Post by irishkid on Jul 3, 2009 21:30:52 GMT
This was written for an Irish/American audience, so you may not get most of the references in it (I sense that most people are British here). I get annoyed from time to time and write rants like this I also generally get hate back, but I don't care.
Anyway, away we go:
When I look at the situation in Ireland right now, I'm torn between feeling utter disgust and relief. The people of Ireland elected a Fianna Fáil (a political party) government three times in a row, and now look at the result.
To give you guys a brief back story on this matter: When we entered the Eurozone in 2002, with the new European currency came a new European interest rate. The low interest rated permitted cheap mortgages from banks, and so lead to a housing boom. Now, this was not at all the fault of Fianna Fáil (they didn't set the interest rates after all), but if you listen to what comes next:
There are certain planning laws in Ireland: if you want to build a housing estate in the middle of nowhere, you have to provide the necessary services (schools, shops etc) for the inhabitants of those houses. Most of the regional planning in Ireland is controlled by the County Councils. The Fianna Fáil councillors were more than willing to permit the developers to build houses in the middle of nowhere without services.
As it happened the boom in Ireland was a false boom. Investing in houses in the middle of nowhere hoping that the price will go up does nothing. A house doesn't produce anything that can be sold. If that same money went into creating businesses, then the boom might have lasted for a bit longer.
Inevitably people began to see sense, and knew that the prices had gone to high. This lead to an almighty crash in the housing market, the market that we had depended upon so much, and now look at where we are now...
This boom was partly due to an attractive interest rate, however if the Fianna Fáil councillors had applied the planning laws correctly, the housing boom (which was doomed to bust from the start) may not have been so big, and the money might have gone into much more long term projects. After all a mortgage is just a certain form of loan. Those loans could have gone into creating small, medium, and even large businesses.
But the fact I knew this back ten years ago! My family never voted Fianna Fáil, because we knew that this was unsustainable. We knew, I knew (though I couldn't vote) that this was going to happen, so if the knowledge was out there, why did the people keep voting for the same government three times in a row?
You had the same problem in the US. One could argue that Al Gore should have won the election in 2000 (due to the Florida affair), and one could argue that as Bush was a new candidate the people of America didn't know what to expect. However when the knowledge came about that the invasion of Iraq, that Iraq didn't in fact have weapons of mass destruction, and that in spite of an initial quick victory, the country had degenerated into chaos and anarchy, the people of the US should have known the kind of leader that they had.
Now, however, it is ''fashionable'' to hate Bush, as it is ''fashionable'' to hate Fianna Fáil and the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen in Ireland. The fact is if you vote for a politician, and he screws up, then don't be so hypocritical as to blame him for what he did. After all, in a democratic country like Ireland and the US, the politician does the will of the people. The people of Ireland voted for a housing boom, and now they are wallowing in a bust. The people of the US voted for a president who forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up all the bad loans, so that the people of America could live their American Dream of owning their own home... well good luck to them. Now you are wallowing in recession as a result of those bad ideas.
The moral of the story is, if you know who your voting for, and he/she screws up, then don't complain about it. This ''them and us'' view is useless. Also, if you don't like your politicians, then try running for public office yourself. Managing a country is not an easy job, and unless you feel that you can do a better job, then don't be a hypocrite and bitch about it. Also vote wisely. If you vote for a candidate who turns out to be useless, you, and the people who voted for him, are to blame for the mess that follows.
Anyway, away we go:
When I look at the situation in Ireland right now, I'm torn between feeling utter disgust and relief. The people of Ireland elected a Fianna Fáil (a political party) government three times in a row, and now look at the result.
To give you guys a brief back story on this matter: When we entered the Eurozone in 2002, with the new European currency came a new European interest rate. The low interest rated permitted cheap mortgages from banks, and so lead to a housing boom. Now, this was not at all the fault of Fianna Fáil (they didn't set the interest rates after all), but if you listen to what comes next:
There are certain planning laws in Ireland: if you want to build a housing estate in the middle of nowhere, you have to provide the necessary services (schools, shops etc) for the inhabitants of those houses. Most of the regional planning in Ireland is controlled by the County Councils. The Fianna Fáil councillors were more than willing to permit the developers to build houses in the middle of nowhere without services.
As it happened the boom in Ireland was a false boom. Investing in houses in the middle of nowhere hoping that the price will go up does nothing. A house doesn't produce anything that can be sold. If that same money went into creating businesses, then the boom might have lasted for a bit longer.
Inevitably people began to see sense, and knew that the prices had gone to high. This lead to an almighty crash in the housing market, the market that we had depended upon so much, and now look at where we are now...
This boom was partly due to an attractive interest rate, however if the Fianna Fáil councillors had applied the planning laws correctly, the housing boom (which was doomed to bust from the start) may not have been so big, and the money might have gone into much more long term projects. After all a mortgage is just a certain form of loan. Those loans could have gone into creating small, medium, and even large businesses.
But the fact I knew this back ten years ago! My family never voted Fianna Fáil, because we knew that this was unsustainable. We knew, I knew (though I couldn't vote) that this was going to happen, so if the knowledge was out there, why did the people keep voting for the same government three times in a row?
You had the same problem in the US. One could argue that Al Gore should have won the election in 2000 (due to the Florida affair), and one could argue that as Bush was a new candidate the people of America didn't know what to expect. However when the knowledge came about that the invasion of Iraq, that Iraq didn't in fact have weapons of mass destruction, and that in spite of an initial quick victory, the country had degenerated into chaos and anarchy, the people of the US should have known the kind of leader that they had.
Now, however, it is ''fashionable'' to hate Bush, as it is ''fashionable'' to hate Fianna Fáil and the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen in Ireland. The fact is if you vote for a politician, and he screws up, then don't be so hypocritical as to blame him for what he did. After all, in a democratic country like Ireland and the US, the politician does the will of the people. The people of Ireland voted for a housing boom, and now they are wallowing in a bust. The people of the US voted for a president who forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up all the bad loans, so that the people of America could live their American Dream of owning their own home... well good luck to them. Now you are wallowing in recession as a result of those bad ideas.
The moral of the story is, if you know who your voting for, and he/she screws up, then don't complain about it. This ''them and us'' view is useless. Also, if you don't like your politicians, then try running for public office yourself. Managing a country is not an easy job, and unless you feel that you can do a better job, then don't be a hypocrite and bitch about it. Also vote wisely. If you vote for a candidate who turns out to be useless, you, and the people who voted for him, are to blame for the mess that follows.