These blogs won't be confined to writing. You may of noticed. In a political or sociological debate, the stimulation of ideas is vital. Music and pictures play their part in all of this, in my opinion. Songs, for example, are a collection of words. Some songs seem easy to decipher, others are more obtuse, but provocative nevertheless. Music can be evocative in its own right, or can bring us back to a place or a time of inspiration. paintings and sculpture, theatre and performance art have always been at the centre of stimulating progressive ideas.
Lets keep an open mind on all of this and be creative in how ideas are spread.
Commentary on politics, current affairs, art, music and all that makes up SOCIETY
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Candidate
The Candidate
All putting themselves forward for the coming election can change the way politics is done here – if they want to.
I would be surprised if those representing either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael would choose to do this. Nor would I expect those presenting themselves as ‘Independent’ in the mould of Jackie Healy-Rae.
In effect many if not most elected Leister House representatives act in this parochial way to one degree or another. That is one of the biggest obstacle we have to the radical change required at this stage.
Whatever about the conservative parties and their candidates and elected representatives, there can not be any excuse for those from parties with progressive political objectives. The same applies to those individuals running as independents who also share a desire to effect meaningful and progressive change.
Would it not establish the atmosphere for the forthcoming election if all such candidates either made a declaration or incorporated a form of wording or set of objectives into their initial public statements and then at key points in the campaign , laying out something along these lines:
- That this is not a local authority election. The issues are national. Insofar as specific regions lack financial and logistic support, the solution lays at national level.
- That, if elected, the candidates focus would be on national issues. Filling potholes and/or gaining advantage for any given constituent with a local authority or health service provider is not, and must not, be influenced by an elected national legislator.
- Furthermore, that constituents should not expect access to either a candidate or elected representative to lobby for advantage to services. Where people do make such contact, they should be referred to the relevant service provider directly. If the system has broken down and people cannot get access to such services or feel discriminated against, such breakdowns are an issue of public service accountability. These issues should and could be addressed publicly and nationally.
- That local elected representatives to County, City and Town Councils are better placed to comment on and argue for the betterment of locally provided services, though intervening to gain undue advantage for any given constituent is not their job either. Rather their job is to hold the local authority to account wherever such services fall down.
- That the system that has encouraged clientelism through the years has failed and is undemocratic. The explanation of this, in an educational and clear way to the electorate, would be doing everybody a great service and would have a radical impact, not least of all on the expectations of the electorate.
That all of this could be uncomfortable for some candidates is a given. There has been an understandable expectation over many years that the man or women who can fix it for you gets the vote – or a stroke at least. But these are different times. People on the left and with more progressive ideas didn’t come into politics to fix potholes. The people deserve better than this. Recent events have exposed the failure of this type of politics and the poor quality of so many who have been elected to a national parliament. For every voter who expects their local man/women to fix the local issue, there is at least one other who wants to see somebody who will break this trend.
The calibre of people putting themselves before the electorate can be really judged then. No more hiding behind the nonsense that is ‘the local man’.
If one of the themes of this election becomes the breaking of the clientelist system then it will truly herald radical change. Candidates have an opportunity – a responsibility even – to be the agents for this change.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Brass Neck BOI
So, a wet week after playing a central role in bringing us all down, the Bank of Ireland have regained the brass neck that they need to get stuck into their customers again.
Customers will have to have at least €1,000 going into their account every month or make at least nine payments every three months in order not to pay a 28 cent charge for each transaction they make.
I suppose that they are working on the basis that with all of the rest of the bad news out there, they can bury this bit among it.
So, whatever you do if you are lucky enough to have a job paying over 1000 a month, don't lose it. If all you have coming in is a social welfare payment. Tough.
I wonder what happened to Eric Cantona's idea of withdrawing money from certain French banks and placing it in their equivalent of Credit Unions?
Now there's an idea.
Customers will have to have at least €1,000 going into their account every month or make at least nine payments every three months in order not to pay a 28 cent charge for each transaction they make.
I suppose that they are working on the basis that with all of the rest of the bad news out there, they can bury this bit among it.
