Just six months away from the 100th anniversary
commemorations of the Easter 1916 Rising nobody seems to know exactly what
events are planned or how we are going to be celebrating the centenary...
typical. If it's like the millenium celebrations when we found out on December
31st 1999 that the country would mark the dawn of a new century with an RTE
Special: "Joe Dolan Live Concert from Killarney"...then we're looking
at sitting down in front of our televisions for Daniel O'Donnell's Fire-Side Tribute
to Padraic Pearse!
I say 'celebrate' but of course there's absolutely
nothing to celebrate. We can REMEMBER the heroes of 1916 and COMMEMORATE them,
which is an entirely different thing ... but there's NOTHING to celebrate. 100
years of stroke-politics and whimpering abasement to foreign authority, whether
London, Rome, Brussels or Washington, have defiled the memory of 1916 and the
dreams of its visionaries. Ireland was liberated to be a neutral country ... we
have turned it into a neutered country!
So how should we commemorate that historic moment
in time? In 1916 a small group of patriots struck at the heart of the greatest
empire in history since the Romans, the British Monarchy, and tried to reclaim
a small island country and put it back into the hands of its people. Why
shouldn't we do what they did?: Reclaim our nation from the control of an
oppressive, unelected, foreign power (the EU)!
We know that continuing with the current system and
doing absolutely nothing differently
to what we've been doing for 100 years -
voting in the sham of a democratic system that gives us the illusion of having
control of our fate - is a waste of time because it will only produce the same
result as before: elect a government (and opposition) that puts the private
interests of business, banks and the legal profession ahead of real public
interest.
So what are the options?
There are four :
1. Stage a militarised bloody revolt.
We could reenact 1916. But I don’t mean as a
theatrical production ... I mean as an actual armed uprising. Unfortunately the
austerity years have shown that the 'fighting Irish' myth
is just that ... a
myth. There have been several large, very polite protests against the political
regime but nothing that threatens to overthrow it. In Belgium and Spain
anti-austerity protesters have been fired at by police with rubber bullets,
cars have been overturned in city streets and burned out, protesters and police
have been seriously injured. In Ireland a Garda had her hat knocked off with an
empty coke bottle...
Also...no sane person wants bloodshed ... so let’s
discount this option.
2. Vote for parties that will put through reform...
Every party talks about reform but none ever do
anything about it. Why would they? Why would any political party that benefits
from the system want to reform it?
The proposals to reinstate articles 47 & 48 of
the original (real!) constitution are noble and desireable but, in my view, are
unrealistic.
The proposal involves electing a majority of
sympathetic TDs in the Dáil who, having been given legislative power by the
people, would give the power directly back to the people...who would then have
the power to over-rule them / reprimand them / remove them from office... Given
the strength of the grass-roots base of the parties and the calibre of
individual that has traditionally made up the core of our body-politic, I can't
see such a majority in the realistic future.
3. Democratically bring down the political
system...
If we agree then that the system will never be
changed from within, it might be possible to use the current electoral system
to IMPLODE our political system - forcing us to fundamentally restructure and
reorganise the entire structure. As long as we think that the power of the vote
is the basis for a fundamentally fair and democratic society, and that the will
of the majority is preferable to power in the hands of an individual or group,
however benevolent, then we will continue to use the representative process to
form our governments.
Using that system we should be thinking about first
breaking the power of the old crony parties and their destructive, self-serving
agendas.
We should be voting for every independent,
non-aligned individual candidate and every small, minority, even single-issue
parties that stand for election.
The result would be to undermine the stranglehold
of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein and other parties. What it would
also mean is an elected Dail so disparate that it would be unworkable with no
possibility of forming a functioning government. In that case we would have no
choice but to redesign how our representative body is elected and formed.
This might work, but it would only be a first step,
and would not solve the problems that run deeper than the superficial matter of
government.
The problem facing us is not the government.
Changing the government is like changing the cabin crew on a hi-jacked plane:
it's not going to change the direction of the plane or change the possibility,
or indeed inevitability, of a serious crash in which most of the passengers
will be killed or seriously injured.
We are so distracted by the media who tell us that
we need to focus on the colour of the cabin crew's uniform (currently blue...)
that we wilfully ignore the important question of who is flying the plane, what
the destination is, and whether we will like the country we land in.
No matter who gets into power as our government the
real influence on public policy lies in the layers of unelected civil servants
who really run the various departments, and those that have their ear: the
lobbyists of real power (money, business, media etc).
Ireland's position as a tiny yet not-insignificant
player on the world stage has been created on the back of its strategic role in
global business and finance. The importance of the IFSC as a hub in the global
financial markets structure, our corporate tax structure in the phenomenal
growth of the high tech industry and the exploitation of our tax regime in the
immoral tax policies of multinationals have all meant that we are beholden to
the corporate giants represented by the American Chamber of Commerce in
Ireland. Just think about who they represent: Google, eBay, PayPal, Microsoft,
Intel, Starbucks, Amazon, Facebook, Accenture, Blackstone, DELL, Hewlett
Packard, ELAN pharmaceuticals, Citi Group, Pfizer,
When a government is elected the ministers are
briefed by the department secretaries on major issues, strategy, policy and
what matters are on the department's agenda list. The priorities for all
departments is not set by the politicians that the people elect ... they come
from elsewhere.
