I was speaking to a friend recently and he said that basically we are like a lot of very hungry dogs. When we are thrown a few scraps of meat we tear each other apart and fight about who gets what. In the meantime the scrap throwers are making off with the carcass.
I was on the dole in the past. I certainly didn't think it was easy street. At the time it was a safety net - and I was damn glad of it, but it was no feather bed. When I see threads about single mothers discussed as if its a career decision thing for them I cringe. I've yet to meet a single mother driving a merc. or who shops in Brown Thomas. It's a tough road, and they live on a very very tight budget. If they are living it up then they are up to something that's either illegal or fraudulent. They are not doing it on the subsistence provided through welfare.
Yes - we live in a welfare state, and I would argue that there are very few, if any of
P.ie members who do not benefit or have not benefited in some way. If you got a grant when you went to college, put your children through public education, collected children's allowance, claimed interest tax relief on your mortgage, got a first time buyers grant, get tax relief on your pension contributions, etc. etc. The list goes on and on, and we are going nowhere by watching each other and arguing that this person or that person got more, and blah blah blah ... we will stay here posting threads about each other without changing anything in reality.
Yes - we are a welfare state - but the biggest payout in this welfare state goes to a minority of people many of whom are already very well off. Some of them don't even live here, and very few if any contribute anything of value. These are the meat throwers.
The global trend is that the wealthy are getting wealthier while the poor are getting poorer. In Ireland it's no different. I can't remember which Sunday Newspaper - I think it was the Irish Times - reported several months back or last year (I'm sure some of you can provide the date) that in terms of tax - those who are significantly wealthier did not experience a proportionate increase in their tax when compared with the rest of us.
We live in an economic system where the system output is geared towards maximising profit. This profit is goes to the few and the trickle down goes to the rest of us. The trend is that more is going to the few and less to the rest. I personally believe that an economic system should be geared to improving the lot of society as a whole rather than a few. Unfortunately - not only is the economic system geared toward profit for the few - it is supported by the political system. The notion that politicians represent people is a little bit naive in my view. We live in an economic system whereby people are merely commodities.
We have now reached a point where not only is the economic/political system geared toward profit for a few - but the taxes and levies paid by the citizenry for the development and improvement of society, (including a safety net for those who fall on hard times) is legally siphoned off into the pockets of the wealthy.
We are told that if we don't support this system then our economy will collapse, and that may indeed be true. But what sort of a system is it - that sovereign nations can be held to ransom and live under such threat. It's not the sort of system I want, and certainly not what I vote for.
I hear arguments about whether or not we should be paying off bondholders, and from what I am seeing - the only real reason we are paying them is because of the threat hanging over us. The same goes for bailing out banks. Their bailing out happened overnight, but a few years on and many of our fellow citizens who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads have yet to be helped, never mind about bailed out.
The notion that my child has a significant debt hanging over him before he ever starts working because some have managed to twist society into accepting such a system is morally disgusting by any standards whether legal or not. The notion that anyone should have to pay the debts of another is morally wrong whether legal or not. The idea that a child born in a third world country should be born into debt and live a life of dire poverty and starvation, to pay back monies that were loaned to nations (usually despots) and whose people are now held to ransom is utterly disgusting and immoral whether legal or not.
We talk about middle class, and working class, the jobless, the unions, the pensioners, the public service, the PAYE worker, and all these other sub divisions in our society - and we talk about where the axe should fall next, who should and shouldn't get chopped.
The fact is that those who control the system don't give a damn about which sector it feeds itself on.
No its not the unemployed who need to take to the streets, nor the public sector, nor the unions, nor the pensioners - or even if taking to the streets is the best way to go.
If we wish for a society where the economic and political systems have that society at its heart then we have no choice - we must make a stand - together - and refuse to be divided by the petty squabbles that our politicians thrive on.
I'm neither communist, capitalist, socialist, nor any other 'ist. I like to see people rewarded for their contributions whether that's economic or to society, and I also want to ensure that we help those who need it.
The system as it exists is eating into our the heart of who we are, and it must be stopped. We need change and our politicians won't deliver it. We need to take responsibility and act together to take back what is rightfully ours. Our political and economic system. All it takes is a tipping point - and that may happen anyway, but in an uncontrolled manner, with god only knows what consequences.
No, we will never all agree on everything - but unified and organized we may have a chance to give our children a chance.
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Originally Posted by Neutron