So, whatever you do if you are lucky enough to have a job paying over 1000 a month, don't lose it. If all you have coming in is a social welfare payment. Tough.
I wonder what happened to Eric Cantona's idea of withdrawing money from certain French banks and placing it in their equivalent of Credit Unions?
Now there's an idea.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Coalition
The bookies and pundits are putting Fine Gael and Labour together as the new government. Fair enough, the figures add up.
But, as I have argued before, would Labour really be using their political strength to make the required difference. The prospect of partnership must be seductive to the Labour leadership. In previous coalitions they have managed to introduce good policy. Justin Keating was a good Minister, as was Michael D Higgins.
But we are in extraordinary times. The economic model favoured by successive governments has been shown to be inherently flawed. There can be no argument against the evidence that the gap between rich and poor in Ireland is huge. There had been a consensus in the so-called centre ground that in fact was way to the right of centre.
There is an opportunity for people who came into politics to fight inequality and make the world a fairer place to take a lead in shifting the political paradigm.
For the record and as a matter of interest, I am going to reprint extracts from a contribution that I made to a debate within Sinn Féin about the merits or otherwise of a coalition with Fianna Fail. As it transpired, the matter didn't arise, but the arguments still resonate today - just swap party names around a bit and remove some of the time-specific references.
There is the added factor of the banking collapse and the failure of deregulation to consider now and this makes the need for leadership from progressive parties and individuals all the more pressing.
Therefore, the daunting, but necessary task we should set ourselves is to go above, around and under the entrenched and mostly hostile establishment, forge alliances and begin the process of winning hearts and minds towards progressive and revolutionary ideas.
Jim McVeigh, in his recent article, is right to point out that we need to dialogue with the grass roots of the left. For let’s not make any bones about it, it must be the left that we work with. This will entail a process of engagement and yes, it will take time, possibly years, to break down prejudice and circumvent the vested interest of the trade union/Labour Party leaderships.
There is an understandable fear that arguments that break consensus are open to ridicule by the establishment parties and their friends in significant sections of the national media. But it is clear to me that the small number of vociferous political luminaries and their media fellow travellers overestimate their influence on the greater number of people. However much these people try to present a Joe Higgins, George Galloway, Tony Benn or Gerry Adams as marginalised lone voices, there is public empathy and understanding of the anti-establishment positions taken. Many people are actually crying out for public investment at a greater level and greater commitment to plan for social inclusion. In other words, socialism (though that is not the terminology that is finding currency out there, but sin scéal eile). The fact remains many people are up for it.
The translation of this understanding into electoral support presents a challenge and we should, of course, continue to develop the party in this respect, but this, like so much of what we need to do, may take some time. Better that it does take more time than risk losing sight of idealism or principle.
Making a short-term tactical decision to coalesce with Fianna Fail, for example, would be seen by the Irish people as unprincipled and as support for the status quo, whichever way we try to suggest otherwise. Any such move at this stage would entail some acceptance of a system that is inherently failing the people. There is no room for growth there. It’s a crowded field.
There is no political leadership on this island that currently measures up in terms of the absolute need to baulk the system and say what needs to be said about the erosion of the quality of life of the citizens of Ireland/Europe/the World and who are willing to break with the neo-liberal model. Some people argue that dealing in this paradigm is accepting Realpolitik. But if there is something rotten with that political reality, should we lend it credence or work for real change?
There is no way that neo-liberalism will or can deliver on equality. Michael McDowell summed it up succinctly when he stated that inequality was a good thing. Capitalism collapses without inequality.
As a measure of how far back basic advances are undermined by the right, look how the most rudimentary tenets of social democracy are under attack. The recent voting down of the EU Constitution by the French people has been almost universally reported by commentators and political parties here as a peculiar anomaly, where people defiantly and stupidly stood up for a 35-hour week and some understanding of society, rather than economy, as if this is some form of ancient madness.
