„You’ll never learn, you’ll never learn. You’ve passed the point of no return.”
So, good people of Ireland – you have not learned, have you? Just 15 years down the line from your last banksters’ bailout you are heading for your next „installment”.
Short memory I guess.
Or for some reason one bailout was not enough for you. Maybe the Irish need to put both their hands into fire in order to learn it burns. „To be sure, to be sure”.
I know, I know. Like they said the last time, the fundamentals are strong, Irish banks are sound and there will be no need for a bailout.
So how do I know another bust and bailout will happen? Simple: what other possible scenario do you see? Prices and rents rising forever, just like developers, banksters and auctioneers are saying?
How can you expect a different result, if you are doing exactly the same thing over and over again?
Gambling must be almost a national trait in Ireland, because somehow you people managed to convince yourselves – just like the gamblers do – that „this time it will be completely different”.
No, it wont. You’ll end up broke and miserable again.
How letting housing crisis to spin out of control again can lead to something different than speculation, property bubble and subsequent bust?
So – sooner or later – there will be another bust, and another bailout. And another God knows how many billions of euro wasted on making crazy rich even richer.
Another generation’s future gambled away.
You see, my kid lives in Dublin, with a partner. They pay almost 2 grand a month for a filthy stinking moldy 1-bed apartment.
They are lucky: there is two of them. One works to pay for the flat and they live off the other salary.
This makes me really proud. My kid finished one of the best universities in Ireland.
It was not easy for immigrants’ kid, because we barely had the money to support this. We went in with some savings, came out with debts and a UCD science degree in the family.
Another immigrants’ success story.
Now I am really proud knowing that thanks to our sacrifices the rent is paid on time.
All these years of hard work to make sure some rich asshole gets even richer. And my kid will never be able to own a roof over head anyway.
This is fantastic, well done Ireland.
Is it really normal that adult people are not able to afford separate living if they are single? That they have to share a stinking flat with strangers?
Folks, this is third world standard of living. It does not matter how much you make if you have to hand this money over to your landlord. In such case you are a slave.
You are even worse than that, because if a slave died, this would be a loss to the master. If you die – not a biggie. There is a queue of tenants outside.
We’ll make another casting an carefully pick our slaves.
This is what you offer your young people. Rental slavery forever. Or emigration.
I could understand if this was the first time round. In like 2006 nobody knew where this all was heading. But today? How stupid do you need to be to overlook where all this is heading?
Is this Morgan Kelly guy still around? He was right the last time, maybe it makes sense to listen to him now? Before it is too late – again?
Booing him the last time did not work out all that well, did it?
How come that after mortgaging your grand-grandchildren’s future to bail out the richest in the world (famous Anglo „bondholders” Irish taxpayer so bravely bailed out), you failed to at least solve the underlying problem?
Because if you solve the actual problem – housing crisis – there will be no speculation, no boom and bust economy. I know, weird idea.
How come that after taking on banksters’ gambling debts all you did is to position yourself to take on even more, once again?
Are you Irish that crazy?
In this blog I use Ireland’s property bubble as historical example and compare it to situation in Poland. Recently Poland is heading for our first in history banking bailout at the moment.
Of course – like always before any bailout – the fundamentals are strong and our banks are sound. Until that unfortunate day when all of the sudden they are not.
I write these words out of helpless rage as a parent seeing my kid’s life scarificed yet again to feed the banksters and landlords.
You see I was born in a communist state, there has never been salvation for me anyway. I was written off the day I was born.
Coming to Ireland was my last hope, my last idea before jumping off the bridge. I was hoping for a better life – if not for myself, then at least for my child.
Today I am unable to afford living in Ireland anymore. I would have to share a substandard apartment with strangers, in my late forties.
My smart kid will work the entire life just to pay the always rising rent. Well your children will too – but you are Irish and this is your way of life. Can’t criticize that.
But for me – a foreigner – it is not exactly the better life I was hoping my child is going to have in Ireland.
In the meantime, Ireland is bracing for another bust and another bailout – because there will be one. And then yet another generation will be sold and forced to live like animals or emigrate.
More misery, more despair, just like back in 2008. I was lucky back then, took 30% paycut and lost all my overtime, but kept my job. My less fortunate colleagues had to go.
In fact, the company I worked for never stopped being profitable. The owners used the crisis as opportunity to sack some people and squeeze more out of remaining ones.
So there were long years of keeping my head low and sheepishly doing whatever my bosses demanded from me.
Does it really have to be like this? You either have an economic crisis, or completely unaffordable housing? Is this really the only choice? Or maybe this is just the only choice those running things are giving us?
I emigrated to have a better life, but ended up paying off banksters’ debt in a far off land. Raking money from the poorest (Universal Social Charge, anyone?) to pay off banks. „Expanding the tax base” and making the poor pay their „fair share”.
All this screams „take away from those who cannot defend themselves”. Corporations and banks have friends in any government. For you and me there is just the taxman knowing about every penny you made.
So my kid is now working to make the same people even richer and more prosperous.
Ironic, isn’t it?
I am not going to go through this again. Once was enough for me to learn. We Polish check if the fire burns using one hand only.
I know where all this is heading and what awaits at the end. Been there, done that, have a t-shirt. A sweaty one I wore doing my unpaid overtime.
I am an experienced immigrant, so in my final years in Ireland I started learning another language. There are still places where you can make decent living without giving all you earn to landlords.
There are countries that – unlike Ireland – are not entirely owned by banksters and their political friends (I heard Fianna Fáil „boys” are back in their jobs, another coincidence I guess). Countries that take ordinary people and their needs into account.
And you know, they do have thing called summer too.
Anyway, let me finish by saying, that it is madness to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
So don’t be surprised when you get yours – again.