We, the people, must stop enabling the corruption

The more that people cry foul at the excess — fraud, incompetence, golden circles — that passes for daily life in Ireland, the more the answer is obvious.

It is hard to blame the systems of State for their fraud, malfeasance, and contempt for the people, when we enable it all, daily.

Long ago, we handed over our power to others. We said we needed to be led in the law, health, education, religion and commerce. Others obliged and devised infrastructures to disenfranchise us. This road knows no end. It will continue and worsen and, eventually, we will lament the innocent days of water charges, property tax and €80m spent by Irish Water on consultants.

That is, unless the people reclaim their sovereignty, unless the people realise that they are the experts of their own lives, and that centralised infrastructures should aid them, not inhibit them. The people must demand that State-sanctioned theft and abuse can no longer hold sway. The rule of law is that one cannot violate another or their property. If all are held to the rule of law, harmony reigns. Anarchy is reigning and it wears a nice suit and convinces us that all is well. The opposite of the rule of law is now prevalent and will harvest our energy until the people halt it. It’s that simple, and so it is pointless railing against the system. It is a beast that knows no other way.

We need to slay the beast and install a better way. That better way keeps one and all in check, so a true meritocracy can operate whatever centralised infrastructure is needed, and where there is redress when rights are violated. Governments, agents of State, corporations, etc, can try and get around the rule of law, but they will find it is impossible to infiltrate and corrupt.

Barry Fitzgerald

Lissarda

Cork