Nothing in our recent past has raised my fear so much as this budget that condemns families on the breadline to a life of poverty, hunger and homelessness. The whole proposal is inconsistent with our constitutional objectives and similar attacks on the people of Ireland have been opposed by true leaders such as James Connolly and Eamonn De Valera.
Fianna Fáil's name is translated as Soldiers of Destiny, in Ireland, since our independence we have been the sole authors of our own destiny. As a nation we have been through many challenges and our future will be exactly what we make of it. We will continue to be the authors of our own destiny, however the script for our future, the 2011 budget, that our finance minister has written, lacks any of the aspirations of our people and is written in the financial language of fear.
"Freedom from fear" could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of the movement for human rights. To build a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.
How then can we ask the most economically vulnerable in Ireland to sacrifice so much if our leaders are not ready to bare an equivalent burden? Removing a €3 million pension for bringing the country to financial ruin would be a start.
Only in true surrender to the interest of all, can we reach the strength and independence, the unity of purpose, the equity of judgment which is necessary if we are to measure up to our duty to the future, as citizens of a generation to whom the chance was given to build a nation in a time of prosperity and world peace.
As others have suggested, the minister is playing “Politics of Fear” — with constant reference to threats from international markets. Whatever the truth of these threats and the best ways of dealing with them, the “politics of fear” plays on an assumption that people cannot bear the uncertainties associated with them. Politics then becomes a question of who can better deliver an “illusion of control”. And the minister is trying hard to be an illusionist.
“Illusion of Control”, is also a psychological concept described as a person’s belief that their success probability is higher than an objective assessment would find. For people with problem gambling habits, the “Illusion of Control” may create a situation where gambling continues beyond a reasonable amount. (Sound familiar?)
In a modern democratic society, democracy means electing a national leader that can relate to the aspirations of the people. In Abe’s words - a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
A government that does not follow the wishes of its people - is a tyrant government. A leader of a nation should take the aspirations of the people and assist them in turning them into a reality. Ideally a leader of a nation must be able to offer a grand vision to its people, one that the people can aspire to and lastly execute actions towards achieving that vision. This budget fails on all levels.