Strong opposition by a party with a profile like ours to the neo-liberal consensus, which would certainly entail staying away from government with active proponents of it, could offer a significant platform for real opposition. There is a strong sense of the social out there and an understanding that this untrammeled capitalist project is negatively impacting on the quality of life of many and is positively condemning others to perpetual misery. We need to work on how to connect with all of that. The public airing of honest and decent political ideas in that context would have a significant impact.
.
There has never been a more important time to present a radical alternative vision for the world. Much of the gains made for working people during the 20th Century and taken for granted by our generation are under attack by the Thatcherite policies championed by most political parties under the cover of what passes for the political norm or what is presented as the need to practice ‘realpolitik’. There is a need for real leadership here. ...
But, as I have argued before, would Labour really be using their political strength to make the required difference. The prospect of partnership must be seductive to the Labour leadership. In previous coalitions they have managed to introduce good policy. Justin Keating was a good Minister, as was Michael D Higgins.
But we are in extraordinary times. The economic model favoured by successive governments has been shown to be inherently flawed. There can be no argument against the evidence that the gap between rich and poor in Ireland is huge. There had been a consensus in the so-called centre ground that in fact was way to the right of centre.
There is an opportunity for people who came into politics to fight inequality and make the world a fairer place to take a lead in shifting the political paradigm.
For the record and as a matter of interest, I am going to reprint extracts from a contribution that I made to a debate within Sinn Féin about the merits or otherwise of a coalition with Fianna Fail. As it transpired, the matter didn't arise, but the arguments still resonate today - just swap party names around a bit and remove some of the time-specific references.
There is the added factor of the banking collapse and the failure of deregulation to consider now and this makes the need for leadership from progressive parties and individuals all the more pressing.
What is political strength? BY VINCENT WOOD
Article date June 2005
This is an intelligent debate conducted from a left perspective and is therefore particularly welcome. However, I would be worried that the debate has created the premature expectation that we may be in a position where such an option is likely in the short term. By that, I don’t mean that numbers won’t necessarily stack up or that we won’t be asked. It is that I don’t believe that we are ready to be a prominent voice in any possible coalition yet. The nature of the debate so far also gives undue credence, in my opinion, to the notion that electoral strength equates to political strength.The recent debate on Coalition options that have manifested in the pages of An Phoblacht have focused on the working out of potential electoral strength and its possible impact on our struggle.
Therefore, the daunting, but necessary task we should set ourselves is to go above, around and under the entrenched and mostly hostile establishment, forge alliances and begin the process of winning hearts and minds towards progressive and revolutionary ideas.
Jim McVeigh, in his recent article, is right to point out that we need to dialogue with the grass roots of the left. For let’s not make any bones about it, it must be the left that we work with. This will entail a process of engagement and yes, it will take time, possibly years, to break down prejudice and circumvent the vested interest of the trade union/Labour Party leaderships.
There is an understandable fear that arguments that break consensus are open to ridicule by the establishment parties and their friends in significant sections of the national media. But it is clear to me that the small number of vociferous political luminaries and their media fellow travellers overestimate their influence on the greater number of people. However much these people try to present a Joe Higgins, George Galloway, Tony Benn or Gerry Adams as marginalised lone voices, there is public empathy and understanding of the anti-establishment positions taken. Many people are actually crying out for public investment at a greater level and greater commitment to plan for social inclusion. In other words, socialism (though that is not the terminology that is finding currency out there, but sin scéal eile). The fact remains many people are up for it.
The translation of this understanding into electoral support presents a challenge and we should, of course, continue to develop the party in this respect, but this, like so much of what we need to do, may take some time. Better that it does take more time than risk losing sight of idealism or principle.
Making a short-term tactical decision to coalesce with Fianna Fail, for example, would be seen by the Irish people as unprincipled and as support for the status quo, whichever way we try to suggest otherwise. Any such move at this stage would entail some acceptance of a system that is inherently failing the people. There is no room for growth there. It’s a crowded field.
There is no political leadership on this island that currently measures up in terms of the absolute need to baulk the system and say what needs to be said about the erosion of the quality of life of the citizens of Ireland/Europe/the World and who are willing to break with the neo-liberal model. Some people argue that dealing in this paradigm is accepting Realpolitik. But if there is something rotten with that political reality, should we lend it credence or work for real change?
