Post by RedFlag32 on Mar 2, 2006 20:12:10 GMT
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Risks, Riots and Republicans
A German academic, Ulrick Beck, argues that economic and environmental events, growing global inequalities, and insecure forms of work are all contributing to a world where nation states can't control what goes on inside their boundaries and increasingly no one can control transnational risks such as terrorism, infectious diseases (BSE, bird flu, HIV), or natural disasters, such as tsunamis and hurricanes. The latter makes the case for an all embracing internationalism that puts the safety and security of people and the earth before the relentless pursuit of profits by multinationals companies. The former was vividly illustrated by the riot last Saturday in the centre of Dublin, the prestigious capital of the “Celtic tiger”.
Ireland's rise among the cream of the world's capitalist elite has brought with it associated risks such as the transitory nature of work for many people, poor housing, low incomes and status.None of the mainstream parties is prepared to seriously challenge the risks posed. The most radical of the mainstream parties is Sinn Fein. It used to advocate a left wing alternative to capitalist market driven forces, But those days are longer gone since Sinn Fein leaders began to court business leaders in the USA and Ireland. Sinn Féin ‘ essentially centrist position now argues for democratic representation and acceptability. Sara Burke in Village Voice has argued that
”there are no hard calls for higher taxes and no robust policies aimed at reducing inequality or addressing the social and economic risks faced by the people they claim to represent.”
Their recent condemnation of the riots in Dublin just show how much Sinn Fein have moved to the centre and away from a republican socialist position they used to claim to represent. They joined in the knee jerk condemnations of the riot along with the other bourgeois parties; in particular honing in on the looting, and mindless violence.
It is easy to be wise after the event. We in the IRSP had mixed views among our membership about the “Love Ulster March” but are very clear about what is the motivation behind Love Ulster (LU). It is a racist organisation hating all things Irish and prepared to use the relatives of protestant victims of the troubles in a cynical gesture to build up support for the re-establishment of the unionist protestant ascendancy in the North of Ireland. It also has a close working relationship with loyalist paramilitaries including the de-facto head of the UDA.
Therefore, our membership took part in a peaceful picket against the march highlighting the distorted view of victims of Love Ulster and the sectarian nature of the groups supporting the Love Ulster march. Our members did not initiate or provoke violence on the day. Given the use of victim’s relatives by LU it was certainly not in the interests of republicans to attack those same victims.
However, in the entire hullabaloo before the march a significant section of opinion was forgotten about- the Dublin workers and families of the inner city. Loyalists had blown up Dublin in the past killing the largest number of civilians killed in any one incident during the struggle. They had been assisted by British military intelligence in planting the bombs in Dublin. The carrying of British regalia flags and banners was seen as a calculated insult to the relatives of the victims of the Dublin bombs.
Hence, the pouring out of the pubs by the youth of Dublin affiliated to no particular political party and angered by what they saw as a calculated insult not only to their city but also to their nationality. Who were these youths? We have seen them referred to by some republicans as “scum and lowlifes” “hoodies”, “criminals” and “druggies”. Maybe, but no doubt during the 1914 lockout in Dublin, the poor of the slums and tenements who stood with Big Jim Larkin and James Connolly, were referred to by the Irish Independent, then as now the voice of lickspittle apologists for imperialism, in a similar vein.
“In the most recent analysis on income and living conditions, carried out by the ESRI, almost one-fifth of the population were at risk of poverty in 2004. Women, people living in lone parent households and those living alone are at a higher risk of poverty than the rest of the population. In 2001, more than 862,000 people (almost 22 per cent of the population) lived on less than €164 per person per week. Meanwhile, relative income poverty levels (the measure of income inequality) increased from 15.6 per cent in 1994 to 22 per cent in 2001. Similar levels of poverty and inequality are found in Northern Ireland. “
New research, just published by the ESRI in the 2004 Annual School Leavers Survey, finds that those who leave school early and those who do not go on to study are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts would have been five years ago. Unemployment rates are highest amongst the least qualified school leavers: 68 per cent of those with no educational qualifications are unemployed, while 29 per cent of those who have a Junior Certificate and between 11 and 16 per cent of those who have a Leaving Certificate remain unemployed. Those most likely to be unemployed when leaving school are those whose fathers are unemployed.
