We should boycott the banksters

We keep hearing: “But what can we (the ordinary people) do when government seems to be helplessness in bringing rogue bankers to book?”

Surely, the answer must be obvious? The solution is based on a simple question: “What would these people not want to happen, sufficient to make them willing to return their ill-gotten gains?” Imagine you are Shaunie Fitzpatrick or Fingers Fingleton or Drummer or one of the developers living high on the hog. What makes your life good? Driving your €200k car? Sailing your yacht? Lunch at the golf club/expensive restaurant? Probably all of these things.

Now, to have those things in your privileged life, it is necessary for ordinary people to serve you petrol and repair your cars and yacht, serve you food and drink in posh clubs and restaurants, reserve flights and foreign hotels for you, etc. Those ordinary people, with the support of their unions and the buying public, could refuse to serve these fraudsters and make their lives hardly worth living. All legally.

Of course, all these people, banksters, developers, politicians, lawyers, accountants and yes, some of the media, ! are all part of the insider elite.

No wonder these people feel immune when those with the power to bring them to book are none other than their own friends and colleagues, all of whom see the insider-elite group as the rightfully privileged and see the ordinary people as mere cannon fodder, fit only to be taxed into poverty in order to feed greedy, obscenely rich fatcats and so-called ‘professionals’.

I wonder if there’s a political party promising to reduce all Irish salaries above €50k pa to EU averages!; a party that promises to reduce the cost of medicines to the EU average; a party that would require a minimum of say 10% of corporate profits before dodgy deductibles; a party brave enough to take on all vested interests including media moguls, trade union barons, bloated consultants without fear or favour. If no mainstream party is willing to do it, what are we to do as a people? Vote for a party with a criminal past? Fill the Dáil with independents? Maybe Direct Democracy Irl (mandated by the people) is the only way forward.

Because the Irish electorate are like silly gullible children with short memories who fall for the same old claptrap every time, the situation may be hopeless. It’s hard to believe this country ever produced real heroes who gave their very lives for their countrymen. Now all we seem to have are crooks, me-féiners, gombeens and craven cowards.

William F (Liam) O’Mahony

Graiguenamanagh

Co Kilkenny