To underestimate this grouping in our population is a big mistake.  Over many years progressives tried to modernise Ireland and as always  there was a steady grouping that stalled progressive change. We did manage for example to get divorce through in the end but it was a bitter and difficult process.  My theory is that there is a group of folks out there that are more similar to the US republicans than the UK conservatives in their political ways. Perhaps this explains the American Fox style shark frenzy that occurred over the election of the President. The media were maybe responding to something from a larger consciousness out there.  Real investigative journalism on the other hand is such a pleasure to watch and almost akin to pure science when done well, using evidence to build up a truthful scenario.

I hope we don’t escalate down that other route in media but I did wonder with all the obvious skills and talents used during those debates why did we have the celtic decade of  almost silence? That’s when we really needed the media to do their thing.  As the Zen saying goes “listen to the sound of one hand clapping” or something to that effect…

I congratulate Michael D who is a progressive and hope his term as President will help bring Ireland even further into the 21st Century where all citizens can feel they belong to a truly modern Ireland because in my view we have a road to travel.

But what about people who are over 35?  There are many able and intelligent people who lost jobs and would love the opportunity to do something else but the education opportunities are difficult to access as the third level system is not set up for older access. In the UK many years ago The Open University opened a door in the world of learning that was unprecedented and simply amazing in its vision. It facilitated millions of people to learn on public television despite the early blips. Now we have the incredible facilities of on line learning and yet we still fail to make it easy for older learners to get into the system.

The leaving certificate is not the only benchmark nor should it be to signal a capacity to learn. As we face in the not too distant future a major demographic change with older people being the in the majority we need to radically open doors to learning or we will have have serious problems.  Not  just because it is the right thing to do but also because it will benefit the whole of society. Older people will be in the majority and therefore a crucial group in shaping the policy of tomorrow for all of us.

Below is a link to an IMF video which is cleverly done and spells out necessity of grappling with all of this and more.

http://www.youtube.com/imf#p/u/1/0ukNFMeZvcc

The EU project of solidarity is sadly lacking. That does not mean it cannot be revived. Its all about decisions that individuals and individuals within groups in Europe are making. People are doing this to each other. Ordinary people in powerful jobs whose decisions have the power to do good or the other thing. Forget all about blame and revenge and all those nasty human thought processes. What is the right thing to do?  We all make stupid decisions in life and when ordinary people are in particular  jobs those decisions can have more wide ranging effects on other people. Learning from errors are important but that must go hand in hand with right actions. Actions that are not fueled by emotions reactions. Human beings are not invincible. We can strive to be better though. We must continuously strive to be better.

Its certainly not right to hold generations of people in Ireland, Greece and Portugal in a cruel and unusual long term economic and psychological stranglehold. The effects of this are so damaging. The damage caused by the economy impacts on the ordinary person who lost their job or young person who cannot find a job is  just devastating. Also for those  who have a job and struggle daily with bills as costs rise and rise and salaries are cut is devastating.  Every day and night there are people worrying and becoming stressed and ill as they feel helpless to deal with the magnitude of this fatalistic trap. In some tragic cases it ends in suicide.

The long term effects of this will impact on health and well being for all citizens for decades. Is this a price that people should be forced to pay? There are moral questions to be answered by people who are making these decisions. Ordinary people like you and me.  Can they step away from anger and recrimination? What kind of society, world do we all want? One that crucifies some to preserve others? One that is aware of the well being of all human beings? The austerity method is defunct. It has only intensified the problem and caused more hardship and more worry for people. It is time to stop this cruel and unusual punishment and turn to solutions that are more compassionate and will benefit everyone in the long term.  A Europe that does give a damn about all the people in Europe is the Europe I want.

Women were  generally achieving higher grades across school and university and many applied and competed for those public sector jobs which were open to anyone in Ireland. Those people who chose business careers had that choice too. The salaries were lower and bonuses did not exist then. Bonuses for public sector only came in with the celtic tiger policies of Fianna Fail and bonuses were only for those already on highly inflated pay. The ordinary woman in the public sector didn’t get any such bonuses.

When we talk about small government we are talking about putting many women’s jobs at risk.  I am very concerned about the narrowness of the debate and the lack of thinking through consequences for gender equality in this country which already has an abysmal record so far.