When Enda Kenny describes his dream for Ireland he
puts "business" as the number one priority - ahead of
"family"'. The "business" he is talking about is BIG
business ... not the small family business or self-employed person. Mrs
Murphy's Cake Shop and John Smith's Plumbing Service don't donate to the
political parties (especially indirectly...) but big business does. John Smith
will never get through to a government minister with phone call or the
possibility of a meeting to explain what he needs in terms of taxation reform,
financial support, the removal of bureaucratic barriers and restrictive
regulation in order for his business to succeed and grow. The head of Google in
Ireland will get through straight away and demand as much time as he needs to
ask for all of that ... and he'll get it.
This sycophancy is justified in the name of jobs,
international reputation, Ireland's position as a global hub for business, blah
blah blah. The value in all those terms is unjustifiable when Mrs Murphy and
John Smith go out of business due to lack of support from their own government.
There is no longer any such thing as Public Policy,
Public Interest and Public Service.
All we have now is Corporate Policy, Private
Interest and Self Service.
So, how do we reassert our values and reclaim our
independence, just like those in 1916 did?
4.
Imagine if the solution was simpler than we think. We simply DECLARE our independence! From our own government. And declare a NEW state.
Stay with me here....
We want to live in a democracy.
The problem is that for us that means a willingness
to delegate responsibility for that to elected representatives ... and in the
past they have betrayed that trust.
But the people we elect are not the problem. The
system is the problem. And the system protects itself - just look at the
tribunals, inquiries and committees set up to "investigate"
corruption and illegal activity without any guilty parties ever actually being
prosecuted or sanctioned. We know that there are serious questions or
corruption in our Garda force, our judicial system, our public service, our
political body, our banking industry, and on and on, yet NOTHING changes. There
is no will to change because the system works very very well ... for those who
are inside it, who benefit from it. Why would they change it?
So if the game is rigged, and if the game can;t be
changed because the players and rule makers won;t change it, what do we (the
people in the stands) do to make things better for ourselves?
We start our own game.
If they won't let us play, we say, well, actually
if you won't let me play your game, which I don't like anyway, I'm gonna go off
and start my own game!
The legitimacy of the existing structures and
system are founded in the Constitution and the mandate of the Electoral System.
As long as the electoral register comprises at least 51% of those eligible to
vote it doesn;t matter how many people actually vote ... those registered
subscribe to the system, accept the result of elections and legitimise the
authority of those elected. So a turnout of any size, even 1%, can decide who
gets govern the entire country.
I firmly believe that the recent referendum was in
large part driven by the intelligentsia's attempt to reinforce the authority of
the current system by bolstering the electoral register.
The performance of our
elected representatives in the past, and the previous Fianna Fail government
and current Fine Gael/Labour in particular, have led to such a backlash against
our political system that the apathy of the "ah sure what can you
do?" attitude risked the diminution of the electoral register especially
among young people.
What better way to motivate the young who might be
if not instinctively a-political then quite simply anti-political to sign up to
the electoral register than a referendum issue on gay marriage. While that is
an important issue, at what point since 2008 did the gay marriage issue become
a priority issue ahead of everything else that has been tearing at the fabric
of Irish society right across the board? It didn't ... what became a priority
was the underlying hidden threat to the authority of the political system of
the disillusion of the Irish voter. And when disillusion is the threat ...
ILLUSION is the solution. The illusion of democracy.
The second referendum on the age of the
President..?? Where did that come from? Exactly for WHOM was the age of the
President SUCH a critical political issue that it merited a referendum...? For
the political system itself of course!
The biggest winner of the recent referendum was not
the gay community ... it was the political community.
If the political system receives its legitimacy and
authority from the electorate, then the electorate needs to be at least 51% of
the population. The referendums and now the issue of allowing ex-patriot
citizens to register and vote also secures the position of the system...because
that is the biggest threat to their cosy little game and they know it!
So imagine this: 51% of eligible citizens
DE-REGISTER from the current electoral system.
An ALTERNATIVE electoral register is setup and 51%
of citizens sign up to it.
This alternative register creates the basis for a
general election to an alternative Oireachtas.
The new Oireachtas, having a mandate from 51% of
the country, declares independence from the state and the creation of a new
state. No international court could refuse it!
The current system and its players would be POWERLESS.
They would have no argument against a democratic system if they accept the
legitimacy of the democratic process.
What would a new system look like?
Actually I think it would, at least on the surface,
look like the current system. All structures of public administration would
continue in a seamless transition to a new system.
Essentially we would be
saying that everything continues as normal, but it's a new game ... our game
... and here are the new rules.
