so you would reward unprecedented failure. maybe seanie fitzpatrick is the best man to turn Anglo around too :rolleyes:
dont agree, after 20 years of FF power pretty much I can see the next government making sure to last out the full tenure. They have spent too long out of government to fall out over something trivial. A snap election in that scenario would only play into FF hands and put them back in power. Dont think FF will be overly upset to be in opposition for a good while.
All true. Hard to look past it being a systemic problem though, as opposed to the party politics we’re all encouraged to take an interest in. You can only understand it in terms of power and where the power rests. The electorate is heavily influenced by one newspaper in particular which lies well to the right, and while not a foaming at the mouth attack dog just yet it will still savage anyone on the left within the political spectrum. And it will be successful.
So if all the significant lobby groups, the major media outlets, and the donors are pulling one way, and there is no one pulling the other, then what can we honestly expect? Social partnership achieved great things but it also undermined political activism throughout the country. There are no mass movements. There is then no real pressure on politicians, beyond selling a nice message, which they can then forget about once the electorate has bitten. We’ll be promised a new republic in the next few years, but unless something fundamentally changes the power dynamics then our society will remain the same.
social partnership was actually a great scheme for controlling the unions. It kept the fat cats in the union jobs happy and now in the midst on the collapse of Irish society the unions lack the heart for the battle. Corporate Ireland and their political lackeys can do as they please, the unions with their Fas jobs and slush funds are part of this golden circle. An all out national strike would have brought the government down at any stage over the last 2 years and forced a general election.
The Sindo boy Lenihan’s moves to guarantee bank debts particularly Anglo have come to nought and frankly history will judge it as the worst economic decision in the history of the State. Anglo is a bit like that bog in Limerick, the debts are bottomless but in this case the quick fix options arent working. The state is selling national bonds now at rates of over 6% to keep pumping money into that bog while at the same time unemployment has hit a 16 year high and will only increase, paycuts across the board, the reduction in services to those most in need etc etc - seriously where is the national fight? why should 4.5m people bail out 100?
The Irish electorate has been force fed a diet of ‘pragmatism’ over the lase number of decades which has gone a long way towards removing the ‘fight’ you refer to. The pragmatic measures can always be defined by the powers that be through a narrow discourse or by lining up the ‘experts’. Irish politics is define by an apparent lack of political philosophy, which is true to a certain extent. There isn’t really any ideology in our political framework. Fianna Fail are the obvious example. The thing is though that just cloaks the reality, which is a capitalist neo-liberal political culture, with an Irish accent.
But any dissent must bow before the altar of pragmatism, or “the national interest” which is the ever present rallying call. There is no alternative ideology, because ultimately a vocal ideologue will be sidelined as an extremist - Joe Higgins - and whether this is the case or not after a decade of being marginalised they give up on crafting a message that might capture the electorate.
Ultimately everything the government has done has been presented by almost everyone as the only available option. It’s remarkable, because this is so obviously an absurd proposition. But nevertheless, to varying degrees we have all bought into it. We all worship at the altar of ‘pragmatism’, and alternative viewpoints we instinctively dismiss as fanaticism.
give me one example of “capitalist neo-liberal” culture or policy in ireland over the past 10 years?
I’ve got nothing outside of taxi plate deregulation.
as to the alternative ideology, we can thank our lucky stars (hat tip to Rocko, the pin, P.ie, boards, irish economy, etc.) that we have places like these, where previously we relied on RTE. even newstalk are an improvement on that incestuous shower of fuckwits.
The low tax and low regulation approach of the last decade and where it’s brought us is a good place to start. The banking crisis would be the natural follow up. Then we could finish on the massive income inequality in our state. All would fall neatly under the grand neo-liberal umbrella.
low tax, with over 50% of workers paying no income tax, would surely be a socialist move, no?
by definition, the rest are picking up the slack
social welfare rates and minimum wage rates are comparatively high. again, not seeing the capitalist agenda there.
the impact on our cost base is anything but liberal
look at all the industry sectors either run by or propped up by government:
gas, electricity, almost all the “professions”, e.g. law, pharmacy, accounting, medicine
the regulation aside (agreed, classic neo-liberal nonsense) i can’t actually see a coherent economic ideology, rather a series of conflicting agendas.
no wonder we “are where we are”
we interfered everywhere we shouldn’t have, and ignored the one area we should never have left out of our sight
[quote=“treaty_exile, post: 523125”]
non existant regulation, fair enough
low tax, with over 50% of workers paying no income tax, would surely be a socialist move, no?[/quote]
Low tax is not generally a hallmark of socialism.
is leaving the lowest earning 50% of the workforce out of the tax net not a progressive, left-leaning, move?
tax cuts / low taxes, as mentioned earlier in the thread, according to a capitalist agenda, should be aimed at the higher earners in order to free up investment capital.
it’s exactly what Dubya did when he came to power, and what Obama is rowing back on now.
I think Noonan has really impressed since they brought him back. Thought he gave a very cogent xplanation on PT last night as to why FG could now distance themselves from the Guarantee they initially supported. Namely the banks misled Lenihan on their solvency and Lenihan in turn misled the Dail. He clearly reads the detail , which sadly enough is unusual in Irish poltics.
Sadly enough he has to share s front bench with goons like Phil Hogan and Billy Timmons who ate every bit as bad as their FF counterparts.
As an aside Im beginning to see Colm Mc Carthy as the most plausible media economist in the game. Yhougt he gave a very fair analysis on PT last night
Noonan’s disgraceful antics as Minister for Health will never be forgotten or forgiven. Useful as an attack dog in opposition but he proved he had the backbone of a fly when in charge.
Chez Appendage got a letter from a FG TD yesterday publicising his upcoming clinics in a local village. FFS. What the fuck will he be wasting his time doing that for? Is that not the job of the local councillors to do that sort of shit. FFS x 2.