Patriotism extends to keeping our ditches clear of litter

A cursory drive between Buttevant and Mallow showcased a side of Ireland we must tackle, writes Diarmaid Twomey.

Patriotism, it’s a funny concept. Until very recently, I have always thought of it as a singular construct, a universally understood interpretation of one’s love for their nation.

As a people, we trade on being patriots; we claim to cherish our nation above all else. Our difficult history has shaped who we are and made us a proud people. We cherish our nation and are acutely aware of the enormous sacrifices our ancestors made.

This awareness has made us value the very embodiment of Ireland, her soil, above all else. For it was this very soil, that absorbed the blood shed by our ancestors in the struggle for the liberty we enjoy today.

Recently, I have begun to question the very notion of our patriotism, and our dedication to protecting the land those who went before us gave their lives for.

Just last week, during a return drive from a work trip to Limerick, most specifically the journey between Buttevant and Mallow, I found myself pondering if our interpretation of patriotism is anything other than some form of vacuous identity we can use on the weekend and when abroad.

Anyone who travels that road regularly will possibly know what it is that sparked such thoughts — littering and fly tipping. It is hard to put into words how atypical artistic tools such as plastic and nonchalance have painted such a bleak a picture on that stretch of soil. Litter has laid waste to the land, and it now resembles nothing more than a carcass.

It would be easy to blame this sickness on a small group of people in a specific corner of our nation. But the problem is endemic nationwide. The truth is plastic and litter is strangling the life from every corner of this land, and it is us, the ‘proud’ people of Ireland, that are responsible for the destruction of the very land we claim to cherish.

In truth, the littering and fly-tipping that are smothering our soil are symptomatic of a sick society. Ultimately it is akin to a society self-harming. Whether that self-harm comes from an inner hatred of ourselves or a disinterest in anything that doesn’t involve our own narrow self-interest is potentially up for debate. Perhaps there is some truth in both.

So where does this self-destructive mindset come from? I would argue that our economic system, and in particular neoliberalism, has a lot to answer for in this regard.

We have adopted an economic model that increasingly disenfranchises citizens and identifies them as customers of the State, rather than stakeholders and social investors.

Yes, individuals are responsible for their own behaviour when they discard their rubbish out a car window, but it is important that we try to understand that behaviour in order to curb it.

Within an economic system that promotes self-enrichment above all else, it is inevitable that there will be many that do not ‘succeed’.

I am not condoning the behaviour of people who litter and fly tip, but if you’re programmed, via the State, to value your own financial amelioration above everything else, including the wider good, then their behaviour becomes somewhat more understandable, if not still deeply reprehensible.

So what is the cure to this sickness? I think we have to view remediation through three paradigms.

Firstly, the Government needs to re-evaluate its role in creating the social environment that has allowed this issue to become so endemic. A good place to start would be to take back public control of waste disposal; public waste disposal is something that works.

I have seen it work gloriously in Brittany this past summer. Successive Irish governments have put ideology above the common good in privatising waste disposal. It is time they faced up to that reality.

Secondly, as Irish citizens, and the educators of our children, we need to have a wider conversation about patriotism and our apparent love for our country. Blood was shed for our very existence; in ditches, on roads, and on strands that are now littered with the spoils of our consumerism. It is nothing short of shameful that we insult our forefathers sacrifices for the sake of our convenience.

Finally, our children, this nation’s future; it is time that we acknowledge that our education system, as well as our own example, is having a detrimental effect on their futures.

Sure, we teach some of them how to ‘succeed’ in a land plundered by self-destructive ideologies and enrichment. Yet we are devoid of ideas on how to teach them the value of the soil, the air, and the water.

Plastic litter may be the embodiment of a throwaway, consumerism-driven culture, but we must take personal, as well as social, responsibility for the environment that has allowed this disease to thrive.

Contemporary Irish society must not look away from the reflection it faces in the mirror, but face up to the hardly recognisable, ugly truth of what peers back.

Our brave ancestors and our trusting children demand so.