Worker & Community Struggles and Protests Madrid Police "Dumbfounded" After Amazon Called The Cops On Striking Workers 22:31 Nov 27 0 comments George Soros’ Open Society Foundation unmasked in a major leak 22:31 Aug 24 1 comments Shell in court over major Corrib gas refinery flaring events. 23:32 Jul 28 0 comments Eddie Hobbs: Largest act of larceny against Irish people 23:22 Jun 02 0 comments CHASE Fundraising Events Calendar for June 23:10 Jun 01 0 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireNorth Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi? US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Lockdown Skeptics
News Round-Up Wed Dec 25, 2024 00:32 | Richard Eldred
Starmer Doesn?t Have a Feel for Politics and His Team Lacks the Skills to Run the Country, Says Vete... Tue Dec 24, 2024 19:00 | Will Jones
Church of England Tells Clergy to Edit Christmas Carols to ?Avoid Unnecessary Offence? Tue Dec 24, 2024 18:00 | Will Jones
Best-Selling Hybrids Face Net Zero Ban From 2030 Tue Dec 24, 2024 15:42 | Will Jones
Experts Call For Return of Lockdown-Style Social Distancing as Flu Surges, Claiming ?a Fifth of Thos... Tue Dec 24, 2024 13:46 | Will Jones
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionVoltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en |
Democracy, Disillusion and The Political Process
international |
worker & community struggles and protests |
opinion/analysis
Saturday March 09, 2013 00:55 by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin - http://gaelart.net/
Democracy or just simply Demopsefia? A new nationwide opinion poll in Ireland has shown that people are becoming more and more disillusioned with the political process leading one to wonder if democracy (people rule) has simply become demopsefia (people vote). This type of disillusionment is becoming widespread across Europe in general. While no one is naive enough to believe all the promises of politicians, in recent years the desires of the electorate seem to be ever more blatantly subsumed to the financial interests/problems of recent governments. While in the past clientelism and patronage produced some semblance of benefit to the voters, the deepening financial crisis and unemployment is breaking down the old ways of thinking and behaving. Voters are becoming just that, voters. And as such, are starting to wonder what is the point of voting at all? Thus we have an increase in the third main aspect of the current crisis, emigration. According to Aideen Sheehan emigration is ‘at famine levels' as 200 leave the country every day: ‘Some 87,000 people emigrated from Ireland in the year to April 2012, three times as many as the annual exodus during the boom years.’ Another source states that: ‘More than half of those who left the country in the 12 months up to April [2012] were Irish and almost 36,000 were under the age of 25, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.’ |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1I'd say we never really had proper democracy and it has been demopsefia (people vote) as the author says except it has been this way for quite a while. It just that some fraction of the population are finally beginning to see through the farce although there are still plenty around that seem to think voting makes a difference.
I think this sentence "The sleight-of-hand conversion of the citizen into consumer only works insofar as the consumer has the wherewithal to consume.. " is spot on. However the quote from the recent new citizen from the Philippines "I am very excited today because I have been here for so long working hard to get my citizenship’ probably reflects the relative difference between here and the Philippines which has Third World level poverty, slums and the whole lot and corruption would be at levels that we would find hard to believe. In countries like these for example almost nobody sees the police force as something there to keep the peace and protect but see them as a parasitic layer that constantly abuses their position and is simply a career in extracting bribes. By contrast Ireland would look a lot safer and more functional.
I'd argue though that over the next few decades we will slip very much in the downward direction unless of course as the author optimistically suggested: Is it possible that this enthusiasm for citizenship ignited by a newly globalised population will push the superficial concept of consumer (not to mention its manipulability) over the edge and bring about a return to a national ideology of rights and duties of citizenship? I sure hope so.