Hello friends--earlier this morning I finished my classes for the week and decided to head on over to #OccupyDameStreet here in Dublin, Ireland. I thought some of my fellow Americans, particularly those entrenched in various cities, might want to see what was going on here on this Emerald Isle.
Ireland is also a particularly special case--as one of the nations hit hardest by the crisis, it is now, as a result of receiving assistance, no longer actually under ecomonic control by its own government, but rather decisions here must be accepted by what is known as the Troika--the IMF, the EU, and the ECB (European Central Bank). More below the fold. (If anyone can republish this to appropriate groups, please feel free, and please do!)
After getting out of class today, I wanted to do my little part to help out the occupiers, so I went to the grocery store and spent the best 20€ I've spent here in Europe yet.
I grabbed a couple loaves of bread, some cheese, some mustard and mayo, some turkey. And for the vegetarians, some fruit scones, some cous-cous, and some apples. Last but not least, a dozen waters. I was worried that it wouldn't be enough, but while this next picture is far from justice, I was completely wrong; as I was dropping off my goods there was a near-constant stream of other supporters dropping off food items and cell phones and other requested items as well--the spread was, as they say here in Ireland, "grand":
Dame Street is a main thourough-fare here in Dublin, close to Trinity College and Grafton Street.
I arrived just in time for the General Assembly...
But there's stuff going on all day and night, and it's growing--education, music, and more...
This is what the encampment looks like at the moment, certain to grow...this pic only gets about half of it...
The 99% meme is so brilliant I can hardly stand it. Easily understood worldwide, imagine that...
I'm in...
Ok, ok! I'm in!!!
Much like Madison, the signs were great:
More about #OccupyDameStreet..I spoke with one of the organizers and something he said particularly struck me. He said that originally, the people who started this up here were planning on a lot of education (which is grand of course) but that they quickly realized that most of them were already pretty well informed--but more importantly, most of them have lived here for years and never joined up, never met each other. But now, that's changed, and things will never go back to how they were, a people's disconnect. Now, the people are connected.
#occupydame street
you can make the difference
#OccupyDameStreet is a people's movement, which stands in solidarity with, and is inspired by, nearly 1,000 sister occupations in the evolving global movement initiated by the people of Iceland, Greece, Spain, and Tunisia. We use tactics of non-violence akin to scenes of peaceful resistance in Tahrir Square and Wall Street. This is a diverse people's initiative, unaffiliated with any political parties. We are the 99%. We stand together against political and economic corruption. We stand for equality and social justice. This is a "leaderless resistance movement" with people of many nationalities, backgrounds, genders, and political persuasions.
We say to the people of Ireland, if you have ever looked for an opportunity to engage in realistic change, this is a platform. Now is the time when the spirit of the revolt is spreading to other major cities and financial districts around the world. It is the duty of everyone to stand together against the endless greed and corruption on which our financial system is based.
We reject the complete control of the European Central Bank (ECB) in dictating our economic policy. Our demand is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stay out of our affairs. We do not want their influence or control. Our demand is that the private bank debt that has been socialised and burdened upon the population of the country who had nothing to do with it be lifted. We will not pay and let our children and their children pay for this crisis that private banks and bondholders have caused. It is their problem, not ours. It is our demand that the oil and gas reserves off our coast that were criminally handed away to private corporations be returned to sovereign control. Our demand is for real, participatory democracy--where the people's interests come first, where the people decide what happens.
We do not claim to have a complete list of solutions. We believe, however, that the process is just beginning. The more participation we can build, the more power our decisions will carry. We invite any person to join us, but we ask that they leave their political party behind.
