Wealthy will use ‘control over the media’ to turn population against left-wing government, says PBP

Wealthy people will “use their control over the media to turn a population against a left Government”, according to People Before Profit (PBP).

The party has written to Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and some independents with the goal of opening a conversation on the formation of a left-wing Government after the next general election.

PBP has also published a pamphlet entitled “The case for a left government – getting rid of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael”.

The publication says Ireland has been run by these two parties for a century and, among a series of criticisms, blames them for the housing crisis, the scale of hospital waiting lists and the high cost of childcare.

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The paper says: “Real change means booting Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out of office”.

A section of the publication asking if a left Government can succeed alleges that “control over the media” is among weapons that the rich can deploy.

People Before Profit add: “Even the prospect of a Sinn Féin-led government has led to a barrage of propaganda from the Irish Independent, The Irish Times and Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) against the party.”

The party adds: “It will not even stop there.

“We know from other countries that as capitalism decays, the wealthy will use far-right and fascist gangs who use a spurious radical rhetoric to divert anger on to social scapegoats such as migrants, gay, or trans people.”

It says: “In the very final analysis, they will deploy the police and the army to move against elected left-wing governments, as they did in Chile when the first self-proclaimed Marxist president, Salvador Allende, was elected.”

The pamphlet also raises concerns about one of the parties it wants to talk to about a left-wing coalition arguing that there is a “contradiction at the heart of Sinn Féin”.

People Before Profit say: “It is popular because it represents a viable alternative to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rule and talks repeatedly about workers ... yet the party does not want to frighten the rich”.

The pamphlet says there is a need for a real left-wing government that is “willing to uproot the privileges the wealthy have enjoyed”.

It suggests a range of policies it could adopt including ending the reliance of the private sector in housing, establishing a National Health Service and increasing the minimum wage to €15-per-hour.

Another policy could seeking to end partition with a left-wing government declaring it wanted a “constituent assembly to found a socialist united Ireland”.