Irish Water - A Tax On Life

The term "human rights" gets bandied about all too frequently by those looking to add some much needed dramatics to their writing, as if Herodotus has come back to life and has begun to regale us with stories based on truth but blown entirely out of proportion. Right now, however, we are faced with a challenge to our human rights in Ireland. There are many questions that come from the question of charging for water. Perhaps most pertinently is the question over the payment: how is it suddenly okay to charge for this basic, natural liquid when we have never been charged before? The fact of the matter is that we have been charged and have been paying for water all along. The only difference now being that the government is using the already heavily-taxed income to indulge in further bouts of cronyism. Yet again, it is the people who are consigned to paying for the wishes of those who lead us.

Of course there are those who have been brainwashed through generations of political ideal, handed down from generation to generation like precious jewellery, seemingly blinded by their political allegiance to the fact that this practice of charging for water, to bump up the profits for what is a private company, is ludicrous. Yet these toadying sycophants toe the party line once more to justify the decisions taken on our behalf, by those WE voted in. Worst of all, they facilitate the government successfully requesting that we grab our ankles again in the future. 

There are those who think austerity is necessary and there are those that think taking from the extremely poor and giving to already rich bankers is a negative thing. The problem with austerity is that it is when capitalism is at its ugliest. Companies sack the majority of their employees and take on cheaper alternatives and in austerity, the government gets ugly too. 

Here is a short list of things that go up during austerity:

- Tax

- Unemployment

- Emigration

- Homelessness

- Suicide

- Alcoholism

- Depression

- Drug use

- Crime

- Our reliance on banks

- The power of capitalism

Here is a short list of things that go down during austerity:

- Employment

- Population (youth especially)

- Pensions

- Social welfare

- Wages

- Employability

- General happiness

This system we have is to blame. Take this scenario for a mental exercise. You are presented with 10 cakes. You try a cake. It is disgusting. You try a second cake. It is also disgusting. Do you go back to the first cake again, realise it was as bad as the first time and try something else? Do you then return to the second cake? What if your parents told you that these were the only two cakes you can try? Would you not disagree? Would you not be curious as to what it would taste like to at least have a nibble of the other cakes? How sad would the world be if we had only two types of cake? This is the Irish system.

This is the system that gave a big two-fingered salute to every man, woman and child in this country and handed over billions of their money to those who didn't need it. In case you are still on the fence over these charges, here are some facts in the hope that you can exercise your democratic rights that are so advertised in other parts of the world that dare to hold alternative ideals.

- Your water is already paid for through central taxation. Domestic water rates were abolished in 1977 and Income Tax, PRSI and Motor Tax were increased to compensate, as well as the introduction of Household Charge and Property Tax. 

- 49% of clean water is lost through leaks and damaged pipes.
- Irish Water Ltd is a commercial for-profit company. You cannot be forced into a contract with a private company.
- Over 180 million euros of taxpayers money was used to set up Irish Water Ltd.
- One company, Sierra, which received the contract for installing the meters is owned by Ireland's richest person, tax exile Denis O'Brien
- Irish Water Ltd CANNOT deduct the charges from your wages or cut off your water supply
- Water is a universal Human Right, not a commodity.

There are more than two types of cake. Try a third. One of them will be nice.

None of this is opinion, this is all fact. Make up your own mind and act accordingly.

Never accept the world with which you are presented.

Scotland On The Brink

In the next 24 hours, Scotland will have a chance to do what we Irish have never had the chance to do - leave the United Kingdom. Sure, people say the six counties are no longer a part of Ireland but for me, Ireland always has and always will include our brothers and sisters in the north. Years of conflict, murder, bombs and discrimination, under the agendas of both sectarian and class divides, has never changed this. We are of this island, whether you are a ''fleg'' bearer or not. It matters not whether the butcher's apron adorns parliament at the other end of the island. It matters not the hatred and the disdain that arises from a conflict that has for so long has been under the banner of religious conflict. Make no mistake, the north is all that will be left of the much vaunted and overly-celebrated United Kingdom. All that will remain for the family that was... ahem... chosen by god... is the Commonwealth Games and the fact that their blood-stained flag still taints 25% of the national flag of many countries around the world.

