The freedom to make the wrong decision
The indications are that the Irish economy is picking up and we are on the road to recovery. Employment growth is strong and tax receipts are up. So maybe the timing of my return is good.
So why am I not jumping with joy? Well for a start I tend to take economic predictions and statistics with a grain of salt. The figures rarely give the full picture and are usually meaningless when it comes to drawing any conclusions about root causes and future potential. Case in point, nobody has really made a convincing analysis of why the Celtic tiger boomed, then slowed down, and now appears to be recovering. These things just happen.
But beyond the simple economic statistics something deeper and more profund is stirred within me. Growing up in the tough times of the eighties, I always felt that Ireland could be a great place if only we got a break. We had so much potential that was smothered because we couldn’t grab on to the bottom rung of the ladder. After all, look how well we do when we emigrate to other countries. There’s no stopping us.
Well we got the break in the late nineties and it made damn all difference. Well, that’s not exactly true. There was a difference. When I look back to my parents’ generation I see how limited they were in their choices. For many of them emigration was the only choice. In contrast, my generation saunter around the world, taking ‘a year out’ to travel to Europe, South East Asia, and Australia. They can go wherever they choose.
And that’s the difference. Money buys you choice. It does not solve all your problems but it gives you the means to - if you choose. It seems to me in Ireland today we are not making good choices. Rather then using our new-found wealth to solve problems and build a better place to live we are using it to cope better with the problems we already have. We seek refuge and comfort in short term fixes but seem incapable of a larger vision. Our wages have increased but we still struggle to control our lives with the pressures of house prices, childcare, depression, alcoholism, social disconnection, and more, all pushing in on us. We meekly bow down and accept that ‘that’s the way it is’.
Maybe it’s due to the generation gap. We have an impossibly young population who have wilfully disenfranchised themselves from the political process and left it in the hands of the minority older generation. The older generation, many who lived through the worst of times, cannot believe how good things are relative to their time. They cannot see what the problems are and why we should strive for something different.
But we have to strive for something different, something better. I no more chose to live in affluent times than my parents’ generation chose to live in frugal times. These circumstances were bestowed up on us by chance. It is what we make of them that matters.
Are we making the most of our circumstances? Are we making the right choices?
Mark Waters marked time at 10:05 pm on June 17th, 2004 .
