I write this from the perspective of the 'People Over Profit' Political Party (because I was at their meeting last night) but I do not know their full manifesto. I am just using this opportunity to let them know what myself and a few other people that I know would like them to deal with, if they get elected!
They are here, as if by a miracle, in time to return the governing of the country to a democracy.
Refuse Transatlantic Trade Partnership
TTP will be refused. This is a bit of legislation that Europe is considering that will give Corporations the right to sue countries and individuals for curbing their sales. Just today this report of Monsanto doing it in the States already. It is 500 pages long, completely undecipherable but thankfully can be refused in its totality as a power grab of economies and markets and as an illegal move to direct the courts to serve profits and no longer "the common good"
Housing and Justice
For those of you who have unfairly lost your homes or jobs under the last government, those cases will be re-opened in a revised legal system where successful legal representation and complete impunity can no longer be bought. NAMA will be sent packing.
(If you are a voter and you don't know who NAMA are? Suffice to say, they collect up all the evicted people's houses and sell them for a tiny price to foreign investors. The original owners are not allowed to buy them back or other impoverished families. Even the council's don't buy them to offer social housing. People lose their house after a mortgage of 2 or 300,000 and the same house is sold out of the country for 25,000.
The government, in the last months, gave senior NAMA officials a 100 million to encourage them to keep doing what they're doing. Selling Ireland from under us. Think what could have been done with that money for the homeless and to support people burdened by now impossible mortgages on the brink of defaulting? The current government is corrupt beyond measure. The only reason they would give this money is that they are profiting themselves. Please do not vote for them again.
People before Profit will stop NAMA at once.
They will investigate the corrupt deals of the last ministers in office and fine them for the damage they have done. This is how we will tackle the croneyism that defined the country for too long-giving official jobs and brown envelopes to completely ill-equipped friends, with no merit or ethics to contribute.
Abolish Water Charges
Do you know that you have already been charged for your water use? That it is incorporated into other taxes you pay? We will work out how much the economy was making from this unfair tax and charge it to the biggest polluters in the country. Did you know that Shell are drilling in Irish Waters for gas? Do you know that Ireland does not benefit from it at all, by cheaper electricity, shared ownership or taxes? Did you know Shell must use thousands of litres of water to wash the salt water off their gas?Did you know last year our current government gave shell 100 million euro to insure themselves? The same week as the government said that unemployed people would have their water charge taken out of their benefits at source? Did you know that Shell do not pay for their use of our water?
Did you know that Pharmaceutical companies have contaminated rivers in Cork and Coke have in the West? Did you think Computer companies were safe, bar the odd radiation problem from mobile phone and wife signals? They are not safe at all, producing micro chips uses thousands of litres of chemicals, contaminating fresh water.
Did you know that Round Up, same as you buy in the garden centre is highly carcinogenic and that every vegetable you eat is sprayed with it, unless it says 'Organic'. Did you know that all the animals eaten have all eaten chemically sprayed grass and genetically modified grains and then the meat is preserved by injecting further chemicals into it?
Audit of all Corporations operating in Ireland, taxed or fined according to damage.
People Before Profit will audit all the high bracket companies using Ireland as a tax haven and fine them according to the damage they have done and are doing. The economic system we will use instead of profit, is the concept of a triple bottom line. THe bottom lines that they will be audited on will be Social Impact, Environmental Viability and Economic Viability.
Reconsidering connections to Europe
Have we been used enough as a power station for outdated wind turbine and pylon energy systems?
Have our seas been exploited enough by the Dutch owned super trawlers, fishing on a Latvian quota, with nets twice the size of football pitches and sonar equipment so no shoal will get away? Each freezer trawler can carry 7000 tonnes at a time. Do the maths, even loosely. Did you know there are 19 recognized dead zones around the UK, where there are NO fish. Whole ecosystems ravaged.
People Before Profit will declare a No-take zone around Ireland until the area has recovered.
At the People Before Profits party we recognize that the people of Ireland need hope, need something to look forward to, short term, medium term and long term.
It is our pleasure to offer you
Compensation
All those companies that have fleeced us and destroyed our resourcefulness and resources, will be investigated and commanded to pay for the return of the land to a 'clean declaration'.
