why aren't the Irish taking to the streets?

lufties

With the lastest anglo relevations, and the government providing plenty of empty soundbytes, it seems the camel's back is broken.

So i wonder why people are not up in arms,especially when its obvious nothing short of a revolution is needed to have some justice and change.

In my opinion, people need to earn a living and are simply too busy working. I also wonder though is it our conservative nature and the attitude of respect our so called betters. otherwise perhaps simply we need to grow a pair of balls because lets face it, there isn't many other countries would put up with shenanigans like this.

AudreyHepburn

lufties wrote: »

With the lastest anglo relevations, and the government providing plenty of empty soundbytes, it seems the camel's back is broken.

So i wonder why people are not up in arms,especially when its obvious nothing short of a revolution is needed to have some justice and change.

In my opinion, people need to earn a living and are simply too busy working. I also wonder though is it our conservative nature and the attitude of respect our so called betters. otherwise perhaps simply we need to grow a pair of balls because lets face it, there isn't many other countries would put up with shenanigans like this.

To be honest the tapes, while absolutly despicable, don't reveal anything we didn't already know.

I don't know that taking to the streets would do any good, what needs to happen here is a proper enquiry and criminal investigation, not an uprising.

spank_inferno

well, firstly nobody is as busy as they say they are.

40hrs a week work still allows a lot of time to do what you are passionate about.

Irish people just love inertia.
Apathy is the national pass-time.

wolfpawnat

If a group go out and protest, there will only be a few thousand at it, and more people with sit at their kitchen tables or on online forums scoffing at them and then there are absolute lunatics that think we should accept it, that we are all of equal blame for this crisis:rolleyes:

fishy fishy

too busy organizing cake sales for the gathering.

LeBash

wolfpawnat wrote: »

If a group go out and protest, there will only be a few thousand at it, and more people with sit at their kitchen tables or on online forums scoffing at them and then there are absolute lunatics that think we should accept it, that we are all of equal blame for this crisis:rolleyes:

Id rather complain about it on a smart phone from my bed.

Viper_JB

I miss read the thread title, and was like...why would the Irish be talking to the streets

kneemos

We're used to it and have come to expect this sort of behaviour and the fact nothing will be done about it.

Seedy Arling

'Ah sure it'll be grand.'

For that reason. :mad:

wolfpawnat

kneemos wrote: »

We're used to it and have come to expect this sort of behaviour and the fact nothing will be done about it.

Is that a guarantee????

listermint

There is a protest tomorrow at 1PM outside the GPO.

So rather than worrying about why people arent taking to the streets, spread the word about that instead.

corkgsxr

Too busy working at the moment. 50+ hour per week


If something will be done nothing we do will make a difference to it

eamonnq

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056978030

See thread above....

Con Logue

spank_inferno wrote: »

well, firstly nobody is as busy as they say they are.

40hrs a week work still allows a lot of time to do what you are passionate about.

Irish people just love inertia.
Apathy is the national pass-time.

That and finger pointing on the interweb.

I love how politics.ie et al is chock full of wannabe revolutionaries while forgetting that the great national characteristic is once someone has any kind of stake in the society, especially property and the great rural god land, they will make Thatcher look like a dangerous liberal. That's why no revolution.

amorphous

Fluoride in the water makes you passive.

nino1

lufties wrote: »

With the lastest anglo relevations, and the government providing plenty of empty soundbytes, it seems the camel's back is broken.

So i wonder why people are not up in arms,especially when its obvious nothing short of a revolution is needed to have some justice and change.

In my opinion, people need to earn a living and are simply too busy working. I also wonder though is it our conservative nature and the attitude of respect our so called betters. otherwise perhaps simply we need to grow a pair of balls because lets face it, there isn't many other countries would put up with shenanigans like this.

because people like you come onto boards.ie calling for people to protest rather than organising a protest

Uriel.

quite frankly, we get fnucked over on a regularl basis and we have to take most of it, because being perfectly honest, there are very few options.

I couldn't be bothered wasting more of my precious time standing around on the street listen to socialists, and other leftie lunatics, as by and large, these are the kind of people that hijack protests. I'd rather put up with what we have than give the likes of those the power to influence society.

iDave

What does it achieve though? Whenever i see Greek 'protests' it just looks like an excuse for local scumbags to smash up a bus stop.

Karl Stein

lufties wrote: »

So i wonder why people are not up in arms,especially when its obvious nothing short of a revolution is needed to have some justice and change.

