The systems failure in the Irish psyche
Alcohol, violence and the family secret are known to most Irish people. We are all affected by at least one of these typical Irish traits.
The systems failure in the Irish psyche
De Facto
Another, more modern aspect of our psyche is simply called ‘cute hoorism.’ It is rampant and was overfed during the reign of the Celtic Tiger. It is an ability within us to admire the ‘hoor’ who will take the chance that we are afraid to take. In reality it is like a disease because it affects our willingness to view things in a rational manner. What it is, really, is a dilution of values. It is about bringing acceptable practice to the level of the lowest common denominator. It leads to corruption. We are all aware of people who have carried out corrupt practices at one level or another. That is bad enough but by not speaking up it allows that corruption to be carried to another level. It appears to make corruption tolerable. Eventually the line of demarcation between what is tolerable and what is not gets blurred. Principles drift off in a haze without any clear shape or form. When this happens on a grand scale we end up in trouble, like we are now. The reason is simple, we let the corruption take root. We become too politically correct to call it for what it is. Corruption feasts on immorality, especially the immoral use of power. When power is not used to serve it is a vice. Some of those self same cute hoors are in powerful positions. It is amazing how they always seem to have ‘followers.’ We must all share the blame because we allowed them to achieve that position through silence and looking the other way.
In The Irish Times last Friday, Donal Casey, an actuary and former Irish Life & Permanent employee, wrote about a national value system and rebuilding governance systems from the ground up. “Regulation and policing alone offer insufficient protection against system failure. The final layer of protection is a set of shared values that sets clear boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. For far too long we have tolerated corruption and cronyism in all walks of Irish life. We have a defective gene in our national DNA and the painful truth is that we have all given tacit permission for the behaviour at the heart of our banking crisis. It starts with our historic propensity to use ‘informal’ channels to sort out issues such as traffic offences or planning permissions. Our love of the rogue gets louder expression in some of our poll-topping choices.
“Boxing” things off is a national pastime, as is using influence rather than merit to further our own cause. Unfortunately, we are waking up to the reality that the international bond market is one entity that cannot be ‘boxed’ off. Our destructive gene has mutated into potential economic meltdown. The sustainable solution lies in a renewed value system… The journey of renewal cannot start without the self-honesty to admit failures.”
The cute hoors who have wrecked Irish banking have done so with our blessing. The politicians were too busy counting their pensions, allowances and ensuring that whatever they did they got paid for. Their insulting wage-cut offerings can burn on the altars of oblivion. It shows how far removed from the real world they actually are. They are still consumed by unfairness, as per the pensions levy. Local councillors were brought aboard and silenced through Better Local Government.
The Financial Regulator’s Office did not shout stop because we did not shout stop. We failed because we have lost the ability to see clearly, to know what is right and wrong. Black and white have merged into forty shades of a national grey. We were all lost in the wine-bar comfort zone tippling en masse. We brawled on the streets and filled buckets of blood. It is now time for the clean-up. We cursed goodness and Godliness and scoffed at restraints. It is now time to repent and perform acts of reparation. We replaced truth with opinion and informed thought with fickle feelings. It is time to sit down and reflect. The flimsy golden thread was not sustainable. It has broken and we are falling headlong into the abyss of uncertainty and anger. We are at a crossroads. The choice is ours, as a nation and as individuals. The one secret we can share is hope.