Scotland have a chance tomorrow to be something we never have been - completely free of the oppressors. Even in the south, where we flaunt Michael Collins and his actions of eight decades ago like some kind of anti-establishment hero, we still adhere to many British traditions. Our governments have a very similar system. Our banks are identical and often owned by the same companies. We are as conservative as our conservatively-run neighbours - little change, high taxation, the division between the 1% and and the 99% become greater by the year - it is there for all to see. Our education and health services are almost identical also, as are our attitudes towards Europe, despite our insistence that we do as they please. This is the problem with Ireland. We settle for what we can get. We never say no. We take the pounding and shrug and say to ourselves ''ah, sure it could have been worse''. We had one of the greatest booms the world has ever seen and we blew it. Every penny worked up, every market that was thriving has been destroyed by our reluctance to stand up to the those who continue to put us in our place.

For those who criticise David Cameron for giving Scotland the opportunity to leave the Union, do not be so foolish. This is a win-win situation for the Conservative PM. Should the Scots take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and gain independence, the proportion of Conservatives left in Britain rises dramatically, securing Cameron a further term in office ahead of the remarkably incompetent Ed Miliband, as well as at least another term for the Tories. Should the Scots fail to leave the UK, David Cameron will be hailed as the greatest strategist since Churchill saw off the filthy hun for mighty Blighty. He will be revered for crushing the opposition in Scotland, who have posed the biggest threat to the Union in history and at the same time secure the Scottish oil reserves. Dave is no fool. The only fools are those who abide by him.

So Scotland, we here in all 32 counties of this beautiful island, as well as the Basque, the Catalans, the Palestinians and many other oppressed peoples of the world emplore you to throw off the oppressors, take this opportunity with both hands and stick it to the queen, prince Charles and the establishment that facilitates, supports and practices apartheid, sectarianism, genocide, internment, torture and wars for oil. Do what we cannot.

Balance

Why am I faced with a lifetime of balance in world in which it seems there is none?

It looks to me as if for every victory I enjoy in this life there is a pain that much be suffered either before or after my pleasure.

A youth of believing that work will set me free appears about as realistic a prospect as alien invasion yet perhaps the thought of little green men would be enlightening, if it wasn’t for the accompanying little green women.

Hancock.
Friends.
Two and a Half Men.
The life of the UltraBomb.

Giver and taker.
Give and take.
Good and evil.
Pain and pleasure.

The life of the millionaire that ends in tragedy.
The gifted musician who dies in a pool of their own blood and vomit.
The wrestling superstar addicted to drugs.

WHY IS EVERY GOOD BALANCED BY AN EVIL??

For every smile I break there is a tear I shed for it is the way of this person. A slave to the system and to the fate of this world. Nevermore can I enjoy the moment for what it seems to be for I now know exactly what it is.

Mediocrity cannot hide behind positive deeds any longer.

And there is the problem…living is a problem because everything dies.

The key to happiness for me is finding where you draw the line between being part of this world and turning a blind eye to it.

For every smile there is a tear. For every birth there is a death and for every ramble there is someone who needs to but cannot.

Pochemuchka99

Never accept the world with which you are presented

Six feet of dirt does not a hero make

 

Let's call him Harry.

In my late teens, a local lad, of similar age, was killed in an accident. It was a horrific accident and a young life was taken. The crushing of his youthful potential was plain for all to see. The entire town was gripped in a bout of sadness as its inhabitants and blow-ins alike celebrated his life and mourned his passing.

I did not attend the funeral. Why? Because I saw no reason to go. For me, attending a funeral is a show of respect. It is your way of saying goodbye to the person. A way of saying thank you for the positivity you brought to the world and to me. Harry, make no mistake about it, was an utter scumbag. He sold drugs. He was constantly fighting. Harry had a child he didn’t care to see and refused to support. He had a long list of people in this small town that he had hurt and whose lives were worse off for having crossed paths with him. Harry was one of those people that contributes a total sum of nothing to society. This is not conjecture or hearsay. I speak of Harry from experience.

