You think your government are bad

Damian Murphy said:
I live in Ireland .
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I do feel sorry for Ireland. All that Struggle and Fight, thirty years of The Troubles and now they need us to bail them out. From IRA to IMF, from home rule to home misrule, from independence to dependence. They wanted sovereignty and now they want our sovereigns . :(

I take no pleasure the way things have turned out for them, but neither am I happy about bailing out a country that was so keen to get shot of us. Still, as long they keep buying our goods and services it's a very self-interested loan . . . a lose/lose situation I should say. Very poor all round.
 
It's impossible for any government to please everyone and get it all right but when those in power base their decisions on personal gain, be it money, more power, personal ambition etc then they tend to get things more wrong than right. Sadly prevalent in most governments and at most levels and of course in the corporate arena as well.
I beleive that the basic principles of government have long since gone and that politicians have only their own agendas viz, what can they get out of it.
People and power seldom mix well....and corruption is rife. Maybe I'm just naturally cynical :)
So in answer to your question, yes :)
regards, beejay
 
I don't think we have as many conviction politicians as we used, but maybe that's a sign of me becoming more cynical over the years.

The trouble is that the spin machine has been running for the the last couple of decades and we have politicians that only want to say and do things that they think will be popular.

Tony Benn is someone I tend to disagree with but respect for his willingness to say what he thinks, he once said something like:-
"In politics there are people who are sign posts and people who are weather cocks, the sign posts point in the direction they think we should go while the weather cocks wait to see which way the wind is blowing before deciding what way to point"
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Personally I'd say politics it full of cocks!
 
IanM said:
Damian Murphy said:
I live in Ireland .
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One assumes that you were also living in Ireland during the 'boom' period?
Ian
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I was. Fortunately I never bought into all the 'cheap' credit , I always wondered where the money was going to come from to pay back the loans,credit cards etc.
The banks used to ring up and ask me if I wanted to borrow money, like Mrs.Doyle in Father Ted.

Our Prime minister,Bertie Ahern actually said that he did'nt know why people who moaned about the economy did'nt commit suicide. They've lied at every opportunity.

The British banks also lent a huge amount of money , at least 130 billion euros. I think the German banks are owed 180 billion .And the French banks ...... a total of 1/4 trillion euro is mentioned.The sums involved are mind bogglingly huge unreal,like monopoly money.

Watch your government, and watch your banks.
 
Only two political comments I've heard which make a lot of sense to me ;

"Professional politicians are in it to look good rather than to do good."

"They've stopped the gravy train long enough to clamber aboard."

Sorry to sound too sceptical, experience and observation have made me that way.

JohnnyO. :(
 
Ireland, though, of all countries is a tale of hubris and nemesis: the Celtic Tiger over-reached itself and toppled.

But the history of Ireland makes it all the more tragic: fighting for autonomy, then joining the Big Boys' Club (the EU) and now reduced now being bailed-out by the British of all people.

Makes me sad and angry in equal measure: if I'd lost a son in the Troubles I'd say "Fuck 'em, let them fall" on the other hand we're only helping a major customer to keep on buying from us, so the loan is cynical in the extreme. Either way, it's pretty crappy.

And if were a proud Fenian I'd be appalled and ashamed at the state of the Free Republic.

On a separate note, why is that the non-Protestant countries seem to be doing worse (the Iberian peninsula, Belgium et al for the Catholics and Greece for the Orthodox). Was the Industrial Revolution really only an exercise in the Protestant Work Ethic? (And the secular French rioting at the thought of having to retire at 50 or whatever sickens me, too.) Britain, Germany, Holland etc - the countries of the Reformation - are weathering the storm better.

No idea why and I am not out to make a partisan point but it bothers me.
 
Damian Murphy said:
I was. Fortunately I never bought into all the 'cheap' credit , I always wondered where the money was going to come from to pay back the loans,credit cards etc.
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Good man!

I have a few phrases that help me get through life. One of most popular ones is:

The Dickheads are in charge!

Ian
 
Rev-O said:
Ireland, though, of all countries is a tale of hubris and nemesis: the Celtic Tiger over-reached itself and toppled.

But the history of Ireland makes it all the more tragic: fighting for autonomy, then joining the Big Boys' Club (the EU) and now reduced now being bailed-out by the British of all people.

Makes me sad and angry in equal measure: if I'd lost a son in the Troubles I'd say "Fuck 'em, let them fall" on the other hand we're only helping a major customer to keep on buying from us, so the loan is cynical in the extreme. Either way, it's pretty crappy.

And if were a proud Fenian I'd be appalled and ashamed at the state of the Free Republic.

On a separate note, why is that the non-Protestant countries seem to be doing worse (the Iberian peninsula, Belgium et al for the Catholics and Greece for the Orthodox). Was the Industrial Revolution really only an exercise in the Protestant Work Ethic? (And the secular French rioting at the thought of having to retire at 50 or whatever sickens me, too.) Britain, Germany, Holland etc - the countries of the Reformation - are weathering the storm better.

No idea why and I am not out to make a partisan point but it bothers me.
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The bailout is'nt for the Irish people ,its for the banks , the Irish government decided to give a bank guarantee ,which it could'nt afford. This meant that the Irish taxpayer takes over the banks debts. The bailout is to cover the losses of banks
~70 billion euro (nobody is really sure how much it will ultimately cost) . The British taxpayers contribution to the bailout is for bankers. The government let the bankers do whatever they wanted. And now The Irish,British,German,French etc; taxpayer will pay the cost.

If the Irish were'nt bailed out the British banks who are owed at least 130 billion would have to be bailed out by the British taxpayer.
 
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