This research highlights a worrying trend of increased unemployment among less qualified young people, and reasserts trends found in previous surveys on the direct links between educational disadvantage and unemployment. It also highlights the risks that remain alongside continued economic growth. These are risks that remain largely unaddressed in this society.
(Sara Burke)
That is who those young men were-in Beck’s word-risks. Disaffected youth are a growing “risk” right across Europe as the recent riots among the migrant population in France indicates. Blinded by the consumerist outpourings from television and the Cinema that glorifies the bling-bling culture, some look for the quick and easy way to make money and so drift into crime and drug dealing. (Sara Burke. It is an established fact that illegal drug-use affects most acutely those communities with high levels of poverty and disadvantage.
However, not all disaffected youth delve in crime and drug dealing. Many look for ways to challenge their anger against the system, which allows casual violence by the Gardai against working class youth go almost unmentioned. Can you see James Connolly condemning the rioting in Dublin in 1913 or 2005?
Republican and socialists have a huge responsibility to those young people. Up to now we have failed to provide them with the leadership they deserve. We need to challenge their energy, their anger, and their idealism against the very system that oppresses them. Last Saturday was not just about Orange boots marching past the GPO or the Garden of Remembrance. It was not just about looting and mindless violence it was also about what kind of world we want our young people to grow up in.
We need to provide them with a vision of a socialist world which will overcome both national and ethnic differences and which can put before the mass of the people the programmes and policies that challenge capitalism and do not accommodate to it. We ned to see our young people not as “risks” but as the opportunities to change our world.
Sources
VILLAGE MAGAZINE, Thursday, February 16, 2006
(edititorial from the plough Vol 3-18 e-mail newsletter of the IRSP
Risks, Riots and Republicans
A German academic, Ulrick Beck, argues that economic and environmental events, growing global inequalities, and insecure forms of work are all contributing to a world where nation states can't control what goes on inside their boundaries and increasingly no one can control transnational risks such as terrorism, infectious diseases (BSE, bird flu, HIV), or natural disasters, such as tsunamis and hurricanes. The latter makes the case for an all embracing internationalism that puts the safety and security of people and the earth before the relentless pursuit of profits by multinationals companies. The former was vividly illustrated by the riot last Saturday in the centre of Dublin, the prestigious capital of the “Celtic tiger”.
Ireland's rise among the cream of the world's capitalist elite has brought with it associated risks such as the transitory nature of work for many people, poor housing, low incomes and status.None of the mainstream parties is prepared to seriously challenge the risks posed. The most radical of the mainstream parties is Sinn Fein. It used to advocate a left wing alternative to capitalist market driven forces, But those days are longer gone since Sinn Fein leaders began to court business leaders in the USA and Ireland. Sinn Féin ‘ essentially centrist position now argues for democratic representation and acceptability. Sara Burke in Village Voice has argued that
”there are no hard calls for higher taxes and no robust policies aimed at reducing inequality or addressing the social and economic risks faced by the people they claim to represent.”
Their recent condemnation of the riots in Dublin just show how much Sinn Fein have moved to the centre and away from a republican socialist position they used to claim to represent. They joined in the knee jerk condemnations of the riot along with the other bourgeois parties; in particular honing in on the looting, and mindless violence.
It is easy to be wise after the event. We in the IRSP had mixed views among our membership about the “Love Ulster March” but are very clear about what is the motivation behind Love Ulster (LU). It is a racist organisation hating all things Irish and prepared to use the relatives of protestant victims of the troubles in a cynical gesture to build up support for the re-establishment of the unionist protestant ascendancy in the North of Ireland. It also has a close working relationship with loyalist paramilitaries including the de-facto head of the UDA.