There is no way that neo-liberalism will or can deliver on equality. Michael McDowell summed it up succinctly when he stated that inequality was a good thing. Capitalism collapses without inequality.
As a measure of how far back basic advances are undermined by the right, look how the most rudimentary tenets of social democracy are under attack. The recent voting down of the EU Constitution by the French people has been almost universally reported by commentators and political parties here as a peculiar anomaly, where people defiantly and stupidly stood up for a 35-hour week and some understanding of society, rather than economy, as if this is some form of ancient madness.
Strong opposition by a party with a profile like ours to the neo-liberal consensus, which would certainly entail staying away from government with active proponents of it, could offer a significant platform for real opposition. There is a strong sense of the social out there and an understanding that this untrammeled capitalist project is negatively impacting on the quality of life of many and is positively condemning others to perpetual misery. We need to work on how to connect with all of that. The public airing of honest and decent political ideas in that context would have a significant impact.
.
There has never been a more important time to present a radical alternative vision for the world. Much of the gains made for working people during the 20th Century and taken for granted by our generation are under attack by the Thatcherite policies championed by most political parties under the cover of what passes for the political norm or what is presented as the need to practice ‘realpolitik’. There is a need for real leadership here. ...
Joined Up Struggle
Something smart happened in the 60's. Progressive political activists and supporters got smart. People used their influence in the education sector as well as the more usual outlets - Trade Unions, Community Groups and political parties. Politics, art, culture and education converged. Not all by design, of course, but people seemed to know what was required.
Up until the point when neo conservatism and neo liberalism retook the initiative in the late 1970's and through the 80's, a generation had benefited from all of this. The maintainence of the study of philosophy and the arts and the growth of subjects like Social Studies and Civics helped to move us nicely along towards the 21st century.
Terry Eagleton in a comment peice in friday's Guardian points out in clear terms that the commercialisation of universities is leading to an unprecedented attack on the humanities. (I have shared this article as widely as possible on Twitter and Facebook)
And this is no accident. It is all perfectly consistent with a joined up political and ideological approach by the right. Education is only of use when it feeds into commerce and the maintainence of the current politcial system. This is no conspiracy theory - examine the facts. Talk to parents of university students - talk to the students and the lecturers.
And then learn from it.
Up until the point when neo conservatism and neo liberalism retook the initiative in the late 1970's and through the 80's, a generation had benefited from all of this. The maintainence of the study of philosophy and the arts and the growth of subjects like Social Studies and Civics helped to move us nicely along towards the 21st century.
Terry Eagleton in a comment peice in friday's Guardian points out in clear terms that the commercialisation of universities is leading to an unprecedented attack on the humanities. (I have shared this article as widely as possible on Twitter and Facebook)
And this is no accident. It is all perfectly consistent with a joined up political and ideological approach by the right. Education is only of use when it feeds into commerce and the maintainence of the current politcial system. This is no conspiracy theory - examine the facts. Talk to parents of university students - talk to the students and the lecturers.
And then learn from it.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Democratic Socialist International
Please consider endorsing this project...
http://www.zcommunications.org/newinternational.htm
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http://www.zcommunications.org/newinternational.htm
More about this later...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Retiring Politicians
Messrs Ahern and Dempsey are in their fifties and Cooper-Flynn is in her forties. Hardly 'normal' retirement ages for politicians. These tough cookies must be really feeling it to have left the stage.
Or is it just that there is something to jumping before your pushed. All of these seasoned politicians have managed to maintain a high profile throughout their careers. No invisiable backbenchers these. Cooper-Flynn was tipped as a Minister (not least by her gushing father). Ironically Flynn senior was to be the thwarting of progress on that front. The others, at the very top of the Fianna Fail pack and long-serving Ministers, leadership material at one time or another.
It is said that it is sometimes better to be principled and on the losing side than unprincipled and to win. Quite.
