IRELAND is losing its direction, its soul and its ability to care, Sister Stanislaus Kennedy told the a.g.m. of the Soroptomists yesterday. The president of F9cus Ireland said instead of aspiring after the "things of the spirit and valuing the respect of all people, it is aspiring after the things of the world".
Our society, she said, had drifted into a pattern of constant consumption, and consumption had become a powerful dynamic, keeping us from a more holistic way of life.
Speaking to the conference in Cork, Sister Stanislaus said everyone adhered to the "trickle down theory of economic success" that the more wealth there was, the better for everyone.
"That is much the same as the theory that the rising tide lifts all boats. But those theories just don't work. The benefits of wealth at the top haven't trickled down to the poor and the unemployed. The bottom 20 per cent of households in this country have just over 5 per cent of national disposable income."
She said these theories were not only false and inadequate but "pernicious because they propose the idea that we don't need to do anything about poverty all we have to do is wait for the good effects of economic development to come the way of the poor."