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Looking at the Late Late doing one of those panels that were so much part of the dark days of 1980s it struck me that as a nation we are a drunk who blames a step he wasn’t expecting for the fall that smashed his face in. And our automatic response appears to be to call one of those numbers about if we’d had a fall or trip at work to get compensation of our situation. It’s because we were drunk on property that the step, whether you say that step was Lehman Bros., or Bear Stearns (we remembers them now!), banks existing on the overnight markets or the problems of sub-prime lending more generally. The plain fact is we were bound to hit something at some point, and we were simply weren’t prepared to deal with it. Because our government chose not to bother and the electorate rewarded them for not doing so. You get votes for opening facilities not for providing the funding to use them.
Ger Colleran alluded to it at one point but none of the others really picked up on it, we’re at a Weimar moment in Irish history. Either we find a way or a way will find us, it won’t be fascism as people know it but it will be more restrictive and brutish and nasty. That brutish, nasty, me first mentality is already out there. It was part of the 80s culture of getting ahead (that means leave others behind) and it’s lauded even now when it hides in plain view by proclaiming itself as being about straight talking but which it isn’t. It’s about shouting down others, while taking up one’s self.
And all the while the Irish body politic is stumbling around holding its bloodied face, and pointing and railing at the step for being there. And probably blaming the council for putting it there…right outside our own door…on our property.
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Is there supposed to be a point here somewhere in this rabble?
as ger said,whos we, i don’t buy this we business
Anyone who says it was Lehman’s or something else outside of our control that is the sole cause of our situation ‘we’.
In saying that, I don’t buy this “it was all just some elite, some small minority that played a part in causing our problems”. There is a minority of people that had no hand, act or part in the decisions of the last 13 years but it is a much smaller minority than a lot of people like to make out.
Interesting to note that TDs, of every stripe,have been making much of representing the interests of ‘The Taxpayer’ in the struggles with the Banks and the setting up of NAMA.
The problem is that TDs are elected by Voters not Taxpayers and(from the best figures I can find) Ireland has 3 times more Voters than Taxpayers!
Isn’t it time to reinstate the old concept of “He who pays the Piper calls the Tune”?
Fair point, Dan. A majority of the country (myself included) voted for FF/PD (Didn’t the third time, admittedly) and FF pretty much delivered what they promised. Where FF cannot be forgiven is on enforcing benchmarking reforms and proper regulation, because they told us that they were doing those things. That’s what they deserve the kick in the knackers for. But for the country to say “Celtic Tiger culture? Nothing to do with me, guv.” is a load of balls. The great majority got their dollop of jam.