In this way all administrative structures like the
health service etc would continue in operation without interruption. All the
current parties and politicians could also be transferred (yes...even FF, FG
and Labour..!).
Effectively we'd be saying: We're not playing your
game any more (because it's rigged) ... We (the Irish people!) have our own
game now ... and it has the legitimacy, authority and mandate of the democratic
majority. You can come and play if you want ... but here are the new rules! Of
course we'd need some debate, but a few simple changes would make a huge
difference. To kick off at least, here are my suggestions:
1. €
25 billion in government austerity bonds
to be destroyed with immediate effect. The bonds created on Prom Night are a
noose around the neck of our economy.
2. Reintroduction
of the Punt - interest free - initially as a
public service currency, with value indexed on Sterling. This could quickly be
established as a valid domestic currency instantly making interest-free credit
available to small business and improving cashflow in the SME service economy
while we prepare for ...
3. Exit
from EU - the EU is NOT what we joined in
1973. It's an entirely different beast, with different agenda. After 40 years
we should be asking "if we had a choice to join the EU today, would
we?". I say we wouldn't.
4.
Political Reform:
a. End of the Party Whip System - the most undemocratic element of the current
system. This literally silences the democratic voice of citizens who vote for
their local constituent TD but have that vote usurped by party leadership which
always has its own, corporate-sponsored agenda.
b. Public representation in Seanad Eireann
c. Capped
salaries and pensions in all public service jobs - including existing and retrospective payments.
Pensions should also ony be payable at retirement age and when recipients have
actually stopped working. There’s no justification for a former Taoiseach to
receive a pension when they get handed a directorship of a private business
...think Cowen-Topaz.
d. End to Oireachtas
Allowances (free money!) and unvouched expenses
- if this kind of thing happened in a private company the Revenue Commissioners
would impose fines and even prosecute for jail sentences ... it’s fraud plain
and simple.
e. 3 Term maximum in Oireachtas - fifteen years is long enough for anyone to hold
a TD seat. It is important to break the “dynasty” phenomenon which in great
part fuels the culture of entitlement among the political elite: Kenny inherited
his seat from his father, and when he retires it’s likely his daughter will
inherit it from him! It’s very evident that the sense of entitlement has bred
an arrogance, disconnect and disdain for the ‘ordinary’ citizen among our
politicians that surpasses the over-class attitude of the House of Lords. If
you get to be a member of the Oireachtas for 15 years and haven’t contributed
anything you shouldn’t be there. If you have contributed something then “thanks
very much ... now step aside and let the next generation in”!
5. Savings
in Oireachtas wage bill to be redirected to Health
Service and Housing with immediate effect. Slashing the wage, expenses and
pensions bill of the Oireachtas instantly frees up cash for critical public services.
6. Govt
to pursue multinationals for € 19 billion
in unpaid corporate tax and implement mandatory straight 15% corporate tax rate
for these companies with no loopholes.. This is actually supported by the EU
while our current government are against the idea!
7. Constitution
of 1922 to be reinstated with existing
amendments accepted by emergency legislation. The 1937 absolutely removed
the rights and powers of the electorate and created a ruler - subject structure
... read it!
8. Conduct
in Public Service to be sanctioned for Corruption,
Waste and Fraud with new standards and rules. Criminal activity should be
prosecuted. Included in this should be a reward
system for whistle-blowers who expose
criminal or corrupt activity.
9. Cancel
all natural resource positions
on oil and gas and insert a Constitutional protection on all natural resources
placing them in the ownership of the people.
10. No
more US military flights through Shannon
... NONE! There are US airbases all across Europe ... why do they need to land
here at all??
11. Write
off mortgage debt above 20% of market value of family
homes. The manipulation of the financial markets, which trade (I mean
speculate/gamble) products comprised of mortgages, is what led to the global
financial crisis. There is NO argument to justify private home owners being
handed the tab for those losses. 20% margin on any mortgage is reasonable
enough for any lender. The write down could be implemented by means of a charge
on the lending company, reimbursed to the borrower in tax credits.
12. Institute
a National Basic Income
There are so many other areas to be reviewed and
even removed such as the power and appointment of the DPP, Garda Commissioner,
Attorney General, the judiciary etc, but not everything can be made perfect in
a short period of time. Indeed there may be some things that may never be
ideal, but at least we will have taken some serious steps toward a society of
real justice and equality.
When the game can't be changed, change the game ...
start a new one!
Iceland did it... Portugal is doing it. Why not us?
All we need is the courage to walk away...
De-register now and let’s start a a new electoral
register.
If this makes sense to you, you are disillusioned
with the current Corporate Fascist Regime and have possibly decided you’re not
going to vote again because, let’s face it, in this sytem what difference does
it make!?, then email your Name and Date of Birth to :
newelectoralregister@outlook.com
Otherwise... take up arms ... or simply carry on as
if everything is perfectly fine ... and make sure to vote in the next General
Deception.
©TheDissonantDrum