Do people even know what a clean declaration is? It means that there are no chemicals or residues present. We understand that most of these companies will have to leave but they will not leave a mess. They will pay their staff redundancy, to bridge the gaps between 'working for the man' and developing their own ventures.
Companies will be charged with so great damages that that will provide money for the country's transition to a self governing, thriving society of sustainable independent enterprises.
Did you know the current County Enterprise Boards (now the the LEOs) used to fund small 'start up' companies but now coordinate the payment of millions of euro from European Funding to military innovations? Anyone who has tried to get funding for a legitimate business plan in recent years will have been told to come back at least ten times (this is so the LEO can say it has carried out its quota of appointments). You will have noticed that there is never 'funding available'. You will have been told that your business was not unique enough to have a competitive edge. Or that it would compete with another local business that they're supporting. Or that its too unique and no one will be interested.
Although all these arguments contradict each other, they will have written down on your file which one they've given you so that you don't ever hear two. There is also a loop now between the Enterprise Boards and Credit Union Small Business Loans. This means that even if you have been a fully paid up, savings intact, long term credit union customer, with a perfect credit rating and something sizable to guarantee your loan.. the Credit Union cannot give you it unless the LEO approves it. With this knot of compromised people in positions of power, 'say so' and abuse of the imagined power they have, they have vetoed any half decent viable plan. With People before Profits' governance, the Enterprise Boards will have a new remit. They will requite proof that one can sustain oneself and one's family with the project and provide something worthwhile. This idea of 'worthwhile' will include evidence of social awareness, compassion, economic viability and not be wasteful, destructive or exploit anyone.
The level of compromise, coercion and corruption filtering down from the current government and embedded institutional abuses are going to take time to sort out but we are going to be thorough in our restructuring of the economy, our culture and our responsible stance -
To leave Ireland better than we found it: The people heard, provision for the less fortunate secured and opportunity for the boldest visions of a new society are supported, developed and implemented.
To this end of encouraging the personal responsibility and participation of every member of society, we will use the forum of a referendum. As there will have just been an election, it will be no big deal or expense to put further questions to the people.
Referendums (Highly Informed and Transparently conducted)
People before profit will propose referendums on whether Irish people want:
1. Ireland's Neutrality
2. Ireland's Participation in Europe
3. Ireland in or out of NATO (7 current ministers joined Ireland to NATO secretly 15 months ago)
4. Animals - Do we want to allow animal experimentation?
Factory Farms?
Cruelty and Abuse with impunity?
Meat?
Fish?
Dairy?
Live Export of animals with or without regulation?
Wild life
Did you know that the current government supports Hare Coursing with over a €100,000 of tax payers' money?
Do people know that the although Genetically Modified products are illegal here, especially the potato. The government office in Carlow has a massive programme of potato genetic modification research going, manned only by foreign post graduates. This is clearly to make sure no one from Ireland was to find out. Except one of them came to Harmony Hall for Interview Preparation before she went, so I heard all about it.
r for Agriculture knew the value of milk would go straight down as he encouraged farmers to increase their herds? Do people know that animal agriculture is the largest contributor to CO2 emissions and animals drink two thirds of the world's fresh water and eat half the world's grain? The current government vets have covered up countless food safety risks and food fraud by meat producers and yet bullied individual farmers with endless tests and costs.
The current Ministers - Agricultural, Environmental and T'Shock know all about the major illegalities but do not act.
Public Representatives are not even in discussions about Public Contracts
Do people remember the scandal of the county council dog and horse pounds last year? In brief, Kilkenny Council lied in writing to say that a charity had won the tender (Contract stated as worth€450,000 to €650,000). They had in fact awarded it to a private firm, registered in a town in Latvia with the largest Animal Body Parts factory in Europe. This company also have many of the other massive Irish public contracts to collect stray horses too at €980 per horse. And then to profit again on its parts. This exposed the fact that elected representatives (yes, the people you vote in) are not even informed of upcoming Public Contracts. (Just so you're under no illusion about the last government's total injustice: Legitimate shelters, housing ten times as many animals and for a longer time, with more care needs, receive government support to the tune of between €4,000 and €20,000.
So please vote for the People Before Profits so we can change this arrangement.
