The real problem this country faces is that people just can’t see past the most obvious concerns. Everything was too expensive in this country, everyone was paid too much. As long as we’re stuck in these dogmatic mindsets we’re fucked.
Let’s be honest for a moment. Tragically, brutally, honest. This country is the political retard of Europe, and always has been. Our people are politically illiterate. Consequently, our representatives are of a poor standard, technically and morally. Their (representatives’ and voters’) only concern is what money they’re getting. No one gave a shit about workers’ rights or irresponsible lending when they were getting 60k pa for stirring cement.
Most European countries have had a social democratic party as one of the top 2 parties for their modern existence. We haven’t. Because we’re not really interested in society, in progressive measures that might benefit everyone. Irish people don’t care about everyone, they only care about themselves. So we thought rising house prices were a good thing, and fiscal restraint was a sign of mental illness. What kind of quare fella wouldn’t want his house to be worth half a million?
We have two neither here nor there parties, who don’t really stand for anything (except money), and don’t really oppose anything (except reform). Exhibit A: Bertie.
Labour, sadly, have all the goodwill in the world, but never had the spine to attack with real intent, and don’t look like they fancy government in the middle of this mess. They’re also in thrall to the thinking exhibited above - cuts to welfare, minimum wage? BAD. No matter if costs fall, no matter if the country is falling apart at the seams under the weight of the bloated overpaying of every chancer and scrounger who can get their arse to the Post Office once a week. BAD BAD BAD. Socialists like poor people, and poor people like money.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. The elite raped and continue to rape the country with their stooges in power. People loped off to the ballot boxes for years, voted for Rats and got a Ratocracy. And now they want their piece of the pie. In a way, I don’t blame them. Society is disintegrating and we all have to look out for ourselves.
I agree with a lot of the points in your post, there needs to be a sea change of attitude in this country so things can be sorted out. But will there be?
Naw are you fawking jokin “you can do what you want but only after I get mine” is the prevailing attitude, people dont care about anyone other than themselves and that includes the poor. The poor cant pay and a lot of them couldnt work when we had full employment as well, never did never could and never will.
Wheres me popcorn so I can get a ringside seat for this.
Well if you didn’t buy a overpriced house then you’re *clearly *unpatriotic. So if you haven’t already hung yourself then you should be punished (obviously).
We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis. As of July 2009 government borrowing has risen to €14.7 billion. While €6 billion of this is being spent on shoring up the banks, the remainder is to cover day-to-day expenditure. There is no doubt that something must change if this deficit is to be addressed.
Unfortunately, much of the commentary to date has argued that, in order to reduce the deficit, cuts to social welfare payments and the minimum wage are required. [/code]
Has anyone has proposed cutting minimum wage to cut the deficit, quite possibly it would increase the deficit at least in the short term. Suggestions to cut it have been tied with improving competitiveness not the deficit.
Strange how with SIPTU on board they didn’t repeat the more common claim that cuts to public sector spending and salaries are required for deficit reduction. Not that would gain the extra non union support they’re hoping for. Would look from the “mission statement” that the unions are exploiting the charities and indeed the poor for their usual agenda.
Over the coming weeks and months a series of actions will be rolled out to communicate our message that basic welfare payments and the minimum wage must not be cut, and that the Christmas payment must be made - Eoin O Broin → thepoorcantpay.ie/mission-statement
Dell employs 1,200 staff in Poland at an average of €3 an hour compared with €12 an hour in Limerick → ndpta.com/files/DellLimerickST.pdf
Let’s cut everyone’s wage to match Poland, then find some other poor nation to compare wages with, cut to that, cut some more and let’s not stop till we we’re working for half a potato and the chance to suck on a cow’s udder once a week for a bonus.
It drives me spare when people say stuff like that. One person makes the very valid and reasonable point that wages in Ireland are too high and that we are uncompetitive and that in the long run it is only ourselves we are hurting. A seond person then likens any proposed drop in wages (to a reasonable level) to a being a proposal to return to subsistance farming.
The two things aren’t the same. By trying to muddy the waters you are actively resisting reasonable debate. That isn’t what reasonable people do. That is what politicans do. If you don’t like the idea of dropping the minimum wage come up with good reasons why it shouldn’t be done. Preferable based on strong statistical anlysis of what will best suit the common good. Trying to smear a point so that it is a different point than the one the original poster made just aggravates me. It is late and I am tired and I have little patience for this kind of smearing. If you have a point then make it. If you don’t then don’t.
A number of people openly scoff at the notion of “competing” with other nations and are quietly confident that Ireland is in fact “worth it”. Who cares if companies are moving their operations back to the US to cut costs sure we’re not competing with them are we? We’re not competing with Poland either. Or Latvia. In fact these people can’t name a single country we are are/can/should be competing with but they are sure we can legislate our way to wealth with a higher minimum wage and more social welfare.