Global capitalism is a many headed hydra - you cannot simply cut one head off and declare victory. A revolution here would simply lead to a tourniquet being placed on that small part of the body and it being allowed to shrivel up and die.

A revolutionary response, to have any chance of effecting change, would need to be more transnational in application and execution.

crusher000

Potests won't achieve anything and for the main part most people are more taken up with trying to make ends meet and keeping our familg fed. Apathy also, as nothing surprises me anymore and all these tape releases do is confirm what we knew already. They're all a shower of bankers. The power men in this country are so inter twined it is sickening, Polticians daddy went to school with bank managers daddy and then they went to school together etc.

listermint

This thread is a depressing read.

Corkbah

listermint wrote: »

This thread is a depressing read.

why dont you start a protest ...or start a thread about the lack of protesting threads !

(not intended to be a personal attack - just making some lighthearted humour of the situation)

crusher000

listermint wrote: »

This thread is a depressing read.

The whole situation is depressing. People being put out of their homes because of these axxeholes in high society who looked down their noses at the ordinary citizens of this country. Laughing at the endless mis fortune that they created and that we will have to pay for a very long time. 20 years won't see us out of the ****. So sorry if it doesn't cheer up your day.

Atomicjuicer

I travelled to Dublin and stood on a cold winters night with 20K to protest against abortion in Ireland. Zero coverage.

Again recently 30K protested outside government buildings against abortion (which was an election promise by FG).

Taoiseach didnt bat an eyelid, coverage was pitiful. No newspapers etc. oh yeah, lol one photographer showed up an hour before the meeting time took a few photos before the protesters had fully showed up.

Specialun

Atomicjuicer wrote: »

I travelled to Dublin and stood on a cold winters night with 20K to protest against abortion in Ireland. Zero coverage.

Again recently 30K protested outside government buildings against abortion (which was an election promise by FG).

Taoiseach didnt bat an eyelid, coverage was pitiful. No newspapers etc. oh yeah, lol one photographer showed up an hour before the meeting time took a few photos before the protesters had fully showed up.

Democracy is a joke. There is no control over government by the people whatsoever. No influence except for a few moments before an election and then actual power immediately vanishes and all deals are off.

Did ye have cocktail sausages or sandwiches?

average_runner

Majority of the country not suffering too much. Until we all suffer people won't protest much.y

Formalhaut

This will happen again and again, there will be no change, revolving doors, business as usual, move along folks, nothing to see here.

Because the Irish have lost their moral compass. The level of sheer moral apathy and cyncism in the country is shocking. I don't know why that is. A post-colonial fear of authority or 'rocking the boat'? Two decades of greed? The cynical aftermath of one revelation about corruption (state and church) after another, leading to people giving up on the prospect of change?

But something is seriously sick in the state when people won't even make a visible demonstration of disgust and anger when two sociopaths, who have not only bankrupted the country and put every man woman and child into crippling debt for generations, are recorded LAUGHING at doing it. I mean, if you're not going to get angry after that, what's it going to take?

I think people from other countries are looking at us with incredulity. And they're right to do so. If we're not prepared to frighten the crap out of our establishment and remind them who they work for, we probably deserve everything we get. Brazil, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Iceland, the U.S. and London, and all over the Arab world people are expressing their intolerance of corruption and demanding change. What do the Irish do? Tug their ****ing forelocks and cry into their Guinness.

The number of people on here griping about not wanting to march with crusties and hippies and trade unionists is ****ing unbelievable. THAT'S precisely the problem.

crusher000

Atomicjuicer wrote: »

I travelled to Dublin and stood on a cold winters night with 20K to protest against abortion in Ireland. Zero coverage.

Again recently 30K protested outside government buildings against abortion (which was an election promise by FG).

Taoiseach didnt bat an eyelid, coverage was pitiful. No newspapers etc. oh yeah, lol one photographer showed up an hour before the meeting time took a few photos before the protesters had fully showed up.

Democracy is a joke. There is no control over government by the people whatsoever. No influence except for a few moments before an election and then actual power immediately vanishes and all deals are off.

I won't mention any names but one party before the last elections clearly stated voting for FG was the same as voting for FF. Most people have TD's with their offices in your local constituency but myself included have never made them feel un comfortable about anything. Show up are their office when they have a clinic and if enough of them get heat they may re think. Other wise they're all nice and cosy in the Dail while protestors stand out side.

