notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Feb 16, 2015 0:08:16 GMT
^ The fact that picture is in front of what looks like a dilapidated building is brilliant.
Politics fuck me off no end. I'm so sick of reading all the shit on Irish news websites and I feel pretty helpless living over here. The whole water situation just summed it all up. There was a moment in the Public Accounts Committee where an opposition TD (MP) drilled down where the funding for setting up Irish Water came from, and it turns out that 2/3rds of it came from motor tax. So technically the Irish people already pay for water maintenance through taxation anyway, plus they paid to set up this stupid fucking company as well as now being told oh you have to pay a bill to this company by the way.
It's so beyond bullshit and what annoys me more than anything, absolutely anything, is the playground insult slinging in government. Gerry Adams, and Sinn Fein, for all their multitude of faults and skeletons in the wardrobe etc., any time they bring up a perfectly valid argument, the sitting Government don't even address the point, they completely ignore the question and focus on how Gerry was in the RA or how Maria Cahill was raped and Gerry knew about it or how their financial plan is a joke or something (which it isn't). It's just beyond pathetic and it's not just how they deal with opposition TD's, they do it with the public. Serious protests about this water charge being introduced and they respond with complete disdain for people. It's like they think they can just pat us on the head and move on. And then you hear things like "sinister element to these protests" and comparing peaceful protestors with fucking ISIS for Christ sake. And the horrible thing is it's in the media! Like the media, out of nowhere, come out with headlines like "ANARCHY" "IS THIS DEMOCRACY" "THREATS TO TDS" etc etc., and of course there is a small element that are idiots and take it too far - but they paint the entire protest as this, and that swings the ordinary persons opinion, they don't want to be associated with that sort of behaviour so they are less likely to protest.
One good thing about social media is protestors and citizens able to engage directly with eachother and tell their own real stories without relying on print media and RTE which is owned by the State.
Ireland. What a place.
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notpropaganda
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Eden 'Azarrrrrrrr!
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Post by notpropaganda on Feb 16, 2015 0:09:13 GMT
Don't even get me started on the airtime that people from the Iona "institute" get on national broadcasters. It's another fucking joke and just highlights the weird perverted relationship the major outlets in Ireland have with the Catholic Church.
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Post by The Quito Diet on Feb 16, 2015 0:23:20 GMT
I am getting to the stage where any political party trying to do anything about weakening the power of Middle East terrorists not advocating for massively reducing our reliance on oil and trying to decriminalise drugs is just inherently hypocrital (not that they aren't anyway, but still.) Pushing money into nuclear power, giving subsidies to electric car manufacturers and reducing the amount of money made from opium would put a massive dent in profit for any terrorist group in the Middle East, along with the horrific Saudi government. That, and the first two will slow down the rapid destruction of our planet. And yet instead Greens almost act as a buffer for the main parties to not have to care about the environment and everyone else just goes for the typical "we'll be tough on terrorism." Like, yeah, no shit it's fucking terrorism, why not actually try and do something useful ffs. Just kind of wish the populace was more knowledgeable on issues of the environment and drugs. I realise that sounds condescending but the political news cycle spends so much time on fucking pointless shit, if you genuinely care about whether Ed Miliband 'looks right' you're a fucking idiot as far as I'm concerned. Think in general that's one of the more enfuriating things. There's a brilliant programme on BBC Two "Inside The Commons" which gives an insight into just why the vast majority of people just don't engage with politics, it's a world entirely removed from their own, so they just don't care and find it boring. They'll gladly whinge and moan about taxes, benefits, soldiers salary, immigrants, whatever The Sun or the Daily Mail told them to be angry about, but when it comes to it for every one of me who makes an informed opinion on who to vote for and why, there's ten people who'll not vote for Miliband because of how he looks and ten people who'll vote for UKIP because they're sick of them bloody Eastern Europeans I mean where do they even come from? Then there's the realisation that you're being ruled by a co-alition that absolutely nobody voted for, and even in the case of a majority vote will still be being ruled over by a party more than half the country didn't vote for and quite possibly more than half the electorate didn't want. Democracy lol.
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Politics
Feb 16, 2015 8:14:15 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 8:14:15 GMT
Just remember guys that as bad as your governments may be, they will never ever be as pathetic as the Italian government
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Cashis
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Post by Cashis on Feb 16, 2015 9:39:28 GMT
ah, good, you're all finally coming to the realisation that no matter how much you educate yourselves about politics, nothing you ever say or do will make even a minute difference. Best to simply accept you'll be shat on forevermore and get on with it.
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Бенне
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Post by Бенне on Feb 16, 2015 10:45:16 GMT
Precisely that attitude that makes it true.
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Cashis
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Post by Cashis on Feb 16, 2015 10:50:44 GMT
Precisely that attitude that makes it true. Haha, okay buddy, if you say so. You will never, ever make a difference and my vote won't change that.
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Бенне
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Post by Бенне on Feb 16, 2015 10:54:49 GMT
Precisely that attitude that makes it true. Haha, okay buddy, if you say so. You will never, ever make a difference and my vote won't change that. That wasn't meant as confrontational or owt, just saying that if you (not you personally but people like you) think that, then it will be true. Completely get the disillusion with politics that many many people have but I don't personally think accepting it is the right way to go about solving it.
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Post by ChappyHova on Feb 16, 2015 10:57:39 GMT
Yeah but you can sit here and discuss it all day but what difference does it make if you're not doing anything about it?
I've never voted because all of them are cunts who only care about their own pockets so it doesn't matter which one I vote for.
