Todays pet hate - those people who objected to Bono speaking at the EPP conference last week, particularly those who think he should be doing something for Ireland instead of for Africa on the basis that charity begins at home. If you think charity begins at home, fine. If you think that Ireland, which is more than capable of feeding itself, which has a developed infrastructure, the rule of law, the presumption of innocence, the rights of property, the complete and peaceful transfer of executive power at regularly scheduled intervals, a free press, freedoms of speech, movement, association and conscience, which provides effectively free housing, free health care and free education to those who need them, which has a steadily improving human rights record and which has unfettered access to one of the largest single markets on Earth, which is protected by several multinational defence accords without having to sign any of these - if you think that this nation requires charity, then you are probably part of the reason it does. Because since independence there has been absolutely no reason for this nation not to have merely stood on its own two feet, but to have become one of the most prosperous small nations on the planet. And yet, since independence, it has been completely incapable of doing so, remaining instead subservient, hidebound, blinkered, holding out its begging bowl and clinging to its victim mentality like a badge of honour. And the most obvious outward expression of these flaws in our national character has been the begrudgery which is immediately and vociferously applied to anyone who achieves anything of substance. If there is one single thing that holds the Irish back it is this - our distrust of wealth and our envy of those who acquire it. Like Bono. Im not a big fan of the mans music by the way - for the past twenty years, he has seemed so determined to remain cutting edge (pardon the pun) that all he has managed to do is provide the soundtrack to our headlong and unseemly rush into the arms of Brussels.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 11:02:47 +0000
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