#occupydamestreet
Fianna Fail was the political party that has been in control for most of Ireland's history; they were also the political party that was in control during the giveaway to the Troika:
IMF OUT
"Here's to the crazy ones...the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers...the round heads in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. The only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward & while some may see them as the crazy ones, WE SEE GENIUS. Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do." --Jack Kerouac
The movement isn't just limited to Dame Street:
Again, ECB = European Central Bank:
To make this a bit more than a photo diary, here is some more info on what is going on. Recently, a secret letter from the head of the ECB and incoming head of the ECB was published in Italy. Here's the thing--the ECB is technically a public agency (I don't know that agency is the right word, but I will use it for the lack of a better one.) The ECB is also the only entity that will buy Italy's bad bonds. So if this letter is being sent, it's basically blackmail because it sends the message that if Italy doesn't follow their requests, well hey, maybe they won't buy the bonds, and likely, nobody else will. Here is the letter below, my emphasis added:
Frankfurt/Rome, 5 August 2011 .
Dear Prime Minister,
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank discussed on 4 August the situation in Italy's government bond markets. The Governing Council considers that pressing action by the Italian authorities is essential to restore the confidence of investors.
The Euro area Heads of State or Government summit of 21 July 2011 concluded that «all euro countries solemnly reaffirm their inflexible determination to honour fully their own individual sovereign signature and all their commitments to sustainable fiscal conditions and structural reforms». The Governing Council considers that Italy needs to urgently underpin the standing of its sovereign signature and its commitment to fiscal sustainability and structural reforms.
The Italian Government has decided to pursue a balanced budget in 2014 and, to this purpose, has recently introduced a fiscal package. These are important steps, but not sufficient.
At the current juncture, we consider the following measures as essential:
1. We see a need for significant measures to enhance potential growth. A few recent decisions taken by the Government move in this direction; other measures are under discussion with social partners. However, more needs to be done and it is crucial to go forward decisively. Key challenges are to increase competition, particularly in services to improve the quality of public services and to design regulatory and fiscal systems better suited to support firms' competitiveness and efficiency of the labour market.
a) A comprehensive, far-reaching and credible reform strategy, including the full liberalisation of local public services and of professional services is needed. This should apply particularly to the provision of local services through large scale privatizations.
b) There is also a need to further reform the collective wage bargaining system allowing firm-level agreements to tailor wages and working conditions to firms' specific needs and increasing their relevance with respect to other layers of negotiations. (Nick in New York note: Keep in mind, dear reader, that in Europe and Italy in particular, sector or industry-wide bargaining agreements are the norm. By reducing them to firm-level, it would significantly reduce bargaining power.)The June 28 agreement between the main trade unions and the industrial businesses associations moves in this direction.
c) A thorough review of the rules regulating the hiring and dismissal of employees should be adopted in conjunction with the establishment of an unemployment insurance system and a set of active labour market policies capable of easing the reallocation of resources towards the more competitive firms and sectors.
2. The government needs to take immediate and bold measures to ensuring the sustainability of public finances.
a) Additional-corrective fiscal measures is needed. We consider essential for the Italian authorities to front-load the measures adopted in the July 2011 package by at least one year. The aim should be to achieve a better-than-planned fiscal deficit in 2011, a net borrowing of 1.0% in 2012 and a balanced budget in 2013, mainly via expenditure cuts. It is possible to intervene further in the pension system, making more stringent the eligibility criteria for seniority pensions and rapidly aligning the retirement age of women in the private sector to that established for public employees. thereby achieving savings already in 2012. In addition, the government should consider significantly reducing the cost of public employees, by strengthening turnover rules and, if necessary, by reducing wages.
b) An automatic deficit reducing clause should be introduced stating that any slippages from deficit targets will be automatically compensated through horizontal cuts on discretionary expenditures.
c) Borrowing, including commercial debt and expenditures of regional and local governments should be placed under tight control, in line with the principles of the ongoing reform of intergovernmental fiscal relations.
In view of the severity of the current financial market situation, we regard as crucial that all actions listed in section 1 and 2 above be taken as soon as possible with decree-laws, followed by Parliamentary ratification by end September 2011. A constitutional reform tightening fiscal rules would also be appropriate.
3. We also encourage the government to immediately take measures to ensure a major overhaul of the public administration in order to improve administrative efficiency and business friendliness. In public entities the use of performance indicators should be systematic (especially in the health, education and judiciary systems). (Nick in New York note: Tying the judiciary to economic performance indicators? This is some serious shit here folks.) There is a need for a strong commitment to abolish or consolidate some intermediary administrative layers (such as the provinces). Actions aimed at exploiting economies of scale in local public services should be strengthened. (Nick in New York note: What this means is that rural areas will be fucked, basically.)