Therefore, our membership took part in a peaceful picket against the march highlighting the distorted view of victims of Love Ulster and the sectarian nature of the groups supporting the Love Ulster march. Our members did not initiate or provoke violence on the day. Given the use of victim’s relatives by LU it was certainly not in the interests of republicans to attack those same victims.
However, in the entire hullabaloo before the march a significant section of opinion was forgotten about- the Dublin workers and families of the inner city. Loyalists had blown up Dublin in the past killing the largest number of civilians killed in any one incident during the struggle. They had been assisted by British military intelligence in planting the bombs in Dublin. The carrying of British regalia flags and banners was seen as a calculated insult to the relatives of the victims of the Dublin bombs.
Hence, the pouring out of the pubs by the youth of Dublin affiliated to no particular political party and angered by what they saw as a calculated insult not only to their city but also to their nationality. Who were these youths? We have seen them referred to by some republicans as “scum and lowlifes” “hoodies”, “criminals” and “druggies”. Maybe, but no doubt during the 1914 lockout in Dublin, the poor of the slums and tenements who stood with Big Jim Larkin and James Connolly, were referred to by the Irish Independent, then as now the voice of lickspittle apologists for imperialism, in a similar vein.
“In the most recent analysis on income and living conditions, carried out by the ESRI, almost one-fifth of the population were at risk of poverty in 2004. Women, people living in lone parent households and those living alone are at a higher risk of poverty than the rest of the population. In 2001, more than 862,000 people (almost 22 per cent of the population) lived on less than €164 per person per week. Meanwhile, relative income poverty levels (the measure of income inequality) increased from 15.6 per cent in 1994 to 22 per cent in 2001. Similar levels of poverty and inequality are found in Northern Ireland. “
New research, just published by the ESRI in the 2004 Annual School Leavers Survey, finds that those who leave school early and those who do not go on to study are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts would have been five years ago. Unemployment rates are highest amongst the least qualified school leavers: 68 per cent of those with no educational qualifications are unemployed, while 29 per cent of those who have a Junior Certificate and between 11 and 16 per cent of those who have a Leaving Certificate remain unemployed. Those most likely to be unemployed when leaving school are those whose fathers are unemployed.
This research highlights a worrying trend of increased unemployment among less qualified young people, and reasserts trends found in previous surveys on the direct links between educational disadvantage and unemployment. It also highlights the risks that remain alongside continued economic growth. These are risks that remain largely unaddressed in this society.
(Sara Burke)
That is who those young men were-in Beck’s word-risks. Disaffected youth are a growing “risk” right across Europe as the recent riots among the migrant population in France indicates. Blinded by the consumerist outpourings from television and the Cinema that glorifies the bling-bling culture, some look for the quick and easy way to make money and so drift into crime and drug dealing. (Sara Burke. It is an established fact that illegal drug-use affects most acutely those communities with high levels of poverty and disadvantage.
However, not all disaffected youth delve in crime and drug dealing. Many look for ways to challenge their anger against the system, which allows casual violence by the Gardai against working class youth go almost unmentioned. Can you see James Connolly condemning the rioting in Dublin in 1913 or 2005?
Republican and socialists have a huge responsibility to those young people. Up to now we have failed to provide them with the leadership they deserve. We need to challenge their energy, their anger, and their idealism against the very system that oppresses them. Last Saturday was not just about Orange boots marching past the GPO or the Garden of Remembrance. It was not just about looting and mindless violence it was also about what kind of world we want our young people to grow up in.
We need to provide them with a vision of a socialist world which will overcome both national and ethnic differences and which can put before the mass of the people the programmes and policies that challenge capitalism and do not accommodate to it. We ned to see our young people not as “risks” but as the opportunities to change our world.
Sources
VILLAGE MAGAZINE, Thursday, February 16, 2006
(edititorial from the plough Vol 3-18 e-mail newsletter of the IRSP
