How far are we from revolution?

[Mr.De-Regulation]

i'm starting a "no pants revolution".

[Tommy Tayto]

By revolution, I take it you mean starry eyed anarchists, crusties, and students who dream of sticking it to "the man." So no I won't be partaking. Awfully nice of you to offer though.

[cactusflower]

i'm starting a "no pants revolution".

PUT THEM BACK ON !!!!

[HEAVENHELPUS]

I say ''off with their heads''!! Power to the people!

[cactusflower]

By revolution, I take it you mean starry eyed anarchists, crusties, and students who dream of sticking it to "the man." So no I won't be partaking.

No chance of that. We'd need the membership of IMPACT behind it, and at least half the army

[Hewson]

The revolution we need can be started in the ballot booths throughout the country, starting on June 5 and continuing when the General Election is called, which will be later this year. Voting out the Government will be a start, but in reality what's needed is a revolution in the way we think and behave. A past US ambassador to Ireland once famously said that the Irish had lost the ability to be outraged. And how right she was.

The litany of abuse of trust, position and power over the last few decades, perpetrated by politicians and senior public servants, has been utterly outrageous. People in whom we placed our faith to do what's good for society were all too often busy betraying that trust and lining their own pockets at our expense and, as in planning corruption, destroying the lives of thousands of people. CEOs of semi-state organisations used unjustifiable expenses to live a lavish lifestyle.

And the result? A cascade of hot air and endless moral indignation.

Then back to business as usual . . .

If we are to take seriously the desire to have a truly equal society, or as near equal as possible, then we need to change how we manage our politicians and the public servants we pay. And I do mean 'manage'. This means 'outing' and ostracising in a public way those who fall short of the highest standards of beahviour in public life. It means not tolerating profligate waste of public money, as has happened over and over with the current Government. It means allocating resources into areas where the greatest needs lie, especially education.

Ultimately it means being less tolerant of incompetence, indifference and downright stupidity. We need to shake off the torpor that lies over us as a nation. For too long we quietly complained, in an almost embarrassed way, about things that really should have packed the streets with outrage.

We accepted low standards because we believed that 'that's the way they are and there's nothing can be done about them'. We even believed that we probably didn't deserve any better anyway. But we do. And we can have better government.

But only if we're willing to work at it ourselves and unwilling to accept second best.

[Tommy Tayto]

That's how I feel too!

[Raketemensch]

The revolution we need can be started in the ballot booths throughout the country, starting on June 5 and continuing when the General Election is called, which will be later this year. Voting out the Government will be a start, but in reality what's needed is a revolution in the way we think and behave. A past US ambassador to Ireland once famously said that the Irish had lost the ability to be outraged. And how right she was.

The litany of abuse of trust, position and power over the last few decades, perpetrated by politicians and senior public servants, has been utterly outrageous. People in whom we placed our faith to do what's good for society were all too often busy betraying that trust and lining their own pockets at our expense and, as in planning corruption, destroying the lives of thousands of people. CEOs of semi-state organisations used unjustifiable expenses to live a lavish lifestyle.

And the result? A cascade of hot air and endless moral indignation.

Then back to business as usual . . .

If we are to take seriously the desire to have a truly equal society, or as near equal as possible, then we need to change how we manage our politicians and the public servants we pay. And I do mean 'manage'. This means 'outing' and ostracising in a public way those who fall short of the highest standards of beahviour in public life. It means not tolerating profligate waste of public money, as has happened over and over with the current Government. It means allocating resources into areas where the greatest needs lie, especially education.

Ultimately it means being less tolerant of incompetence, indifference and downright stupidity. We need to shake off the torpor that lies over us as a nation. For too long we quietly complained, in an almost embarrassed way, about things that really should have packed the streets with outrage.

We accepted low standards because we believed that 'that's the way they are and there's nothing can be done about them'. We even believed that we probably didn't deserve any better anyway. But we do. And we can have better government.

But only if we're willing to work at it ourselves and unwilling to accept second best.

Good post. But the majority of the people still have the low self-confidence that keeps them voting for the same old pigs. How do you disseminate the idea that as a modern, educated nation we deserve good governance and we don't need to put up with the standard we've had up to now?

[Mr.De-Regulation]

If you want a revolution join FG. Eliminate FF and FF-lite(Labour). Then think of an alternative.

[McGyver]

Absoultely zero chance of revolution. England ruled us for hundreds of years, created more than one famine, enslaved many of us, defeated our armies, destroyed our language and culture, pushed our religion underground and forced millions to emigrate.

Despite that our pathetic revolutions never were successful and attracted tiny percentages of the population. People still bash the few who did try to revolt.

We our the most docile nation in the world and will sit and moan when we are emigrating in 12-18 months