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These are regular editorials
produced alongside the corresponding issues on Nonviolent
News. |
Also in this editorial:
The axiom that we get what we pay for is true but only up
to an extent. Our finances may be such that we are constrained
in what we can afford; the supply may be limited so that what
we really want is not available. The information which we
need to make an informed choice may not be available and other
matters can affect our choice. This is as true of services
supplied by the state as in matters of what bread or baked
beans we buy except that in the case of the state services
as promised by political parties and coalitions of parties
we are opting for whole baskets of products – some not
yet in the marketplace. There is the danger, as in the Republic
coming up to the general election on 24th May, that ’auction
politics’ can come into operation where each side feels
it has to match the bids made by the other and what is on
offer. The result is not a choice between different baskets
(whether we want baked beans or dried beans or none at all)
but simply concerning the label on the tin. And even when
there are promises about services, for example, how the health
service improvements that everyone wants will be financed
is not always clear.
The Republic as an independent state also has
a choice on taxation policy in a way that Northern Ireland
does not. The corporate state system in Northern Ireland,
instituted by the Good Friday Agreement and now enthusiastically
endorsed by top dogs the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn
Féin, means that they are all in it together even if
some wield more power in terms of control in departments of
state. The market metaphor is even more difficult in describing
the political situation in Northern Ireland; perhaps you could
say that voters choose the composition of the consortium that
will deliver the baked beans. In the longer term, as we have
often said, this needs to change – hopefully when ‘suppliers’
(the parties) and ‘consumers’ (the public) have
matured enough to realise greater choice is in everyone’s
interests and bankruptcy and closure (the fall of local Stormont
government) are unlikely to happen.
If voters have a lack of real choice between
options, or the baskets of policies on offer do not represent
what voters are looking for, then voters are disenfranchised
in an important way. Auction politics tends to mean a choice
between slightly different worldviews but often similar policies
and this is a real and important problem in terms of the main
coalition options currently on offer in the Republic. However
a proportional system of voting, such as the single transferable
vote (imperfect as it is), at least has the benefit of avoiding
the danger of massive swings of policy (such as instituted
under Margaret Thatcher in the UK who was able to bring about
a right wing revolution in politics on a minority vote in
the country).
The realisation that we need to pay more tax
if we want better public services has not yet dawned on the
people of Ireland. People, even radio commentators, analyse
offers of tax cuts in terms of ‘best value’ with
no reference to what this might mean for services. Prosperity
in the Republic is so new that we are, as some commentators
have put it, still in a ‘famine mentality’ or
indeed simply yet in a ‘cultural adolescence’.
Alternatively it may be a case of good old fashioned greed
among influence carriers, with private opulence and public
squalor. There may be ‘efficiencies’ in service
provision but, once that axe has swung (and it often swings
in the direction of privatising services and making working
conditions worse for those delivering the services) then the
only thing to be done is pay more. Political maturity will
arrive in Ireland when a major party puts before the electorate
its plans to increase taxes by a few cents to pay for the
better services it outlines in its policies.
But there are also problems in what taxes pay
for. Taxpayers in the British tax system are paying for the
Iraq war, for example. Irish citizens see the Republic offering
full use of Shannon airport to the US military; this may make
a few bucks for Shannon but it makes a nonsense of a supposedly
‘neutral’ Irish foreign policy. How can we have
freedom of conscience when our countries take us to war, or
support for war, against our wishes? One way to resist is
of course tax resistance, refusing to pay the proportion of
tax that goes to the military but while this is desirable
it is also a difficult route to follow for many people. Such
exercise of conscience bears a price.
Death and taxes (the expression on the certainty
of these can be attributed to Daniel Defoe or Benjamin Franklin)
may be two inevitabilities in life but what kind of death
and what kind of life may be determined partly by the level,
and kind, of taxes paid by citizens. There is an ongoing struggle,
particularly by those in the peace movement but by others
as well, to ensure not only ‘no taxation without effective
representation’ but that governments are responsive
to the organised conscience of their citizens. How to bring
that about is an important task for the future in building
a truer and more participative democracy.
Larry Speight brings us his monthly column
A few days ago my daughter turned 6, by the time she
reaches 30, with an expected 56 years of her life to live,
climate change will likely have changed many of the things
she and her generation presently take for granted. Adults
have some idea of the changes that lie ahead, young children
have no conception of them, and even if they had, they are
in no position to prepare for them. Preparing our young for
their future is the responsibility of parents and the school
system. It is difficult to gauge what parents are doing to
prepare their children for the challenges of the radically
changed world they can be expected to live in, this is not
so with the school system as the curriculum is readily available
for all to read and digest.
The revised curriculum, which will be phased
in over a number of years from September, places the idea
of sustainable development at the centre of most of the subjects
taught. Unfortunately ‘sustainable development’
is commonly understood as ‘sustainable consumption’
rather than what is ‘ecologically sustainable’.
If the latter understanding is used, which I
dearly hope so, then schools will not only teach children
about climate change and the loss of biodiversity but also
the knowledge and skills that will enable them to live a reasonably
comfortable existence in their new and radically changed world.
