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These are regular editorials
produced alongside the corresponding issues on Nonviolent
News. |
Also in this editorial
As the North goes to vote again as part of the UK general
election, and for local councils, many questions exist about
how a political breakthrough can come in Northern Ireland,
and more widely about the nature of democracy itself. The
'first past the post' system used for UK parliamentary elections
is a real political dinosaur where it can be argued more votes
are 'wasted' than in any place this side of Zimbabwe. The
Single Transferable Vote system of Proportional Representation
(as used in elections in the Republic and local and assembly
elections in Northern Ireland) is an advance but has imperfections
too.
'Democracy', if it is to mean what it says,
has to be 'government by the people'. While governments may
be elected to govern, if they ignore the wishes of the people
on important issues then it is only democratic that the people
have an effective way of getting their message across .And
the idea that an 'X' or listing of preferences every 4 or
5 years is a definition of democracy is ludicrously inadequate.
In decision making it is not only what people feel but how
strongly they feel it; Tony Blair ignored that over Iraq,
as it can be argued Bertie Ahern did over use of Shannon airport
by US military. In the British general election, people are
faced with difficult questions about throwing babies out with
the bathwater if they vote against Blairite Labour. But societies
with divided communities, such as exists in Northern Ireland,
further strain possible definitions of democracy and a system
which does not allow for positive compromise is asking for
trouble (and Northern Ireland got thirty years of Troubles).
In Northern Ireland itself the battle is, as
usual, more within the nationalist and unionist communities
respectively than between the two sides - but allowing another
candidate to 'slip through' is used as an electioneering tool.
The collapse of the Unionist Party vis a vis the Democratic
Unionist Party will not be complete but the DUP is sure of
increasing its mandate. Sinn Féin may suffer a slight
reversal of fortune in places in the wake of the Robert McCartney
murder and Northern Bank robbery but its overall performance
is unlikely to suffer too much, indeed it may makes further
gains to relation to the SDLP. When and how any political
breakthrough can come for a devolved government in Northern
Ireland is very uncertain; if the IRA did lay down its weapons
it could lead to a breakthrough in a relatively short period,
despite some unionist denials, but the IRA's response to Gerry
Adams' call on that matter will only come, surprise, surprise,
after the elections on 5th May.
Democracy is about how decisions are made which
affect the whole of society. Electing a government is part
of that but only part, and at the moment not a very effective
way of initiating 'the will of the people'. In short, we need
a process to redefine what we mean by democracy in our societies
and how greater democracy can be instituted. Otherwise it
is futile to moan about low turnouts and apathy on behalf
of voters.
The crisis in identity of the male gender is perhaps nowhere
better, and worse, illustrated than in the appallingly high
suicide rate which young men have in Ireland, North and South.
Suicide is a very particular, and extreme, case but it is
reflective of a certain malaise in our society. Meanwhile
the shifts in gender roles and expectations have not necessarily
alleviated the lot of women - in many cases they do virtually
all the work at home as well as going out to work in paid
jobs, in essence two full time jobs. Objectively women still
get a raw deal but are perhaps better as 'getting on with
it' than men, and, despite disadvantages for many women in
the workforce, they have created many successes.
But expectations and norms have changed significantly,
and for many young men there remains either a hopelessness
about achieving something or intense pressure to achieve which
individuals can feel unable to live up to. When these different
pressures interact with other family pressures and individuals'
own identities and even psychological difficulties, the result
can be catastrophic. Our society has not been good in helping
men create a new identity for themselves in the midst of cultural
change. Old expectations and possibilities have gone out the
window. The man is no longer necessarily the breadwinner and
indeed may not have the capacity to be the chief breadwinner
in a family and can find it extremely difficult to carve out
a role.
All of this can have implications for violence.
Old macho responses have not necessarily been replaced by
something new. And new frustrations and uncertainties have
been added to the male existence. The result can be personal
and family tragedy, including through the high incidence of
domestic violence. As well as political and military idealism
or commitment, male notions of identity have been key in sustaining
paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland.
There are no easy answers. But there are plenty
of answers to be found. Some of them are simply helping men
to work out for themselves who they are and what they want
to be. The state has a strong role to play in helping men
to find appropriate roles in a workforce and society which
has changed spectacularly in a generation or two. But much
of what needs done is through careful nurturance in the family
- men as neither superior nor inferior to women but with important
roles to play, and any differences to be agreed on.
The workshop accompanying this month's edition
of Nonviolent News is on gender and violence ('Big boys, big
girls - men and violence, women and violence') which remains
a key issue in creating a peaceful world. While many women
are trying to build new, creative roles in peacemaking, many
states seek to co-opt women to their war-making machinery.
Both genders have got essential roles to play in a peaceful
future which offers hope for all of growing up in a nurturing
and loving environment. Both genders have got work to do.
Larry Speight brings us his monthly column:
Enchanted Worlds
Enchantment, and lost worlds, are not confined to books of
fiction, such as that by Sir Arthur Colin Doyle, but can be
found here in Ireland. Recently, I discovered a lost world
in the form of woodland, whose unfolding goes back, without
apparent disturbance, to the end of the last ice -age. The
human hand of order has not touched it. There are no stone
circles, deserted cottages or ruined churches, no remnants
of tilled land or hedged fields, no plastic bags, old tyres,
aluminium cans, or paths. The place is pristine, where not
even the sound of the internal combustion engine intrudes.
Flora is in abundance, with trees as tall as I have ever seen
in a tropical rainforest. Wells and streams, fallen trees,
decaying leaves, moss, lichen, flowers and vines a plenty.
On my hike I even came across a sandy beach by the banks of
a deep fast flowing river.
The woodland is a perfectly closed loop:
birth - maturity - death - and birth again. A sequence that
industrial society would do well to mimic, as it is the only
form of sustainability there is. After two hours I had traversed
only a small portion of what there is to see. During all of
my time there I felt that I was in a truly amazing place.
I look forward to returning in the later spring, and in the
summer, to enjoy the seasonal changes and become better acquainted
with it. If nirvanas are actual places, then this is surely
one, a profusion of life that invites one to transcend personal
circumstances through a sense of wonder. Readers will under
understand that in order to protect the integrity of this
woodland I am bound to keep its location a secret. However,
there are without doubt other undisturbed places on our island
that the keen outdoors person can discover, and if they do,
keep to themselves, not out of selfishness, but to protect
from the hotels, restaurants, roads and litter that modern
tourism brings.
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