Being raised in Ireland, especially during the Troubles, you become highly sensitized to injustice. We were a family of 8 children, 5 boys and 3 girls, living in impoverished conditions. Our situation wasn’t unique.
It was common among large Catholic families in Derry. With high unemployment, men were seen walking the dogs, while the women worked in the shirt factories. From the moment you could write your name, you knew what you were. You were a ‘taig’, a Protestant derogatory name for Catholics.
The Protestant majority held influence in matters of employment, housing, and politics. You learn a lot of lessons fast when you’re being victimized by a system that’s stacked against you. Opportunities for success are limited. If you want to succeed, you need to find another place where your religion isn’t a reason to be penalized.
When my brothers got involved with the IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party), I wasn’t very sympathetic. Unlike their extremism, I was probably more a liberal SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) sort of person.
We wanted the same things, but our methods for achieving them differed. I still believed in the democratic process, even though it rarely worked in our favour, especially when gerrymandering is at work.
My brothers, however, believed in the armed struggle. Throughout those difficult times, we were acutely aware that the struggle for equality was universal.
The Black Civil Rights Movement in the late 60s was inspirational. Our sympathy also lay with the South African blacks bearing the brutality of apartheid.
The common struggle for justice was mirrored throughout Europe as Eastern Bloc countries sought liberation from their Russian oppressors. We felt a sense of solidarity with those who suffered as the hands of their colonial masters. Much has changed since those days. Northern Ireland is a much different place.
Equitable Ireland
The balance of power has tilted to becoming more equitable. Catholics have better jobs, housing, and politically, they are in a stronger position. We’ve seen profound changes across the world.
South Africa has managed to transfer power to the black community without reprisals. Through dialogue, they have achieved a more just society. Many Eastern Bloc countries have been liberated.
All of these developments should be a cause for celebration, but somehow, the world is more segregated than it was. At one point in U.S. history, being a migrant was a good thing. People were drawn to this country in the hope of finding the American dream, the dream that led them to believe anything was possible.
America is a land of migrants. It once believed in the ideals of a Republic; freedom of religion, equality, and justice. The changes I’ve seen in this country since I arrived in 2004 have me worried. The ugly face of racism now goes unchallenged. White supremacy is venerated, as shown in offering white Afrikaners safe refuge.
A president, who is also a convicted criminal, cares little about suffering or injustice. He is a businessman whose only concern is lining his own pockets. His overt salesmanship of flogging bibles, Tesla’s, and whatever else can be sold is lauded by his own party as something to be proud of. His fraternization with Russia is almost laughable if only it weren’t so seriously misguided.
TACO
His incompetency is mocked by the more informed media, referring to him as TACO (Trump always chickens out). His bully tactics in the marketplace are self-serving.
He doesn’t care about Ukraine or Gaza. Money is his god, and those who have money are his prophets, as shown in his deference to Musk.
I was quite disgusted during the election when the price of eggs became such a determining factor in the outcome. While I realise that the economy is of vital importance and people don’t want to find themselves in hardship, it is telling when that phrase symbolises the primary concern for voters. It makes no difference if he’s morally corrupt so long as he keeps the price of eggs down.
It made me question the moral values of a country that considers itself a first-world country. If we only care about ourselves, these are not the same values of this nation’s founders.
They understood what it meant to be persecuted for your beliefs. They envisioned a fair and equitable system of government.
But when a society heralds the price of eggs as the standard for good leadership, it dooms itself to repeating the words of Cain. When God asks him the whereabouts of his brother, his response is, ‘am I my brother’s keeper?’
The Price of Eggs There’s a man in the White House, and, he’s worried about the price of eggs. People disappear, removed because they are of no value. Children die in Gaza, others are separated from families, but they’re nothing compared to the price of eggs. I read the news and wonder, am I alone? Who else sees what’s happening? Death, hardship, and suffering bleed before the cruel face of tyranny. Hearts of innocent ones count for nothing compared to the price of eggs. There’s a new king on the block straight out of the apocalypse. He’s in the marketplace, throwing his weight around. He’s taken justice off the shelves, Mercy is in short supply due to tariffs, and kindness is past its sell by date but still, he worries about the price of eggs.