Women didn’t cause this crisis and reforming  the public sector to improve services is one thing  but these job losses will effect primarily women. So what about the reform of the private sector? Behaviours  in many businesses certainly need reforming and strict regulation should be undertaken  as proper respectful customer care here in Ireland is a total disgrace.

Ireland has choices about the type of country we become.  I really hope we make decisions that include the other half of the population and don’t go back to the policies of the 1970′s.

1. Companies trip over themselves to sell free local, UK and international calls  then  most companies  charge you to call their customer service when you have an issue to discuss  …Que?

2. Phoning customer services whose automated call answering asks for identifying information to be punched into phone and then finally …..20 minutes later if you are lucky you get to speak to a human who then asks you for that exact same identifying information. They always say they never get it. So what is the POINT!

3. Whilst you are waiting the 20 minutes  (of YOUR precious time) to speak to a human you are subjected to an assault on the ears of repetitious information on their products and other miscellaneous information you didn’t ask for and didn’t want to hear.

4. After all that your blood pressure is steadily increasing so by the time you reach the human being you’re already twice or three times as annoyed about the issue than you were before you picked up the phone at all.

5.  So after turning into a Victor Meldrew  version in spades  with high blood pressure the negotiation of anything becomes a minefield and cannot be satisfactory for anyone.

My questions are why use systems like this at all?  It IS ANYTHING BUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is simply AWFUL  Also where did this type of idea come from? Abuse and irritate  the customer beyond belief and then expect civility?!

The nonsense that goes on out there that seeks to pass as sense is UNBELIEVABLE.

Sorry was I SHOUTING.

Ps To get over the trauma of that I order a cappucino. (The proper small cup size Italian version) and was charged 3 euro and 20 cent? The level of profit made on teas and coffees at those prices is just phenomenal. UNBELIEVABLE. Sorry SHOUTING again.

Methinks we all put up with this nonsense far too long on this Island.

Now where did I put that meditation mat?

For now we must consciously call to mind the bits in each day that are still good even in these tough times.  It might be a moment of hearing a child’s laughter,  tasting a piece of fresh food or listening to some music and so on but these moments all help keep us more balanced. They also keep the positive emotions present and we sure need more of them these days moving forwards or backwards or …sideways maybe.

Its heartening to see such women in powerful positions take positions like that in the face of many ‘boys clubs’ of opposition. The French Finance Minister also recently named in an interview with the Financial Times,  the ‘testosterone driven’ competitive nature evident amongst the casino gamblers in the financial markets sectors as being part of the problem which got us all into this mess in the first place.  In war women and children are the biggest casualties (not soldiers). In this financial war (and that is what it is) unemployment and poverty hits the most vulnerable. John Gormely said of the Dail that it was like an asylum.  Its Global Financial markets that have been exposed as  insane during this crisis. We can’t have an insanity like that threatening countries. We are all human and there are sane ways out of this to make sure economies work.  Rather than fighting over the pieces of cake it may mean baking a  completely new one with regard to Global Financial Markets.

PS : I have no doubts there are women marketeers and men who stand for justice but right now the stats seem to err in the opposite direction. See  also  http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/those-merkel-proposals-on-bond-markets/ for interesting points on this.

Am I depressed? Totally….

Ordinary people also received  low credit and this created an illusion of increased purchasing power for the middle classes.  Now many Irish people struggle with large debts. Meanwhile people who were vulnerable became more marginalised and more vulnerable.  The needs of the wealthy were put before the needs of the people of Ireland once again.  A Neo-Liberal model took root and grew a thorny bramble which entangled everything in its path as its branches spread. Policy decisions were made to go down this road by the government of Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats initially and then maintained by Fianna Fail and the Greens.

There is a case for Ireland and the bodies that govern Ireland to answer and there is a case for Global finance and the bodies that govern Global finance to answer.

It is so serious now for us as the last few episodes unfold  we witness the  EU and IMF arrival to bail us out (apologies – to give us a loan)! We are still being told this is all about the banks.

Its shocking to be in this situation but its truly unbearable to have to listen to those same people in government with those same ineffective solutions and to the people who still hang on their coat tails.  The least that can be done is allow the people to take control of something.  By going to the polls whilst everything else seems to be out of our control Irish people can at least be taken out of the helplessness that has griped us. We will not be able to fix this quickly but we can change the way we operate and get back some dignity for ourselves.  Some things are worth more than money can buy.