Hark - Is That a Tumbril I hear coming ?

As a reasonable person, I'm rather pessimistic about the future.In the bleak light of day, I have to accept that the revolution I called for, is almost certainly doomed. Therefore we must face the future led by the mob of drunken, self-seeking incompetent chancers we have voted into power. And not just the gang we have now, but the equally ignorant back-slapping yahoos we have joyously sent on their way to Dublin for the last seventy years or so.The only consistent lesson to be learned from Irish Governments, of all stripes, is their total determination to stay put, snout in trough. And the truely terrible truth is that in agreeing to a constitution with our voting system, we have almost guaranteed the impossiblity of getting the dominant party - or bastards- out ,no matter how disillusioned the population might be with them. The single transferrable vote ensures a modicum of stability, most important in new nations uncertain of their allegience to democracy. But in Ireland it has led to the entrenchment of a monster, immovably rooted in it's ascendency.The two major parties have created a system that operates to ensure their continued access to the levers of power, on all levels of our civic life. Even our elections are largely farcical, for the party organisations control the list of candidates so completely that they can predict, almost to the letter, the number of votes Candidate A will get in such and such a ward.In a small country with tentacle-like cousinships, the presence of party patronage spreads as relentlessly as a cancer through our culture. And it doesn't take all that long for dissenters to learn how powerless they are. In fact the only hope open to the Irish citizens is to marry judiciously and produce as many children as possible who , in time, will themselves marry into large and far-flung clans. In this way the system works,seamlessly. I spent some years discussing a problem with one of my local County Councillors.It was of no great importance, but was troublesome to me. I entered into a lengthy correspondence on the matter with the County Councillor and received as many letters back.The whole thing led nowhere and some years later after the next election I noticed that a sort of distance had opened up between us. At the same time, a neighbour pointed out what miraculous works this Councillor could do for someone he favoured, up to and including the building of a new and rather attractive bungalow for a constituent who , on paper, didn't seem to qualify for such treatment. On investigation it transpired that the lucky man had an interesting interconnected lineage which in polling terms could be expected to lead to a comfortable number of first preference votes. I had just my one vote. Simple.
That being the case, you can forget about a revolution. Our leaders just have too much to lose.There is just one thing that might shake them and that is a vocal and focused opposition. I'm not talking about opposition in the Dail - that's a very weak joke. But angry opposition at ground level. Ask the questions - demand to know why the country is in the shambles it is.And above all, don't pull any punches.Don't think that if we keep our heads down someone in power will "see us right". That's the sort of attitude to got us to this stage in the first place.They're talking in Europe now of widespread civil unrest and are openly discussing the possibility that it might spread across borders. If hears started to roll now, that might be interesting. Hark, is that a tumbril I hear rumbling towards me ?