We trust that the Government will take all the appropriate actions.
Mario Draghi, Jean-Claude Trichet
Sigh. It isn't just America, friends.
I'll be cool with banks dictating public policy as soon as the public, who bailed out the banks, since their actions led them to not be able to succeed and/or survive on their own, has the same ability to dictate bank policy. I won't hold my breath...
This sign is in Irish (Gaelic):
Basically, it means...
We are the 99%
Without a job
Without a future
Roofless
Not afraid!
I always have a bit of hmmm how to say, indoctrination skepticism, but these couple signs from kids were too cute (and true!) to not include:
Orlaith, Age 4
*
"They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority." --George Orwell
We don't need a piece of paper to tell us our rights. Every last one of us is born with inalienable rights! Our dreams don't fit in your ballot box. The people are awake and we won't be going back to sleep.
Democracy Means:
Demos = People
Cracy = Power
POWER OF THE PEOPLE
Remember, change is coming and change will happen with or without you. We are the people. We are the system. One life, one spirit, one heartbeat. One love.
Iceland, Spain, Greece, Israel, Chile, India, China, Egypt, Syria, USA, Portugal, Brazil, Ireland, Morocco, UK, Belgium, Germany, South Africa, Canada, France, Italy, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Switzerland, Tanzania, Australia, Finland..One World, One Demand, One Cry, One Dream...15th of October, 2pm, Garden of Rememberance, Real Democracy Now
The purpose of a government is to ensure the happiness and prosperity of the people. Is our government doing that?? (Fuck no!)
Today it's supposed to be the Spanish pride day, and as a Spanish I must confess I have nothing to be proud of.
- 5 million people unemployed 22%
- Youth's unemployment rate is 46%
- Our politician's earn a lot of money and they do nothing for us, they only attend to their own interests
This Saturday more than 350 cities of the worldwide will take the streets. One simple demand in a plurality of voices THE CORRUPTION OF GOVERNMENTS BANKS AND CORPORATIONS ENDS HERE!!! We started camping in Madrid and the message has been spread to all over the world (Nick in New York note: I'd say it started on Wall Street, but hey, what do I know? Go Spaniards...) Dedicado a mis companeros de la revolucion espana!!!
The whole western capitalist model does not care if you understand your mind or heart. It will only train you in the skills necessary to make you into a contributor towards profit seeking goals. There is no conspiracy here, we've simply allowed this model to emerge in our pursuit of comforts and pleasures. Please open your eyes today and now!!
I can't transcribe this one, it's just too much, but you can read it:
This one has all sorts of cool messages on it but again I am too tired...
NO ONE PERSON CAN DO EVERYTHING, BUT EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING!!
(PS - Screw skateboarding being prohibited.)
Oh, Baby is right. I've waited for something like this for seemingly forever; maybe you have, too.
Nick in New York, signing out until next time. Peace, love, and solidarity, brothers and sisters.
UPDATE: Since this is queued to Protest Music (and others, thank you!!!) I figured this would be appropriate.
The once steel tough fabric of a Union man Was sold and Bartered away
Fed to money wolves in the Reagen years,
Caught in a drift in greedy nintetie's days So inside this song is our rally cry.
Your dreams are in danger, and "We Must Rise"
Our time has come we are under the gun "It's Do or Die".
It's not a rebel cry of some socialist Scheme to push for human rights
Just the facts an obvious mentioned on the Behalf of the working man,
for his family and his livelihood.
Your dreams are in danger, and "We Must Rise"
Our time has come we are under the gun "It's Do or Die".
The once steel tough fabric of the union man was sold and bartered away
Fed to money wolves in the Reagan years,
Caught adrift in greedy nineties days.
Your dreams are in danger, and "We Must Rise"
Our time has come we are under the gun "It's Do or Die".
UPDATE 2: In my excitement reading the comments, I totally forgot to say thanks for the reclist. Thanks for the reclist!