This means that they will be taught how to take care of a
kitchen garden, growing a wide variety of food and herbs,
if not in their own gardens then in allotments rented from
their Council. They will be taught how to make, mend and repair
using local materials. Fortunately schools can readily draw
on the knowledge and skills of the older generation, as well
as from such groups as the Fermanagh-based Women in Agriculture,
historical societies and the Ulster Folk Museum.
It is predicted that climate change on this
island will mean wetter winters and drier hotter summers,
and that our coastal towns and cities are likely to suffer
from regular serve flooding, including island towns such as
Enniskillen. At the same time, the era of cheap oil will be
a memory, with all which that means for a global economy almost
wholly dependent on it. If our children are to live the relatively
comfortable stress-free existence they do today, not only
should schools teach the skills and knowledge that allow for
self-reliance, but they should also teach them to be truly
innovative, how to solve problems, and how to cooperate and
share. If our schools don’t do this, then we will fail
our children, and saying sorry around a table scarce of food
will be of little consolation to them.
By Mairead Maguire
On Friday 20th April, 2007, Ann Patterson and
I, joined the Bil’in Peoples Committee, (outside Ramallah)
on their weekly nonviolent protest march to the Apartheid
Wall, together with Israeli peace activists and Internationalists
from over 20 countries. The Internationals came from France,
(over 200) America, Porto Rica, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland,
Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, and
India.
Before the peace vigil, I participated in a
Press Conference with the Palestinian Minister for Information,
Mustafa Barghouti, in front of the World Press. Minister Barghouti
praised the nonviolent vigil of the Bil’in people and
the nonviolent resistance of many people around Palestine
says Bil’in is a model and example to all. He called
to stop the building of the wall, and for the upholding of
Palestinian Rights under International Law. I supported his
call and thanked the people of Bil’in offering my support
for the nonviolent resistance to the Wall as it contravenes
International Law, including the International Court of Justice
decision in the Hague. I also called for an end to Palestinian
occupation, which will be 40th years soon, and recognition
by the International Community of the Palestinian Government,
together with restoration of economic, political rights of
the people.
Both Dr. Barghouti and I called for the release
of the BBC Journalist Alan Johnston. I also called for the
protection of journalists all over the world, whose ability
to cover the truth is being infringed.
During Conference the Israeli military drove
through the Gate onto Palestinian Land, with many foot soldiers.
They surrounded World Media and in Hebrew warned us that if
we did not disburse they would attack in five minutes. Myself
and Dr. Barghouti, condemned this as abuse of freedom of press
speech and peoples right to peaceful protest and speech.
During press conference a man from San Paulo,
climbed to the top of the Surveillance Mask and released a
Palestinian Flag. He planned to stay there for 2 days.
We returned to the Village and joined the Peace
Vigil moving down the road towards the wall. Several hundred
people participated, the Palestinian men, women, and many
young Palestinian males leading the march. Very courageous
as young Palestinian males when arrested often get beaten.
I walked with my Palestinian interpreter who told me his home
was on the other side of the wall. His 12 acre land was confiscated
by Israeli Authorities and his 400 year old olive trees uprooted
taken to Jerusalem and planted in new Israeli settlements.
When the walkers got half way down the road,
the Israeli soldiers started firing gas, and plastic bullets
directly at us. At another point they used water cannons.
We were a completely unarmed peaceful gathering and this vicious
attack from the Israeli soldiers was totally unprovoked attack
upon civilians. The soldiers block the upper part of the road,
thus preventing Dr. Barghouti and some of the Palestinians
joining the main vigilers. We were then tear gassed and as
I helped a French woman retreat I was shot in the leg with
a rubber bullet. Two young women, one from USA and one from
New Zealand, helped me towards an ambulance. I saw an elderly
Palestinian mother carried on a stretcher into the ambulance,
as she was shot in the back with a Plastic bullet. I aw a
man whose face was covered in blood and a Palestinian youth
overcome with the gas. About 20 people were injured. Ann and
myself went back to the protest where the people were being
viciously attacked with gas and plastic bullets. I was overcome
with gas and took a nose bleed which resulted in being carried
to ambulance for treatment.
We were advised by medial staff not to return
to vigil and obliged to leave our friends several hours later
still heroically trying to get near the wall. On the road
towards the village we watched 2 children playing in their
garden, oblivious to the nerve gas floating down on the wind
towards their home. This permeates their clothes, their lungs
and the question has to be asked, what the health of these
children will be like in a few years time.
This is not only a question of abuse of human
rights, international laws, by the Israeli government; it
is a health and environment issue. We were all traumatized
by our experience, and with the gas on the air, came the words
flowing back to me of Palestinian Doctor, who said “the
whole Palestinian people, after 40 years of occupation the
whole people of Palestinian are traumatized, it is time the
International Community acted to put a stop to this suffering
and injustice of our people”. I agree enough is enough;
it is time for action to force the Israeli Government to enter
into unconditional talks to end this tragedy of tragedy of
good and gentle Palestinian people.
Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Ann Patterson
Jerusalem
2lst April, 2007
www.peacepeople.com
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