when our political system overheats and burns us the citizen. The people scream why in anger—but it is the citizen who lives the lie and allows the pot to boil unattended.

It starts with simple misconceptions and spoofing. Like I am asked to believe that paedophile priests colluded as young men. They joined the priesthood with one intention and that was to gain access to children. This thesis completely ignores the fact that most child abusers are male, and most abuse takes place in the family home.

But to suit the national consciousness there is no real debate or radical examination to the actual causes of paedophilia we wait as a nation for the next outrage.

We can simplify it further. You go to the pharmacy to buy ‘Solpadeine’s.’ The assistant asks ‘have you taken them before?’ you say that ‘you have [but fail to add that you have been chewing them since 1984.] She whispers something to the pharmacist who gives you the once over before nodding. You pay the exorbitant price and you leave.

Like what area of the public consciousness are we pleasing here? I could have done the same thing in twenty pharmacies for all they know. If ‘Solpadeine,’ are so lethal why are they available without prescription? They are the saviour of the habitual drunk and are laced with Codeine—but the urban legend is that neurotic people were downing them in such doses that their livers failed. My argument is why not come out and say this? Why leave it to individual pharmacists to play God—if they are dangerous make them prescription only. They wont because they will lose money—in the final analysis it is us the citizen who is incidental to their sales figures.

People speak more nonsense re- the public consciousness and politics and as our neoliberal media hammer home, the economy. I often wonder if we had the same type of media when I was a child how they would have reported on the poverty. Of course I was lucky as it was so much worse in my parent’s time.

The national consensus is that the sooner we can get back to the markets the better. The markets will cure everything and sure all will be grand.

Economists are on television commenting on how the government could save money. Cut the public service wage bill, cut social welfare. Let us see if we can impose a property tax etc. The fiscal suited neoliberals are offering us solutions to the very problems that their ideology has caused. Now these people own the media so you get the same drivel repeated time and time again. So our slavish following of the markets and neoliberal economic doctrine got us into this mess. However if we keep the faith in time this brilliant economic religion will save us.

At no time is the citizen asked to ponder on such a preposterous proposition. Under this ideology all alternatives are banished. Any mention of social justice is compared with North Korea. The dictatorship there is used as a whip against any call for real citizenship—and real control of what is after all our nation. When we get past the North Korean spin—we face mind sets that believe that socialism cannot produce wealth. That an equitable society is unworkable and unrealistic. But the truth lies in the bare fact that our country is self sufficient. We have ample natural resources and with the development of indigenous industry we could become self sufficient in a relatively short time.

The real truth I believe is that we are making an ideological choice to live beyond our means. Our economic system has been infiltrated by outside interests that are creaming it off the back of our citizens. We are rewarded by the empire—they will protect us from unseen enemies. It is unlikely that we would ever be allowed to starve. This as long as we keep our levels of corporation tax ridiculously low, and our rates of income tax so low that it is impossible to fund vital services from the take.

The national consciousness, the truth is in the ideology—and the citizen survives on lies.