Heated debate on economic values is welcome

SENIOR Government minister Dermot Ahern made a scathing attack on the PDs last weekend.

Election workers in his Louth constituency were unambiguously informed that Fianna Fáil would not let market forces define Irish society.

Mr Ahern, who is Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, also said that the party rejected the “winner take all” approach and intended to use prosperity to help people out of poverty.

“In economic and social policy, Fianna Fáil rejects the notion the State should take a back seat and allow unbridled market forces shape our country.

“Fianna Fáil rejects that classic neo-liberal stance on inequality. We reject the ‘winner takes all’ approach. We reject the policies which place all emphasis on ‘equality of opportunity’ while providing only a modicum of social protection”, he said.

Well, he might try telling that to his cabinet colleague Charlie McCreevy who many believe shares the Progressive Democrat view the world.

His skewing of the tax system to favour working couples a few years ago suggested that we definitely were enamoured with the American way.

In the good old days, Mr McCreevy’s action would have been denounced as an attack on family life. It certainly said this country will reward those families more where both parents work.

At this kind of level, political philosophy and bottom line economics are deeply inter linked. Irrespective of Fianna Fáil’s motives for its rediscovery of the underclass, it ought to kick start a debate about economic and social values.

In the good old days, the division of wealth in this country wasn’t an issue because we never had much to dole out anyway.

Now we do, due to the success of the economy over the past decade or more. That’s to be welcomed.

There was a time when business men were preoccupied with the belief that the rest of us were anti-profit. That debate has long gone and the reality is that the main preoccupation now is how to sustain the standard of living.

When we look at the US and see statistics that show the middle classes in the US are not getting much better off despite the ongoing generation of wealth, it starts to become obvious that the biggest economy in the world is no more than a giant sweat shop used by the rich to keep getting richer.

Under the influence of the PDs, that view has become embodied within the last two Governments.

People on the door step made that point clear to FF during the local elections.

It would be unfortunate if the Republican Party used this feedback to pay lip service to feather their own political ambitions.

What Dermot Ahern has done is to raise basic issues about the values and aspirations we have.

Of late there is little doubt that the greed is good culture seems to have been a very strong feature of our view of the world.

The tax scams that have been perpetrated by the banks in connivance with customers is a case in point.

Even if Fianna Fáil is really serious about giving some succour to the less well-off, it may indeed be faced with a far bigger wall of opposition than just the Progressive Democrats.

Will Hutton, in his book The World We’re In, argues that a civilised society has a broader charter than the deification of the stock market and share holder value.

We have surely seen enough examples of greed to suggest the pursuit of wealth has to have a broader social purpose than the enrichment of the few.