A Kick in the Faith.

After many weeks of the Occupy Cork group sitting at the periphery of our lives I think it is time to address something. However, it is not to do with whether or not I think it is an effective form of protest or whether they are lacking in a clear outcome they are suppose to strive for. To be honest I'm still in shock that a group of our own not only are trying to make a point and educate the masses on why we are in trouble economically but also and what is more heartwarming have stuck at it. Sure they do not seam to be making a dramatic difference and are surely not disrupting our daily lives in any way but they care enough, they have some bit of passion inside of themselves that has driven them to stop and ask our so called "democratic" country and elected government, why? Why are we still bailing out and covering up for these banks? We are still spiraling into further debt and unemployment even more so than when the recession was first announced! Somebody has finally turned around and say "Hey, wait a second..." Even though they still need to make their demands clear and possibly even educate some of the people speaking on their behalf it's still something. Frankly I found it refreshing, a bit of humanity was to be to be found among-st our so called society. That we were not all just robots working without question trying to thread water and keep ourselves out of debt. (That is a very strange metaphor I know but then again these are very strange times.)

Occupy Cork

Now onto my point, while I watched in awe at these people camping by the lee thinking isn't it great  there is finally something of substance happening, a little ripple against the tide, my thoughts were interrupted by a passerby who scorned "Typical crusty's have nothing better to do. They clearly are unemployed!" and then my delusional self came crashing back to earth. Trust us Irish to try drag down such a peaceful protest, to try avoid having to get involved in a conflict by making such excuses as:" Well I'm much to busy working. Wouldn't it be grand if I had such leisure time to spend it camping by Electric!"
 Should we not all stop what we are doing and demand that our government DO their job and attempt to try fix this mess?Maybe actually have the people who are responsible for this mess pay for what they have done? Fraud is a prison worthy crime the last time I checked, maybe I just didn't read the fine print that stated only if one does not have a large wallet and friends in high places. I mean we are a democratic country are we not? So why aren't we voicing our concerns? After all the government is suppose to only be the voice of the people. Sadly the evidence is pilling up that they're only the voice of the already rich and certainly not of the young or elderly.

Enjoy some Banksy instead of graphic protest images

However, I have slightly veered off point with my rambling. It is not just about the government it is about our attitude as a nation. No one can doubt that the french certainly have ways of standing up for themselves en mass, especially the students, and while I'm in no way condoning any sort of violence they actually come together and make themselves heard. Not only do we need to find our voice once again but also find pride in ourselves. We need to stop making excuses and dodging our responsibility as citizens. I'm not saying that we should rebel by any means but really I guess what I am trying to say is that if we don't have the bravery to take a public stand and risk any financial stability of our own by taking the time to prostest against what we all have been bitching about on Joe Duffy  then we should at least applaud those who do and not use what ever stereotype "they belong to" to to discredit them.