William Slattery, left.
The merry dance continues …
In the past few days another ‘independent’ commentator, with clear vested interests, said we should cut 30,000 jobs in the Public service.
First dancers, take the floor …
William Slattery, National Competitiveness Council member, advisor to An Bórd Snip Nua, and head of the US finance corporation in Ireland – State Street – offers us this advice. Mr Slattery is very well ‘in the know’, he worked at the Central Bank where he was responsible for supervising the IFSC and went on to be deputy head of Banking Supervision and later served with Deutsche Bank of German. If you are a finance capitalist moving in the highest circles you probably know him well, he seems little known otherwise. In 2005, as Chairman of the Financial Services Ireland he warned against over-regulation in the financial sector, this probably qualified him for selection as an advisor to government.
I know we shouldn’t be surprised any more, but still the news this past week provokes yet more gasps of disbelief … Imagine, the head of a large multi-billion dollar US financial services group in Ireland telling us what we should do? What arrogance! What utter distain this man must have for the Irish people, in whose country both he and the company he represents reaps such vast profits. He will say this is so the country can recover from the financial crisis, be competitive and all the usual clap-trap. But he is talking about the livelihood of a lot of families, he is talking about the provision of public services that are badly needed, and he doesn’t suggest what these people might do …
The dance continues …
Next thing we see Peter Sudderland, head of Goldman Sachs International, former EU Commissioner and Attorney General of Ireland – again, very ‘well connected’ – he says we are in danger of “losing credibility” unless “hard decisions” are made, he warned against any talk of defaulting on our debts in relation to the banks. Thanks a lot Peter!
Remember Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest finance monopolies in the world? Last year their CEO revealed that they were actually “doing God’s work”, he explained “We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose.” Such philanthropy! So maybe all the currency speculation and bond deals are worthwhile? God’s work indeed … maybe ‘He’ pays out a fairly good bonus – I wonder how much is for Peter Sudderland?
Swap partners please …
Another interview on RTÉ gave us Jim Corrigan, head of the NTMA, rejecting international criticism of Ireland, as the rate for our bonds reached a record high, near 7%, next step is “junk”! John’s meagre income is only €490,000 p.a., plus bonus up to 80% and no doubt a good expense account and pension plan – just as well we pay him so much or we might never get the value of his good counsel!
The floor is getting crowded …
Remember Intel’s intervention or Michael O’Leary’s role during the Lisbon Treaty debate? Remember Dan McLaughlin, Group Chief Economist at the Bank of Ireland and his advice recently in support of the revised capital spending (cut!) budget – which was promoted as creating 270,000 jobs leading up to 2016? And what about the latest ‘Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy’ plan to create 300,000 jobs – looks like we will need a population growth to fill the vacancies!
All the representatives of finance capital, all the servants of foreign direct investment, all the cartel of political parties against the people, tell us we must cut back – none have a plan to develop the indigenous economic life of our country to serve the people.
They are charlatans and liars all …
As the Dáil reassembles today, after their extended well paid holiday, we should listen to what both the government and opposition parties are saying. But we can guess … they will argue over how each knows better how to manage in these times of financial restraint, each knows a better way to create jobs, each will jockey for position to sound the most people-friendly – but all the time they will be assuring the bankers and monopolists that their interests are safe – they will continue to pay for what has been and is a grand robbery of our resources and wealth. There are very few elected deputies that might be exceptions to this charade for democracy – one can well understand the person who put the Toxic Bank lorry in the gates of Leinster House! It is easy to understand why millions of workers all over Europe will today take to the streets in protest against cutbacks in their living standards and working conditions – they are fully right to protest!
What does all this say about our democracy?
Our democracy is in a sad state, ordinary people have no say in matters at all! Whatever protests take place we would encourage support for them all, the people should express their anger and demand change – but more important, working people need to get organised so that we can be effective. We must organise not in a gut reaction to the current state of affairs, rather, let’s realise the nature of what is going on and consider what is required to bring about change. Let’s consider what this change should be … first item on the list must be democratic renewal.
This is an issue for everyone to take up.
We encourage all concerned citizens to engage with one another in discussion about what type of society we need for the future and what needs to be done to bring forward that day. It is not just a question of calling on the working class to dig the grave of capitalism, it means bringing all social strata to the realisation that their interest are best served in forming a united opposition to the rule of the vested interests, the rule of monopoly corporations and finance capital. We need to establish a democratic Ireland in which power rests firmly on the shoulders of the people, allowing us to begin solving all the old problems, in economy, culture and the environment.
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