ROCK-BREAKING
In
days of old when people came across a boulder blocking their progress, when there
were no air compressors, jack-hammers, power-drills or any such
modern gadgetry, they developed a simple method of ridding themselves of this
very solid and seemingly immovable obstacle in their path.
They
found the weak point in the boulder, drove in a wedge – several wedges in
several weak points, if there was more than one. They excavated around the periphery, built fires in the hollow, let the heat build up, gradually hammered home the wedge(s) until
eventually the boulder was reduced to rubble. No explosion, no collateral
damage, problem solved.
In
our campaign to get the bank-debt burden lifted from the Irish people we have
met several such boulders, all the way to Brussels and back. From our experience with the Dáil Technical Group Promissory Note bonds Motion last week, we now know for certain of two such obstacles in front of us right
here right now, at home.
FIRST ROCK
The
first is our own government. We expected our Motion would be defeated, we did
not expect the sneering disdain with which it was dismissed. In an effort
(misguided, as it transpired) to make it acceptable to even the two government
parties we had confined the Motion to the most obviously odious element of the
bank-debt, the Promissory Note bonds; additionally, we had kept the
wording as non-confrontational and as simple as possible.
And
still it was lost. Not just beaten but, taking their cue from the arrogance
with which the four who now rule the roost in this country (Kenny, Noonan, Gilmore
& Howlin) treat all challenges, those who had backed it were derided and
mocked as fools and simpletons, all 36 TDs plus all those of us who have been
campaigning for years.
We
know now, without shadow of doubt, this government will not ask for bank-debt
writedown, not even on this most odious debt. That's one rock in our path.
SECOND ROCK
On
the evening of the final debate a representative gathering from the various
Says No groups from Dublin and from around the country met outside the Dáil, a
show of solidarity with those inside supporting the motion on our behalf. Every
news outlet in the country - radio, TV, newspaper - had been notified. All
chose to ignore it.
RTE
went one better however - perhaps even two better. On the main Six-One news,
anchor Bryan Dobson referred to us as 'those idiots'; at around the same time,
another RTE heavyweight, David Davin-Power, made his way through our protest
but ignored what was going on. Stopped at a red light, he was approached by one
of the organisers and politely asked if he'd have any interest in covering what
was happening - "No interest in the world!", his dismissive reply,
before stalking off across the road and into the comfort of the Dáil.
That's
another rock in our road, our national media.
THE WEAK POINTS
We
have already found the weak point in the government's position, the Promissory
Note debt. Not a single Fine Gael or Labour Party TD who spoke against the
Motion addressed what was being proposed, that we merely ask the ECB allow the
Central Bank destroy the €28.1bn in Promissory Note bonds it shortly proposes
to begin selling to the markets (very possibly to the same financial
institutions bailed out by the original Promissory Notes).
We
have driven our first wedge into that rock, now we must keep hammering, working
with those TDs.
The
national media rock? The weak point there, obviously, is the audience. Two
wedges; first we boycott - stop watching, stop listening, stop buying; then we
bombard, with e-mails, with letters, on Twitter, on Facebook. We let Bryan
Dobson know, we let David Davin-Power know; they are the servants of the
people, not the masters.
Then we build our own media, create our own information channels - written, audio, video. We have the technology, right?
TURNING UP THE HEAT
And
all the while that we're driving home those wedges, we also keep turning up the
heat. And we can – we certainly have enough fuel.
Far
from there being no protest in Ireland against all that's being imposed on us,
there is protest everywhere:
- Our campaign against the bank-debt;
- The water charges groups;
- The Home Tax campaign;
- All the various organisations protesting all the cuts to the most vulnerable sectors of our society;
- The debt relief groups;
- The various charity organisations;
- Those fighting to reverse the terrible deals down in the sale of our energy reserves;
- Etc etc.
Around
all the rocks we've all been meeting, we’ve all also been excavating, exposing,
lighting our individual fires. Now is the time to pull them all together.
BUILDING A NATIONAL COMMUNITY
We
need an umbrella under which we can all gather, a central organisation, a
central website; we can all continue with our own focus but above all we need a
central ambition and direction, a coordinated drive to force the interests and
the needs of the people back to the top of the agenda, no longer subservient to
the demands of high finance. We need to force our politicians and our media to
do what they’re supposed to do, we need them to fight for us and not against us,
we need them to inform us and not fool us.
All
of this is going to take time to build but like those wise people of old, we
need to have the patience. This will not happen overnight, it won't happen in
weeks, maybe won't even happen in months. But we don't just wait. We work, we
build our fires, we keep increasing the heat, and we hammer away at those
wedges.
NO VIOLENCE
Peacefully,
patiently, working in community and in harmony, working especially with a smile
on our face and a song in our heart, we’ll get this done.
Know
the bounty we’ve been blessed with in this country, the rich soil, the bounteous
rivers, lakes and seas, the beauty of the landscape, the wit and humour of the
people, the music and culture, and so much more. We’re a nation that should soar, not a nation
that will allow itself ever again be crushed underfoot by a new set of
money-merchant masters.
Remember
the words of Terence McSweeney, later adopted by Ghandi: "It is not those
who can inflict the most, but those that can suffer the most who will
conquer."
