Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
Opinion
The opinion of a WSM member. This piece has not been reviewed by any WSM editing body
Dignity and Decent Housing for All!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-20 12:49
There are over 5,000 homeless people across Ireland. And if current trends continue there will be over 6,500 homeless by the end of the year [1]. Our leaders worship the free market faith. We must organise together if we want them to bend to a social logic and the rule of fairness.
We do not expect those who inhabit Leinster House to solve our housing problems. Last week, Taoiseach Kenny ruled out state intervention in the property market to curb the cost of renting. “It is very clear that interference in the market to its detriment is not something we should do,’’ he said [2]. They call this ‘restoring confidence to the market’. We call this ‘destroying the fabric of society’.
Believe a better world is possible and don't be afraid to dream
Date: Thu, 2015-10-15 17:08
Believe a better world is possible. Don't be afraid to dream. We all know this isn't good enough. How could it be? Are we not destined for so much more? Have we not seen glimpses of what we are truly capable of? This could be paradise. It really could be.
Margaret Thatcher, former UK prime minister, was fond of bragging that 'There Is No Alternative!'. Settle in you plebs, there is no way out, this is it. Capitalism is the only way - and not only capitalism, but capitalism in its most feral neoliberal form.
And not only that but state domination, and the assault on our persons by an arsenal of tyrannies: sexism, racism, queerphobia, ableism, and more.
Travellers’ struggles are our struggles too: decent housing for all!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-13 13:59
Last weekend, ten people died in a fire at a halting site in South Dublin. Thomas Connors, Sylvia Connors, Willie Lynch, Tara Gilbert, and Jimmy Lynch and five children lost lives. Their deaths are a tragedy, and we mourn their loss. But we are also angry. Because we know the loss of their lives was not the outcome of chance or blind fate. Our society, its laws and its institutions are designed to marginalise, to penalise and to discriminate against Travellers. So long as we accept these forms of oppression and exploitation, tragedy will follow tragedy.At the unofficial border crossing between Serbia and Croatia
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 13:40
A few kilometres away from the small Serbian border town of Sid, a dirt track through corn and turnip fields serves as passage to tens of thousands of women, men and children seeking refuge and lives of more possibility.
The unofficial border crossing between Serbia and Croatia is surrounded by sun-lit verdant fields, apple orchards in the distance and a calm that brings temporary respite to those who have been on the road for weeks or months. The threat of militarised borders and recent memory of dehumanising conditions along the way is temporarily kept at bay as those walking stop to drink freshly pressed apple cider handed out by a local farmer, chat and rest before they continue on.
Make McNamara’s Class Pay! Against all Landlords! Squat the City!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 12:39
Bernard McNamara and his class are thieves who well deserve our scorn and derision. But if our communities want to take control of our city we must organise together.
News broke last week of how residents in a Dublin apartment complex are facing a €4 million bill to fireproof their homes. Or else they face eviction. Around 900 people live in 300 apartments in the Longboat Quay complex in Dublin's docklands, 'built' by developer Bernard McNamara in 2006. People paid between €450,000 and €750,000 for apartments there at the height of the boom. Longboat Quay also incorporated some social housing units.
6 reasons why YOU should be Pro-Choice
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:34
Here's 6 reasons why you should support the decriminalization of abortion and the pro-choice position.
Abortions rights are just one part of the struggle for full ( reproductive ) freedom
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:25
The demand for abortion rights is a shallow one if all that it means is a right to a safe and legal abortion. The demand for abortion rights must be brought into the greater battle for full reproductive freedom.
Reproductive freedom means that if someone is pregnant and does not wish to be they are supported, financially and emotionally in that decision. Likewise, if someone wishes to have a child they should not be constrained by, for example, financial issues.
People's need for housing before markets property speculators and bankers
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 14:08
People's need for housing has to be put before the considerations of the markets, the property speculators, and the bankers.
Property is once again on the rise which means this is a great time to be a landlord as you kick tenants out on the streets on some pretense, only to get in a new batch at a higher rental rate. The neo-liberal agenda has really given a free hand to the landlords to do what they wish, whilst the banks are only too happy to take homes of families who cannot meet their mortgage obligations, so that they can sell it or rent it out for quick cash.
“We want them back alive!” Dublin Solidarity with the Disappeared of Ayotzinapa, Mexico
Date: Tue, 2015-09-29 14:04
Can you imagine the state using its police force in order to create opportunities for capitalists to make money? Can you imagine natural resources not being used for the benefit of an ecologically sustainable society and instead being used purely for corporations' profit?
Over a year ago, on the night of 26 September 2014, a group of student teachers in the Mexican state of Guerrero were ambushed by municipal police as they travelled in a convoy of buses through the city of Iguala. Five people, including two students, were killed when the officers opened fire on the buses, and another student was later found dead, his body showing signs of horrific torture. Forty-three other students simply disappeared without trace [1].
Ireland's Great Wealth Divide - A critical look at the David McWilliams documentary
Date: Thu, 2015-09-24 16:37
Monday night (22/09/2015) RTE aired the misguided David McWilliams documentary "Ireland's Great Wealth Divide". It points out that the richest of the rich have far, far more than their fair share and that it's considerably worse than "we" think it is - this is demonstrated with opinion poll data (see image below) showing how Irish people would like wealth to be divided, contrasted against how "we" think it's divided and how it's actually divided. It also argues against the notion of trickle down economics, pointing out that the wealthy don't let their money trickle down and do not create jobs.
