At times during the general election it appeared as if we were merely an economy
IN OUR house, the results are already in, if only for our own election. Our four kids are home educated, so they decided to learn how the system works by holding a mock election.
They chose 18 candidates who are nationally known. There were three from each of the major parties, and three independents, one left, one right, and one special interest. The leaders all featured. There had to be at least one woman from each major party. Sometimes there were two candidates from one constituency, but there was an attempt to choose candidates from around the country.
They sent out over 150 ballots to friends in Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Meath, Wicklow and Waterford. Anyone in the household could vote. Stamped envelopes were provided for returning the ballots, as were envelopes to seal the votes.
There was an 87 per cent turnout and the quota was 23 votes. (The imaginary constituency was a five seater.) There were two spoiled votes, and four that were accepted after debate. To say that some of the transfer patterns were eccentric is to put it mildly.
Michael Healy Rae, the special interest Independent (well, Kerry South is a special interest) only polled first preferences. Eamon Gilmore did badly, as did Micheál Martin. Eamon Ryan topped the poll, followed by Shane Ross, Joan Burton, Enda Kenny and Gerry Adams.
To heck with any resemblances to reality. The count itself was fascinating for the kids, as they debated the finer points of PR-STV (single transferable vote). They even practised tallying. In short, their election was fun, unlike the real one. The grim reality is no matter who gets into government, in whatever combination, the challenges are enormous. Yet despite the restrictions imposed by the ECB and IMF, there are still choices relating to cuts, taxes and national priorities.
At times during the election it appeared as if we were merely an economy. The Irish Catholic bishops certainly identify an overemphasis on economic matters to the detriment of concern for the common good as one of the reasons for our current predicament, in their recent letter called From Crisis to Hope.
Unsurprisingly, the blogging commentariat immediately queried the right of the bishops to say anything at all, even though the letter acknowledges the breakdown in trust in institutions is mirrored by a lack of trust in the Catholic Church. Perhaps the moving Liturgy of Lament and Repentance in the Dublin archdiocese for victims of clerical abuse will go a small way to restoring trust. However, some survivors were not happy. Moreover, the crisis in the church is deep indeed, and is not just about the mismanagement of clerical sexual abuse of children.
Nonetheless, there are interesting aspects to the letter, including an analysis of what it calls “bonus culture”. It says our culture combines confidence in the self-sufficiency of the individual with the idea you can measure the worth of anything by the degree of monetary reward.
The bishops suggest we have lost the idea of a “gift culture”, an awareness that “health, personality, physical and intellectual endowments” and much more are “all received as gift”. The false notion of self-sufficiency leads to a radical individualism that undermines community. It suggests “that the tragic vista of suicide among young people reminds us that a sense of belonging is essential to personal as well as societal well-being”.
While in general it steers clear of prescription, one of the authors, Dr Eoin Cassidy, was very critical at the launch of the letter of the decision to cut the minimum wage. He says it is essential society works to achieve the common good, through understanding “the essential elements of a political equation: economic efficiency, individual freedom, protection of the environment and social justice”.
The letter also reiterates the important place of traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and respect for life from conception to natural death. None of this would have raised an eyebrow 15 years ago, but witness the bile unleashed on Lucinda Creighton when she declared she was not in favour of gay marriage.
Despite the fact Creighton fully supported the Civil Partnership Bill, she has been subjected to vile abuse on her Facebook page. The response will shock many, and may have the opposite effect to what was intended. While Dublin South East is allegedly a liberal constituency, what has happened to Creighton is hardly liberal.
The incoming government is unlikely to spend too much time poring over From Crisis To Hope. Yet its key tenets remain valuable guidelines. We live in a society where individual freedom has become a sacred cow. Yet individual freedom is meaningless without an equal emphasis on the common good, because no society can survive without a strong sense of solidarity.
The most difficult situations arise when there is a clash of rights, such as the right to recognition of relationships versus the right of a child to be reared where possible by her own mother and father. Without a coherent vision of society that prioritises the most vulnerable, such clashes will be impossible to resolve. My kids could just clear away the ballots after an enjoyable and creative exercise. Unfortunately, what comes after the real election is a lot more challenging.