The Political Thread

[Spaceghost]

So, what's everybody doing for Christmas?

I will be single-handedly destroying capitalist society and dismantling the oppressive systems which keep us all under control.

Then I'm watching Doctor Who and having a mince pie.

[Old Tankie]

Just the one mince pie?

[Skullmo]

Are you going to have it off someone else's plate as you don't believe in the concept of personal property?

[Professor Bear]

Apparantly, some chaps from Detroit - an American city version of the third world, so far as I can tell - are coming over to explain to the Irish that once you use taxpayers' money to hand over your water supply to private companies, the quality of service goes downhill and then they cut you off.  It probably helps that Detroit is a town that once had a booming economy but then got fucked by Republicans and a government run by rich white folk happy to tell poor people to pull their boots up and we can all get through this "together" - I think those coming to have a listen might be able to relate.

[Theblazeuk]

What a load of ****.

[TordelBack]

...the quality of service goes downhill and then they cut you off.

The quality of water supply in many places in this country is so poor that I'm not sure we'd notice.  But that's what €1 billion of taxes managed by the public sector gets you.

A mince pie does sound good about now, though.

[Professor Bear]

After the big Irish Water sell-off you can also look forward to "we need more taxpayers' money to really fix things", "we need more taxpayers' money to get back on schedule", "we're behind schedule, but all is well", and the ever-popular "thanks for the bailout, Ireland" as Irish Water shareholders sail off into the sunset for a country not quite as fucked/on fire as the one they're leaving behind.

Also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDGRL6eCx2k in which it occurs to me that to keep smiling through the abuse, Kenny must have a lot of experience of being called a cunt to his face.

[Grugz]

I have seen Detroit via les gold's pawn shoppe , I do not want to visit.

[TordelBack]

After the big Irish Water sell-off you can also look forward to "we need more taxpayers' money to really fix things", "we need more taxpayers' money to get back on schedule", "we're behind schedule, but all is well", and the ever-popular "thanks for the bailout, Ireland" as Irish Water shareholders sail off into the sunset for a country not quite as fucked/on fire as the one they're leaving behind.

Oh don't worry, we're experts at this.  We're the country that privatised road tolls, and told the company that if they didn't get as many vehicles as they expected we'd make up the difference, and made so that if we did succeed in changing that ridiculous agreement they'd be compensated to the equivalent amount anyway.  So all through the recession, as our shiny new roads stood empty, the taxpayer who couldn't afford to drive anywhere was paying his daily toll anyway, and the tolls for all the freshly unemployed neighbours who no longer had jobs to drive to.  Meanwhile, the government's stated objective is to reduce road use by subsidising public transport, but even if you do start getting the bus or train to work, you're still effectively paying the toll for that car you're no longer driving through the toll booth.  You could not make it up.  Well, maybe Pat Mills could.

So I have every faith that the semi-state body Irish Water will be firmly taken in hand by this and all future governments and put to work for the benefit of the citizenry.  Which is presumably why the coalition today voted against the proposal that it should require a 60% majority of the Dail to permit Irish Water to be sold off at some future date.

Incidentally, it does rather hack me off that one of the principle organisers of water protests is professional trade unionist Brendan Ogle, who would presumably be first to the barricades if the vast numbers of public sector staff transferred to Irish Water by government fiat, and a significant part of its ludicrous running costs, were in any way to be trimmed, either in numbers, quality or entitlements.  And I speak as a pro-union person.

[ZenArcade]

Yes their steely eyed resolve in the face of difficult, uninformed eejits who just don't get the big picture and are nastily trying to debar them from lamping us with the debt of the rich just gladdens my heart. Z

[Professor Bear]

Those poor millionaires.  If only there was more we could do for them.

[Grugz]

we could spend their money and relieve them of the burden

[TordelBack]

Those poor millionaires.  If only there was more we could do for them.

Don't beat yourself up just because you only have one life to give  - remember that you have already donated your children and their children to the cause. I know it can never be enough (have you seen the price of marinas these days) but at least it's something.

[The Legendary Shark]

The best we can do for them is the same as we can do for ourselves - rescue the system. Once we have a social currency instead of a private one we'll all have enough and those poor millionaires won't have to live in constant fear of their homes being stormed by mobs of starving peasants.

[Theblazeuk]

Adam Curtis on 'the democratization of luxury':

...how one half of the world all began to live as though they were aristocrats, while the other half became their servants. And how this allowed the real elite aristocrats of our time - who had become wealthier than any group ever before in history - to disappear, and become invisible...

Been reading through the archives of his BBC blog and it's really, really good stuff. Draws the political to the personal and the social and the historical; a perspective that sheds light on the constructed representations offered by the media and offers eclectic insights into just why things happened the way they did and what led to this state. His blog begins with an in-depth look at the history of Kabul and the lack of historical context provided to the public throughout all of the 'war on terror' - mainly because when viewed, at least through Curtis's eyes, there is a complete lack of a clear narrative and the reality is just one of mistakes, bullishness, greed and lack of accountability.


The quote above is just the one that struck me today as a complete truism and again, a perspective often lost when discussing the first/third world divide. Check it out at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis and enjoy all the lovely archive material he uses throughout.

Also turns out he's working 2 floors above me right now on some non-linear interactive project, which is nice.