Emigration the 'secret' to our economic recovery!
Years ago if you got sick you could just get sicker and leave the outcome up to mother nature, or if you had the shillins you could visit the surgeon-barber and perhaps live a bit longer, albeit in the same conditions that probably made you sick in the first place. Today surgeons don’t cut hair and they charge a little more, but the options for the non-medical card holder remain largely unchanged.
Back then if you could afford the ancillary services of the barber, he might offer an array of options; from amputation to trephining of the skull (boring a hole in your head to let your headache out), the application of leeches, or perhaps a tasty syrup of radish, pigs-liver and urine? Sometimes he might cut to the chase and offer to rid you of your illness by bleeding you to near death? Whilst medicine has evolved in recent centuries the fields of economics and politics remain largely steeped in the practices of yesteryear.
Although our ears might be bleeding from talk of ‘austerity budgets’ ‘fiscal targets’ and the Troika, the truth of our present economic ’remedy’ is rarely discussed in its real and prescient form.
The mainstay of Ireland’s economic plan for the future is built upon the old practice of blood letting. The haemorrhage of 1000 young people from Ireland each week, that was recently referred to by Michael Noonan as a ‘lifestyle choice’ …a lovely opportunity for young gossons and colleens to see a bit of the world! .....And the funny thing is, he wasn’t joking!
This is the unspoken policy that is keeping the ship afloat. It is for this reason that it must be trivialised by Government officials and actively encouraged behind the scenes. Each week this silent policy produces tangible results: 1000 less dole recipients, 1000 less medical card applicants, 1000 less protestors, 1000 less people to ask why? Why after all the promises of change do Irish politicians remain some of the highest paid in the world and why so many thousands of state employees and government officials are in receipt of salaries far in excess of 100k per annum.
Emigration is good for the troika, good for the books and good for the government.
When one considers the amount of air time and free advertising that was afforded to the recent ‘work abroad’ fair in Dublin, by the state broadcasting agency, one begins to read the invisible ink on the walls of Lenister House which clearly states, ‘young people of Ireland do your government a favour and get out!”
Ironically it is the legacy of our colonial past that we must thank for the silent ‘antidote’ to our ongoing economic disease. We speak English, and as such we are welcome in those English speaking countries that are undergoing growth and are recruiting at these private jobs fairs.
It is English that allows us the option of taking to the plane or the ferry, whilst the Greek or the Spaniard must take their medicine, or take to the streets.
Your grammar could use some tightening up, Marcus (you don't, for instance, need a question mark at the end of a sentence unless the sentence in question is itself a question, if you get my drift).
ReplyDelete(I'm aware that, in pointing this out, I leave myself vulnerable to the possibility that I will make a typographical error in this comment, so please forgive me if I do!)
I'm not sure, either, that the idea that emigration is government policy is actually the case. That smacks of conspiracy theory-itis to me. However, I'm glad you raise the issue of emigration, alongside that of the lack of protest, in the Irish context. It would be interesting to have a discussion about what, exactly, the causes and effects are of both emigration and a relative dearth of protest in Ireland. Are they linked? Is protest under-reported? What are the parallels between what is happening now and what happened to the demographic profile of Ireland during earlier mass migrations (the Famine, the 1980s, for instance). Would you like to do a more detailed post on these or invite someone else to? One more thing (as Jackie Chan's uncle is wont to say): I understand that you are being intentionally provocative with these posts, and I accept that this is a good way to get people thinking. However, I am sure you are aware from the reactions on the mailing list that people are extremely sensitive to the kinds of discussion that are going on, particularly the kinds of discussion that implicitly criticise the Irish character. I was involved in protesting against the Corrib project in the early days (less so latterly) and I always made it a rule to see if I could present a positive alternative to any criticism. Nature abhores a vaccuum. You can tell people what you think is wrong but until and unless you can offer suggestions for what might make things right, you are not really making a contribution to possible solutions. All the best - and thanks for your ideas! Entertainingly expressed and provocative.
Forgive us our typos as we forgive those who typo onto us!
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised at the vitriol generated by the blog. Ireland is no place for thoughts that are not in keeping with those of Pat Kenny or Joe Duffy. It is a pity that those so offended lack the courage or the inclination to put the kinger to the keys and express the reasons for their upset. In the absence of comment one can only conclude that the truth is a painful medicine.
"unless you can offer suggestions for what might make things right, you are not really making a contribution to possible solutions."
Solutions are utterly impossible whilst we remain confined to the cave (to use Plato's analogy). What must happen before we can contemplate solutions is to rid oursleves of the defining delusions of our age, to try and light a candle and illuminate the shadows.
Marx famously declared that "Philosphers think about society, whilst Politicians and activists seek to change society!"
The German philosopher Martin Heidigger replied to this with the assertion that "we cannot change society without first changing the way we think about society, and that is the job of a philosopher". In essence that is the aspiration of this poor auld blog.