What if every citizen in this country agreed to bring it to a complete standstill...

hatrickpatrick

...until the government steps down and calls an election?

If they continue to trample on democracy, if they continue to ignore the will of the people, if they continue to use sly tactics to force legislation through whilst ignoring the purpose of democracy:

What if everyone in the entire country agreed to just stop?
If everyone literally just stood still and refused to participate in society in any way shape or form until the government stepped down?

Oh sure, it sounds extreme. and it is. and maybe it is ridiculous, and maybe it is completely impossible to co ordinate.

But the question is, would it work? Would THAT force the government to step down or would they manage to cling on to power even with the entire country crashing and burning purely and only because they refused to step down?

BTW: I'm not calling for a simple 100% strike here, I'm talking about an absolute shutdown (or as close to absolute as would still allow us all to stay alive) of every single functioning institution in our society. A blackout, if you will. No radio, no television, no transport (public or private), no shops open (or at least the very bare minimum required so we wouldn't all starve) and we simply say "we will end this all out blackout immediately and unconditionally as soon as a date for a general election is announced, not more than 2 or 3 months into the future.

Could it be done?

oppenheimer1

Do you mean a general strike? If everyone stopped working, and you suggest literally everyone, hundreds if not thousands would die even if this was just for a day.

PanchoVilla

I'd like everyone in the country to refuse to pay their ESB bill. Seeing as the majority of people can't refuse to pay their taxes thanks to the PAYE scam, not paying the ESB is pretty much the closest thing we have to withholding taxes until the government steps down. I seriously doubt the ESB would be foolish enough to cut everyone's electricity supply.

Overheal

Not everyone in the country would be in a position to shut off their light and heat and refuse to participate in society. They have sick, kids, elderly, and especially at the front of winter they cant spend their time freezing to death under a blanket to attempt a political point.

I would aim ever so slightly lower, like an organized stay at home day. Leave the radiator on though. It would look good in the papers if you could convince a few hundred thousand people to stay home that day and effectively cost the economy X million Euro in the name of a General Election. Bear in mind of course some jobs just have to show up, like emergency services. The problem is good luck convincing people to follow through; a lot of them would just head to the christmas shopping.

mgmt

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Do you mean a general strike? If everyone stopped working, and you suggest literally everyone, hundreds if not thousands would die even if this was just for a day.

Dont forget the queues into Newry

mikemac

I feel a spin to Enniskillen coming on

iMax

I think we should throw cheese at them.

Seriously 50,000 people in Kildare street, throwing cheese at them as they enter the Dáil. every morning for a week. A flash cheese mob if you will.

I'm also willing to set up a small cheese kiosk somewhere in the vicinity

My name is URL

The title answers itself really.. I hope you've a good plan on getting the motor restarted after it all

rumour

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Do you mean a general strike? If everyone stopped working, and you suggest literally everyone, hundreds if not thousands would die even if this was just for a day.

:pac::pac::pac: Or obsolutely no one would die, because there'd be no records, only queues at the border for christmas shopping

MagicSean

We voted them in for four years. They're hardly trampling democracy.

amacachi

Yeah, let's do that, why wait any longer for a default. :rolleyes:

Lapin

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

A blackout. No radio, no television, ......."we will end this all out blackout immediately and unconditionally as soon as a date for a general election is announced.....

Could it be done?

How would we hear about the election announcement if all our radios and tellys are switched off ?

Ulysses Gaze

k_mac wrote: »

We voted them in for four years. They're hardly trampling democracy.

The fact they're not holding certain by-elections?

Is that not 'trampling' on the democratic rights of the people to be represented?

dsmythy

What will happen is, an election will be called, a FG/Labour coalition would be voted in, and absolutely nothing will change.

wylo

dsmythy wrote: »

What will happen is, an election will be called, a FG/Labour coalition would be voted in, and absolutely nothing will change.

This is sadly true regarding our economy, but they MIGHT,just MIGHT try and make a tiny effort in changing how politics is run in this country. They might actually listen to experts, they might actually concentrate on aggressive plans to improve the country. You never know. Probably not though...

Raging_Ninja

The only plans I've heard to make the political system 'better' involves cutting the number of TDs in the country, then making only half of those seats elected by the people while the rest come from political parties based on a mathematical equation. That doesn't seem particularly democratic to me - seems more like killing off Independents and the small parties while making candidates toe the party line.