So it begins...

With all the talk these days of recession and economic turmoil, there seems to be an even greater volume of bullshit coming from television, radio and newspapers. Misinformation lies, distortions and distractions are nothing new for the mainstream media when dealing with important issues, but at a time when jobs continue to be lost by the thousands every day, the absurd nature of the official narrative becomes ever more prominent. The worrying thing is that many people’s views on this subject are influenced by this official narrative – their apathy and/or confusion a reflection of all the twisted and irrelevant messages they are bombarded with. Same goes for the public’s opinions on most subjects – health, education, wealth, transport, relationships, community, international politics. It’s only natural that we have many taken-for-granted assumptions about all different aspects of life, considering that we are part of a system that demands our compliance and acceptance of conformity. But at a time like this, an opportunity arises to stand back and take a fresh look at what is happening around us. Is the way we live our lives sane? Are we right just to accept the way things are and try live our lives as usual? How is all this connected to the wider world? Just what the f*ck is really happening? Not easy questions to face up to, especially if the word ‘revolution’ sounds threatening to you. But it’s in all our interests to ask and genuinely attempt to answer such difficult questions. It’s easy for politicians and other fat cats to tell us that we’re ‘living beyond our means’ while they continue to set the rules of the game in their favour and fill their own pockets. But leaving the complete hypocrisy of that remark aside, they have a point. We are all living unsustainably – in terms of the costs to people and planet, we greedily consume more than our fair share without making any attempt to understand the way the system works. We only live such materially comfortable lives at the expense of others. These unseen others are savagely exploited and oppressed so that we have more. This exploitation and oppression is inherit everywhere in the capitalist system – it wouldn’t function otherwise. It perverts the way we live and think. But if you break from orthodox ways of thinking about yourself and others (both locally and globally), you’ll have a much better chance of living and contributing to a better life, free from the constraints and confusion of a sick society.

So, I’m hoping to document much of what our sick society in Ireland (and other countries) needs to face up to if it is ever to recover. I’ll be looking at how capitalism and true democracy are incompatible, how taxes are immoral and should not be paid, the need to oppose all governments, how making poverty history means making capitalism history, colonialism and exploitation of poor countries today, mutualism in society, making resistance mainstream, an explanation of the economic situation for dummies, why the mainstream media can’t be trusted to report honestly, international conflict,
and much more in an attempt to highlight important issues. If all that sounds ‘extreme’ to you, yeah – I suppose you’re right – but no more ‘extreme’ than allowing ourselves passively and ignorantly watch our whole world round us turn to shite.

I’ll also be providing links to other websites, blogs and articles that give accurate reporting and analysis of events and current affairs. All in an attempt to do my wee bit to help people get more informed...