These are pivotal times in
history, not just in Ireland but worldwide.
Global wealth/assets/production/power
has long been in the hands of a few but the disparity between controllers and
controlled is widening at an alarming rate – for proof, read this New Scientistarticle from October 2011: Revealed – the capitalist network that runs the world. And no, it’s not the 1% - it’s the 0.001%.
However, in nation after nation
across the world the fight-back has started.
Privatisation of water is one
battle in this global wealth-war and here in Ireland it’s been waged now for
several months. Given its history since it came to office in March 2011 (kow-towing
to the financial sector, to big industry, bowing to the will of our bully-boy ‘partners’
of the EU/EC/ECB), we knew this battle would be lost in the Dáil, where the
Gang of Four (Kenny/Noonan/Burton/Howlin) exercise total control over the
massive nodding-head majority they whip and control.
The Senate though kept our hopes
alive, the Senate Mr Kenny had gone on a solo-run to try to abolish, the Senate
we had retained so they could act as our protectors in the event of a dictating
despotic government that had lost the confidence of the people (in his opening
sentence in the recent Dáil Vote of Confidence in himself and his government, Enda
gave us the clue to his thinking – ‘When we came to POWER…’; and here were we,
thinking we had elected him and them to office, to SERVE).
Those Senators who were pivotal
in the voting through of the Irish Water Bill used three major reasons for
voting with the government – all are transparently false.
- The plebiscite offers certainty that Irish Water won’t be privatised unless with the approval of the people. Utter nonsense; ONLY the Constitution offers that certainty – any government can change any law any time it chooses, plus, the result of any plebiscite is for any government to implement/ignore as it chooses;
- The new charge is affordable. It is if you're a single multi-millionaire with a year-round indoor pool, perhaps a pitch-sized lawn you like to keep watered in summer and a vintage car or ten you like to keep in pristine condition; it’s most certainly not if you're one of the multitude of people struggling just to keep your head above water, without now being charged a second time for it;
- The new charge is fixed. Right –why continue to install meters if the ultimate intention isn’t to charge for usage? And with the ultimate aim also that the charge must cover the cost of production/new infrastructure/fat salaries & bonuses of execs, the average household charge would have to be around €800 (simple maths). What happens then? In will ride the White Knight offering to take this white elephant off the hands of the government. And we’ll all live thirstily ever after.
Again the people have been sold
out, on this occasion by the aptly-christened Endapendents, for the price of a safe
Senate seat and a silver salary.
Is this the end? No, absolutely not,
because ultimately the real power rests with neither the Dáil nor the Senate.
It rests with us, the people. We should know, we must know now – it has finally come down to ourselves, and what we
do next in this particular battle could well be decisive. Don’t be bullied. Don’t
be misled. Above all, don’t be afraid. This isn’t just a battle worth winning,
it’s a battle that can be won, it’s a battle that simply MUST be won.
Regards,
Diarmuid O'Flynn.