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Cashis
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Post by Cashis on Feb 16, 2015 10:59:07 GMT
Ah okay, fair enough. Tbh I admire everyone's persistence, I couldn't commit myself to something so frustrating and inevitably disappointing (although I support Chesterfield hurr hurr). I just tend to look at things in my life that I can change.
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Mycon
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Post by Mycon on Feb 16, 2015 13:31:42 GMT
^ The fact that picture is in front of what looks like a dilapidated building is brilliant. Politics fuck me off no end. I'm so sick of reading all the shit on Irish news websites and I feel pretty helpless living over here. The whole water situation just summed it all up. There was a moment in the Public Accounts Committee where an opposition TD (MP) drilled down where the funding for setting up Irish Water came from, and it turns out that 2/3rds of it came from motor tax. So technically the Irish people already pay for water maintenance through taxation anyway, plus they paid to set up this stupid fucking company as well as now being told oh you have to pay a bill to this company by the way. It's so beyond bullshit and what annoys me more than anything, absolutely anything, is the playground insult slinging in government. Gerry Adams, and Sinn Fein, for all their multitude of faults and skeletons in the wardrobe etc., any time they bring up a perfectly valid argument, the sitting Government don't even address the point, they completely ignore the question and focus on how Gerry was in the RA or how Maria Cahill was raped and Gerry knew about it or how their financial plan is a joke or something (which it isn't). It's just beyond pathetic and it's not just how they deal with opposition TD's, they do it with the public. Serious protests about this water charge being introduced and they respond with complete disdain for people. It's like they think they can just pat us on the head and move on. And then you hear things like "sinister element to these protests" and comparing peaceful protestors with fucking ISIS for Christ sake. And the horrible thing is it's in the media! Like the media, out of nowhere, come out with headlines like "ANARCHY" "IS THIS DEMOCRACY" "THREATS TO TDS" etc etc., and of course there is a small element that are idiots and take it too far - but they paint the entire protest as this, and that swings the ordinary persons opinion, they don't want to be associated with that sort of behaviour so they are less likely to protest. One good thing about social media is protestors and citizens able to engage directly with eachother and tell their own real stories without relying on print media and RTE which is owned by the State. Ireland. What a place. I would say though that it has been happening on the other side too where the government has been called this totalitarian, ultra-right wing state that actively purges poor people when it has been quite liberal in some aspects, gay marriage for example. I hate identity politics anyway. It only increases discrimination by giving people labels. Sinn Fein are socialist-anarchists, Fine Gael are fascists etc. Someone's background has a little bearing on what they have to say but it does not negate their point. If we get to the point where everyone is like 'how could you know, you aren't black/a woman/gay/Muslim etc' then so many fields of study will be rendered useless. History, sociology, anthropology etc, what is the point in studying and analysing the opinions and actions of people that you aren't? It's like if a Muslim is killed or kills someone in the West now, the headline will be 'Muslim shot', they will forever be known as 'that Muslim that time', kinda depressing that you could live a whole life and be defined by one label. Happening everywhere, even our SU race, the President ran on the 'single mum' agenda, I don't know anything about her except that she's a single parent and she was exploiting that to boost her votes.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 14:08:44 GMT
Ah okay, fair enough. Tbh I admire everyone's persistence, I couldn't commit myself to something so frustrating and inevitably disappointing (although I support Chesterfield hurr hurr). I just tend to look at things in my life that I can change. It's all about doing stuff within your social sphere though, isn't it? Obviously toppling the government is a dream for many but if you can go to a meeting with likeminded people in your community/school/university or whatever, talk about ways you can reach out to people and then be successful in doing so, that makes your investment feel pretty purposeful. I think that's the major problem with the way we deal with it, bar the whole sit back do nothing mantra, is that people like Brand, Carlin etc were always missing the first few steps about the way things needed to be changed etc. Should also point out the whole sit back do nothing isn't necessarily a criticism either, we're brought up within a system that enables us to have the appearance of liberty because at the end of each month, if we're lucky, we have enough money to put towards a games console or holiday etc. So I can understand why a vast number of people, notably those in relatively insecure jobs, wouldn't want to tip the scales towards the unknown.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Feb 16, 2015 17:09:05 GMT
Mycon there is a massive difference in some extreme elements of the opposition waxing lyrical about the right-wing government and our national broadcaster and all the broadsheets coming out with stuff like: And I'd question how liberal the government has been tbh, their right to life of the mother law was so backward it's hilarious and already needs amended, and gay marriage is something that was absolutely inevitable considering the amount of high-profile politicians who have come out. Or at least the referendum is inevitable - I still question how much they give a fuck behind closed doors seeing as the student population will be overwhelmingly pro marriage equality and yet they schedule the referendum on a Thursday at the height of exam time, and give no option for students to vote anywhere except their home constituency. Sound. I think the unis are talking of moving stuff around to accommodate which would be good.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Feb 16, 2015 17:10:51 GMT
Plus they get elected on the whole tagline of "democratic revolution" and promise reforms in government, set up a Constitutional Convention and proceed to completely ignore any recommendations they come up with. They hide behind the Seanad abolition referendum as if that was a good idea when really it just focussed the power back into the Dáil which nobody asked for. The Seanad needs reformed not abolished.
The whole party whip system as well it's just all so unbelievably backward.
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Mycon
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Post by Mycon on Feb 16, 2015 17:18:29 GMT
Yeah the Independent has got really defensive in the past year or so, didn't think I'd see an Irish newspaper so clearly on one side as it. Tbf, it has historically been pro-Fine Gael.
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