RayCon

I've always found it to be a bit too laid back to be the soundtrack for a revolution ... saxophone break in the middle doesn't help either (although does boil the blood)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rxWPEdYCnI

SpaceTime

They all ring into various whine lines like Joe Duffy and think that's it - job done.

Wibbs

Just my take, but it's part of our cultural "nature", at least when we're in Ireland. As a culture if we go anywhere overseas we're far more likely to kick stuff off than at home. A crap load of south American nations exist today in no small part because of Irish names taking on "The Man". Even Che Guevara's own father blamed his Irish blood(his full name was Guevara-Lynch) for his revolutionary thinking and wanderlust. We weren't exactly shrinking violets in early US or Australian history either. The "rebel Irish" tag is mostly in relation to emigres not natives. We seem more passive on home turf for some reason. Maybe it's a touch of "what the neighbours will think/Don't make a fuss"?

I've even seen this with mates who have emigrated. They often went from quite passive here to much more proactive when away from the place. Ireland a wonderful womb, but a lousy mother, a great place to be from, but not always a great place to be. Though there are a helluva lot more worse places.

Marsden

iDave wrote: »

What does it achieve though? Whenever i see Greek 'protests' it just looks like an excuse for local scumbags to smash up a bus stop.

Didn't the Greeks get a huge write down on thier debt?

seiphil

If you keep poking somebody in the arm over and over again, eventually they will react. Irish people have shown this in the past.

Have no idea what it will take but it will happen where hundreds of thousands will take to the street.

Zen65

spank_inferno wrote: »

Irish people just love inertia.
Apathy is the national pass-time.

This is true. If apathy was an Olympic Games category, we probably wouldn't bother to enter a national team!

Z

lufties

funny but true, i witnessed it in the workplace in ireland. If you upset anyone in the higher eschelons, god help you, your colleagues will bully you and make you feel an outcast for upsetting their betters..basically a bunch of 'im all right jack arselickers..
I now live in hong kong, funny how a non democratic country can provide a better quality of life.

wolfpawnat

lufties wrote: »

funny but true, i witnessed it in the workplace in ireland. If you upset anyone in the higher eschelons, god help you, your colleagues will bully you and make you feel an outcast for upsetting their betters..basically a bunch of 'im all right jack arselickers..
I now live in hong kong, funny how a non democratic country can provide a better quality of life.

Ssshhhh, that there be revolutionary talk!!!! THey don't welcome that sort of thing around here.

Formalhaut

Wibbs wrote: »

Just my take, but it's part of our cultural "nature", at least when we're in Ireland. As a culture if we go anywhere overseas we're far more likely to kick stuff off than at home. A crap load of south American nations exist today in no small part because of Irish names taking on "The Man". Even Che Guevara's own father blamed his Irish blood(his full name was Guevara-Lynch) for his revolutionary thinking and wanderlust. We weren't exactly shrinking violets in early US or Australian history either. The "rebel Irish" tag is mostly in relation to emigres not natives. We seem more passive on home turf for some reason. Maybe it's a touch of "what the neighbours will think/Don't make a fuss"?

I've even seen this with mates who have emigrated. They often went from quite passive here to much more proactive when away from the place. Ireland a wonderful womb, but a lousy mother, a great place to be from, but not always a great place to be. Though there are a helluva lot more worse places.

Everyone with a shred of initiative got out of the country. What's left is an extremely passive gene pool.

wolfpawnat

Formalhaut wrote: »

Everyone with a shred of initiative got out of the country. What's left is an extremely passive gene pool.

No a few of us are left (only because we can't afford the fare!)

Zulu

Am I the only who thinks that while the conversations were despicable, they were doing exactly what they were employed to do? I mean, they were acting in the bank/shareholders interests; they weren't employed to act in the states interests...

Now I'm not* saying I like it, but it's little cause for me to "take to the streets". Further damaging the current government or crippling the current struggling economy isn't going to fix the sins of the previous government or the economy.

Formalhaut

Zulu wrote: »

Am I the only who thinks that while the conversations were despicable, they were doing exactly what they were employed to do? I mean, they were acting in the bank/shareholders interests; they weren't employed to act in the states interests...

Now I'm saying I like it, but it's little cause for me to "take to the streets". Further damaging the current government or crippling the current struggling economy isn't going to fix the sins of the previous government or the economy.

That's all right then.

Business as usual, consequence-free sociopathy...

wolfpawnat

Zulu wrote: »

Now I'm saying I like it, but it's little cause for me to "take to the streets". Further damaging the current government or crippling the current struggling economy isn't going to fix the sins of the previous government or the economy.