Whatever field you work in, the People Before Profit party are asking you to stop accepting slim pickings for doing good, much needed work. We are intent on successful, independent food security and energy, relying on Irish and visiting expertise.
So referendum No.5
5. County Council Management Teams? However corrupt, selfish and compromised, at the moment they stay with a job for life arrangement and the final say on County Development Plans and Public Contract Awards. Do the people of Ireland want that or do we only want the Elected Representatives making decisions, as instructed by the priorities of the people?
The number one light on the horizon that this will bring if people vote against the current system is that, if local people want a trusted group to run a state-run home, you can tell your elected representative and it will actually be considered.
6. Basic Wage for All?
7. Community Participation by those assisted by the state? - Democratic Say& Physical Contribution to Help Farmer's Shift to Organic
8. Geo-Engineering and chemical spraying - Stop the routine dropping of toxic coal ash by passenger planes
9. Weapons testing in Ireland - Minister Coveney like a maniac is excited about testing weapons on Ireland. Biological weapons cause disease all over the States already because of these covert operations. Testing Nuclear weapons could obviously wipe us all out in a heart beat (especially considering the last governments complete refusal to set safety standard
10. Health Care System
People before Profits are prepared to take on the HSE and make it successful. We recognize the monopoly by pharmaceuticals, the hospital policies that lead to a worsening of more conditions than
recovery.
With a holistic approach, we will endeavor to adopt a different medical model: The proposition that the doctors' job is to prevent illness and keep people well rather than be a desperately slow crisis response. In line with this, all medical and social care qualifications will include rigorous Nutrition modules. Also Ethics, Empathy and Respectful Communication training will be required and will be part of the recruitment requirements at all levels. Focus will be on Food, Laughter and Love being the best medicines.
In fact we take the analogy further and propose that we will give big pharmaceutical companies a taste of their own medicine!
Did you know that big Pharmaceutical companies have a Mission Statement that aims to have every citizen on an average of 4 prescribed drugs from infancy to the grave? That is not about promoting health, is it.
Also in Australia, the government have ruled that Child Benefit will be stopped for families whose children are not vaccinated. Pharmaceutical companies forcing legislation like that here will happen if the TTP, Transatlantic Trade Partnership is agreed in Europe. The repercussions will be devastating to everyone. Compulsory vaccination?! Mercury (second most deadly substance in the world) is in all of them, see my recent blog for a full list of vaccines and their ingredients). They have been linked to all sorts of system failure. We don't want private companies forcing their products on us.
We can support our own Health Service with Ethical companies and products that actually work.
Did you know that they say, in the trade, if the cancer doesn't kill you, the Chemo will? Well, that is what they say.
People before Profit hope to educate everyone in how to live a healthy life, take responsibility for their environment too and clean up the toxic residue on most things, from bad decisions in the past.
Taxation - Universal Social Charge
We will not be making lots of subtle changes to taxation that will need to be managed by more official bodies, that will have to be monitored themselves to stop self-serving management exploiting and stringing out the processes. Instead, we will keep the economy stable by calculating how much has been sucked out of the individuals by tax per year and re-directing that figure to Corporations to pay, via corporation tax.
For taxing the individual worker, People Before Profit propose a 3 band tax I think, that favours the lower paid and those on the brink of earning something but find themselves taxed to within an inch of their lives as soon as they do.
Also we will start our own bank and get off the International Monetary Fund (IMF) merry go round of war mongering and controlled corruption. For a better understanding of what they're up to see my recent blog about it called IMF show their real stars and stripes.
So these are just my ideas about what the People Before Profit party might be able to achieve. I was just at a meeting of theirs yesterday in Kilkenny. The great thing they definitely did say was that the government are employed by the people, they should not consider themselves Leaders. They also definitely did say that they would use Referendums and listen to the People.
I think this is a golden opportunity to vote for democracy. Enda Kenny said today, that this was no time to rock the economy. So I wrote this to wake people up to how much of a God-forsaken, corrupt, self-serving shambles they have made and sold us up the creek (which I know is a mixed metaphor but I think its appropriate) So don't go kidding yourselves that you're in safe enough hands. The current government have completely deserted and abused the people, shown complete disdain for basic regard or transparency. Lets go for gold and let the People define the way we want to go. Get back our creativity, independence and most of all our humanity.