I refused to be one of the thousands of people in this town who were lying, not only to themselves but to their ”god” whose house they desecrated with falsehood. Every single person who attended the funeral that day lied to the child he left behind. The majority of these people did not know him and if they did they would not have paid tribute to his time if they acted in honesty. Harry’s life was made a mockery of and his bereaving family was made to think that this was a popular guy, popular for the actions he performed while alive.

I received a substantial amount of abuse for refusing to attend his funeral. People argued that it was a tragedy that such a young life was lost, that I knew him and should have shown my respects. True, it is tragic. Tragic that he was truly honoured with such a great family and ruined his life the way he did. True, I knew him. He made my life worse than it needed to be in our teenage years and did a lot more damage to others and for that, there can be no respect.

The people of this fragile town were duped into thinking that this loss of life was particularly tragic. It was not.

People opt to see the good in others once they have passed on, as if looking at their deeds through sepia tinted glasses. The funeral for them is the handshake at the end of some sporting endeavour. Well done. You gave it your all. Good game. There can be no camaraderie in ignoring the folly of others posthumously. 

Perhaps seeing nothing but the good in someone is a virtue but it is one I definitely do not have and for that I am grateful. It was be a massive dishonour to Harry, his family and the child he left behind to pretend he made the world a better place because he didn’t.

He wasted the chance he got at this. He was given so much and threw it away. Maybe there is a sadness in that. Maybe that deserves pity. He was dealt a great hand and spent his short time on this earth crushing those around him.

Six feet of dirt does not a hero make.

pochemuchka99 

Never accept the world with which you are presented

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth

Or did He?

Fundamental questions with logical answers will be addressed on this blog.

To question is to understand. To understand is to grow. If we do not grow, we wither and die. I’d prefer to grow but that means spending more time here, where every day is filled not with the beauty of the world (of which there is plenty) but of the follies of man – the single most destructive force in the universe.

Tonight, the world is in tatters because of the influence of men of power and of faith (“In God We Trust”). The lives of the poor and the many ruined and extinguished for the needs of the rich and the few. Never before have the fundamentals of capitalism and democracy been so destructive on such a scale. When plantation, apartheid and genocide can not only exist but thrive in line with international influence as it does in Israel, we need to assess what we as a people have become. Are we all evil? Did we really head down this path knowing we would do this to the planet we temporarily inhabit?

Or is this all a case of the haves vs the have nots? Do the 1% really have that much power over the 99%? Sometimes life really is black and white. Generalisations are a horrible product of society but that’s not to say that some are fair to make. For example: the 1% are rich, white, deeply religious, democratic and capitalist (understanding what they can bring – power). The 99% are poor, non-white but are also deeply religious, democratic and capitalist (due to centuries of training).

However, where they differ is that the 99 go to war.

The 99 fight for the 1. The 99 die for the 1.

Without the 99 there is no 1. Yet the 99 are too ignorant, lethargic and are far too willing to play the pin cushion and the human shield. Today, with the advancement of new media and the coronation of celebrities to give dominion over our lives, the 99 are becoming less intelligent, less forthright, less productive and less individual, despite the facades to suggest otherwise. The 99 are becoming more expendable, easier to influence and more willing to be the dog in the dog and pony show.

To quote Arnold J Rimmer:

“Generals don’t smash chairs over people’s heads. They don’t stick Newcastle Brown bottles in your face and say, ‘Stitch that, Jimmy.’ Generals are in a tent on the hill, sipping Sancerre, directing the battle. They’re men of honour.”

The fourth estate, of which I am a part, exists primarily to bring transparency to the estates and to reduce the gap between them or at least facilitate great people to do great things in spite of these gaps.

The areas of grey are fading.

Black and white. Rich and poor. The Newcastle Brown bottle swingers and the men of honour.

We are failing.

pochemuchka 99

Never accept the world with which you are presented