Though the current government cannot be blamed for the acts of the previous lot, they have the power to help us out of this as best they can and guess what, they haven't. They are just as bad as the last lot, and us taking their "medicine" so willing and blaming the previous lot for our continued hardship is cock and bull too!!!!

lufties

iDave wrote: »

What does it achieve though? Whenever i see Greek 'protests' it just looks like an excuse for local scumbags to smash up a bus stop.

you just answered my op perfectly without realising..its the finger wagging , holier than thou, sneering attitude like this that prevents people from protesting..if there was enough people on board it may achieve something.

SpaceTime

There's also the fact that 'the man' in this case is our own establishment.

We had similar issues taking on the church hierarchy for decades and we allowed a regime that looks very like authoritarianism to operate too with loads of people being institutionalised in laundries, industrial schools and probably mental institutions so stepped out of line.

We are very easily able to take on outside 'the man' figures like The British Empire, American early 20th century abusive industrialists trampling rights, etc etc
but when it comes to a bit of self criticism of our own society, things become a lot more difficult and we can't see the issues clearly

lufties

wolfpawnat wrote: »

Ssshhhh, that there be revolutionary talk!!!! THey don't welcome that sort of thing around here.

'doffs cap'...:D

Formalhaut

seiphil wrote: »

If you keep poking somebody in the arm over and over again, eventually they will react. Irish people have shown this in the past.

Have no idea what it will take but it will happen where hundreds of thousands will take to the street.

I think it will literally take food shortages before the Irish will react.

In the UK in the late 1980's there were violent riots in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere over Thatcher's poll tax. The result? The Tories were forced to make a U-turn and rescind the law. You frighten the politicians enough and they will realize which side their bread's buttered. You act like someone willing to take it in the butt and you'll get it in the butt.

Formalhaut

Uriel. wrote: »

quite frankly, we get fnucked over on a regularl basis and we have to take most of it, because being perfectly honest, there are very few options.

I couldn't be bothered wasting more of my precious time standing around on the street listen to socialists, and other leftie lunatics, as by and large, these are the kind of people that hijack protests. I'd rather put up with what we have than give the likes of those the power to influence society.

That's a shocking attitude. It's also a licence to politicians and others to misbehave. They rely on precisely that attitude being widespread in the country.

Talk about part of the problem.

SpaceTime

I'd add that we never really seem to have grasped what a Republic is in the French or American sense.

instead, we define ourselves as a Republic because we're not a British monarchy. We need to start thinking a little harder about what a Republic is really supposed to be about as we have completely lost all that idealism along the way.

You get a true sense of pride in France for example that they had a revolution and they won't be downtrodden by anyone again ever. That's part of the reason that they will take to the streets.

I think we have lost that somehow.

Matt_Trakker

lufties wrote: »

So i wonder why people are not up in arms

Prob coz there are a million things more important to give a fuq about.

listermint

Zulu wrote: »

Am I the only who thinks that while the conversations were despicable, they were doing exactly what they were employed to do? I mean, they were acting in the bank/shareholders interests; they weren't employed to act in the states interests...

Now I'm saying I like it, but it's little cause for me to "take to the streets". Further damaging the current government or crippling the current struggling economy isn't going to fix the sins of the previous government or the economy.

Look Davey, the jigg is up. You were busted on the tapes no amount of i was doing what i was supposed to do will turn back time

iDave

lufties wrote: »

you just answered my op perfectly without realising..its the finger wagging , holier than thou, sneering attitude like this that prevents people from protesting..if there was enough people on board it may achieve something.

Fair enough, didnt realise I was finger wagging etc but its hard to take people seriously when they're burning cars, smashing windows, engaging people officers with their faces covered.

nino1

lufties wrote: »

With the lastest anglo relevations, and the government providing plenty of empty soundbytes, it seems the camel's back is broken.

So i wonder why people are not up in arms,especially when its obvious nothing short of a revolution is needed to have some justice and change.

In my opinion, people need to earn a living and are simply too busy working. I also wonder though is it our conservative nature and the attitude of respect our so called betters. otherwise perhaps simply we need to grow a pair of balls because lets face it, there isn't many other countries would put up with shenanigans like this.

These calls for a protest are happening every day and its getting very annoying.

It's like a group of kids sitting in the park with a football complaining that nobody will organise a football game.

DO IT YOURSELVES!!