Or is it just that there is something to jumping before your pushed. All of these seasoned politicians have managed to maintain a high profile throughout their careers. No invisiable backbenchers these. Cooper-Flynn was tipped as a Minister (not least by her gushing father). Ironically Flynn senior was to be the thwarting of progress on that front. The others, at the very top of the Fianna Fail pack and long-serving Ministers, leadership material at one time or another.
It is said that it is sometimes better to be principled and on the losing side than unprincipled and to win. Quite.
A New Government?
If we are truly to see a change in the political and economic system in Ireland
It is clear than Fine Gael has a broadly similar policy platform to Fianna Fail. They too are champions of the free market. The reason bankers and developers have always appeared closer to Fianna Fail is that the ‘republican party’ have been in power for longer and have attracted the ‘cute hoors’ and high achieving ‘fat cats’ as fellow travellers.
The current crisis is born of political action. The Banks were not on a solo run. Light-touch regulation as part of the overall trend to deregulation and privatisation facilitated this collapse. We haven’t heard anything from Fine Gael to suggest that their support for this type of untrammelled neo-liberalism has wavered.
The Labour party have a responsibility to work with others on a longer term project to truly transform Irish society. Propping up Fine Gael in a more-of-the-same government will not deliver those changes. Playing second fiddle in this scenario is worse than useless. Things will not change.
Labour were right to rule out coalition with Fianna Fail. They should set very high standards for Fine Gael to earn a right at the government table too.
Surely it would be better for Labour to be part of a process of working with progressive people in the Unions, Voluntary sector and community activists throughout the country to develop a 21st century, people-centred policy platform that other political parties would have to sign up for if they want to be part of government.
Natural Resources
The Elephant in the Room
The following is an extract from The Guardian on 30th November 2010.
“Shell, like most non-state controlled international oil companies, is finding it increasingly hard to access new reserves. More of the world's oil is now controlled by state-owned companies. In December 2006 Shell was forced to halve its controlling stake in the huge Sakhalin II project in Russia
following intense pressure from the Kremlin.”
Now, it may well be true to say that the guys from the Kremlin are more scary than the gang from Merrion Square or, as is more likely the case, the Russians know what serves their national interest.
They also understand that the Oil and Gas companies can withstand the odd setback. The Norwegians also understand this. Norway
And here’s the thing. Banks get into trouble and we nationalise them. Its costs us billions. The net effect is that the weakest in society suffer the heaviest burden. Our children – and their children – will be paying for this for decades.
Yet, we have an estimated 400 billion plus of reserves in Irish national waters and we can’t nationalise it. No, we can’t even re-negotiate the sweetheart deal that the likes Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern, gave to them. Why? Because Ireland
So, in the coming weeks and months as the quality of life ebbs away from all but the wealthy, as the very poorest in our society carry the heaviest load, just ask the question. What about the 400 billion? Ask the politicians who will come knocking at your door in the new year as an election draws nearer. Ask the economists who tell us there is no other way. Ask the media to ask the questions that, with very few exceptions, they seem not to want to ask.
Like the elephant in the room, would be crazy to ignore it.
Fine Gael
Fine Gael up in the polls again. What do people think will change if Fine Gael lead the next government. Changing personalities won't help. Fine Gael are a party of the centre right - just like Fianna Fail. They too would have pushed through policies to further deregulate and smooth the way for unchecked free market capitalism - just like Fianna Fail. They will pack quango's with friends and supporters - just like Fianna Fail. Fine Gael will roll back the state further, privitise remaining public utilities and keep (direct) taxes low to help the wealthy and (indirect) taxes higher to reap it in from the rest of us - just like...you get the picture.
There's only one government worth putting together and that is a progressive one. Labour, Sinn Féin and left independents need to start seeing what they share as against any of the usual sectarian nonsense that has always plagued the left.
There's only one government worth putting together and that is a progressive one. Labour, Sinn Féin and left independents need to start seeing what they share as against any of the usual sectarian nonsense that has always plagued the left.
Intro
Having been in semi-retirement from political activity for a couple of years, the time for shouting at the tv/radio/websites has to cease and I have to get some of this stuff off my chest.
Going to let this go to get out there and begin later on...
Vincent
Going to let this go to get out there and begin later on...
Vincent
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