Presidential Election Vote

[Tubberman]

So slagging off travellers takes you from 1% to 20%, who knew?

Clearly Peter Caseys advisers did! People are afraid to say what they think anymore.

Like all communities there is a disenfranchised middle.

The ones who earn, who pay for everything and are entitled to nothing.

This leaves an easy target of people who are the polar opposite of the above.

True enough. There is a silent cohort who are fed up seeing so much of their income taken in tax and spent on others who are a drain on society and the economy.

As Trump might say.

He probably would. And he's a horrible person so anyone who shares an opinion with him is shouted down by the twitterati and media as a racist/bigot etc
So people are afraid to give their honest opinion in public lest they be branded. They give their opinion at the ballot and  cue the outrage from the righteous.

[Tubberman]

True enough, white collar crime costs the country far more but that's fair enough because they pay some tax and employ people.

Of course if travellers had the same opportunities in life maybe they'd do the same but nobody wants to have that conversation. Casey is a disgrace and it's deoressing the vote he received.

Casey was a chancer at best, and would have been a disaster as a president, thank god Michael D won it.
But what opportunities are the travellers denied? They largely deny themselves.

[Rossfan]

Oldest neo fascist trick in the book - pick on some minority that most people don't like, bash them unmercifully. .....
Like Hitler,  like Trump. ....
It is depressing that vile **** got 20% of the ( low turn out) vote.
Are we on the way to following the US and the English/Welsh into neo fascist bash a minority populism?

[Hardy]

Oldest neo fascist trick in the book - pick on some minority that most people don't like, bash them unmercifully. .....
Like Hitler,  like Trump. ....
It is depressing that vile **** got 20% of the ( low turn out) vote.
Are we on the way to following the US and the English/Welsh into neo fascist bash a minority populism?

Yes

[Esmarelda]

Would you employ a traveller? If you're a traveller and you're brought up by you traveller parents who have been unemployed your whole life and have no value on education, do you expect your life to be much different?

Of course you can answer that the traveller kid can access as much as any other kid but in reality this isn't the case. Society as a whole needs to help change the status quo but we're a million miles away from it as very few give two shites about the issue.

[Syferus]

Would you employ a traveller? If you're a traveller and you're brought up by you traveller parents who have been unemployed your whole life and have no value on education, do you expect your life to be much different?

Of course you can answer that the traveller kid can access as much as any other kid but in reality this isn't the case. Society as a whole needs to help change the status quo but we're a million miles away from it as very few give two shites about the issue.

Why group everyone with a single brush? There's a whole lot of travellers who have problems both of their own design and because of society but how could anyone answer "would you employ a traveller?"? It entirely depends on the person, not their background. Anyone who says otherwise is being racist whether they realise it or not.

[Esmarelda]

You misunderstand me (I think). I was replying to Tubbermsns post above.

[Rossfan]

With Ní Riada only getting 7.4% I wonder do the Shinners regret running a candidate?
or
Has their support tanked?
or
Is Marylou as leader a disaster?

[macdanger2]

The idea that it's the poor that are the problem is so completely juvenile and insidious.

Odd as it may seem but syf is 100% on the money here

[macdanger2]

Oldest neo fascist trick in the book - pick on some minority that most people don't like, bash them unmercifully. .....
Like Hitler,  like Trump. ....
It is depressing that vile **** got 20% of the ( low turn out) vote.
Are we on the way to following the US and the English/Welsh into neo fascist bash a minority populism?

Completely depressing that he went from 1% to 20% by slagging off a minority. I used to think we were better than the brits with ukip, France with le pen, Germany with whatever, us with trump,etc. We never had a group who only targeted minorities. That won't last much longer I reckon

[Syferus]

So slagging off travellers takes you from 1% to 20%, who knew?

Clearly Peter Caseys advisers did! People are afraid to say what they think anymore.

Like all communities there is a disenfranchised middle.

The ones who earn, who pay for everything and are entitled to nothing.

This leaves an easy target of people who are the polar opposite of the above.

True enough. There is a silent cohort who are fed up seeing so much of their income taken in tax and spent on others who are a drain on society and the economy.

As Trump might say.

He probably would. And he's a horrible person so anyone who shares an opinion with him is shouted down by the twitterati and media as a racist/bigot etc
So people are afraid to give their honest opinion in public lest they be branded. They give their opinion at the ballot and  cue the outrage from the righteous.

You're labouring under the assumption this opinion shouldn't be ridiculed or a reason to brand someone.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism. It really is amazing how the people who express the most repugnant ideas are also the most precious. It's almost as if on some base instinctual level they know they're creating reasons to fit their pre-existing prejudices.

[seafoid]

People generally are not good at numbers. Travellers and lesbians and people in the North for example pay less tax overall than Herald readers. And they are different. And this can be emphasised  according to the need. But the big life defining f**k ups that hurt the people are never caused by people who are different. There is usually someone from Gonzaga involved.

If there had been 2 travellers in the Cabinet in September 2008 when the Government met the banks there would have been no guarantee. Travellers are very wary of settled people's groupthink.
AIB is very respectable but it blows up every 30 years or so. This is taken for granted. Nothing to see here folks.

Gay Byrne and Des Cahill both lost their pensions in 2008. Nothing to do with people who are different. 

[armaghniac]

The existence of crooks in the cabinet is no reason to tolerate other people sponging off the system. It is like saying that because there are murderers that you needn't worry about burglaries. Both are wrong.

[Syferus]

People generally are not good at numbers. Travellers and lesbians and people in the North for example pay less tax overall than Herald readers. And they are different. And this can be emphasised  according to the need. But the big life defining f**k ups that hurt the people are never caused by people who are different. There is usually someone from Gonzaga involved.

If there had been 2 travellers in the Cabinet in September 2008 when the Government met the banks there would have been no guarantee. Travellers are very wary of settled people's groupthink.
AIB is very respectable but it blows up every 30 years or so. This is taken for granted. Nothing to see here folks.

Gay Byrne and Des Cahill both lost their pensions in 2008. Nothing to do with people who are different.

Even when you're right you manage to say it in the stupidest way possible.

[Tubberman]

So slagging off travellers takes you from 1% to 20%, who knew?

Clearly Peter Caseys advisers did! People are afraid to say what they think anymore.

Like all communities there is a disenfranchised middle.

The ones who earn, who pay for everything and are entitled to nothing.

This leaves an easy target of people who are the polar opposite of the above.

True enough. There is a silent cohort who are fed up seeing so much of their income taken in tax and spent on others who are a drain on society and the economy.

As Trump might say.

He probably would. And he's a horrible person so anyone who shares an opinion with him is shouted down by the twitterati and media as a racist/bigot etc
So people are afraid to give their honest opinion in public lest they be branded. They give their opinion at the ballot and  cue the outrage from the righteous.

You're labouring under the assumption this opinion shouldn't be ridiculed or a reason to brand someone.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism. It really is amazing how the people who express the most repugnant ideas are also the most precious. It's almost as if on some base instinctual level they know they're creating reasons to fit their pre-existing prejudices.

i think it would be a much more beneficial exercise to ask why 20% of those who voted for Casey did so.
For many, it may have been about tbe welfare system in general, and not to do with the traveller community specifically.
But for many, it probably was about travellers. Again, why is that? It's quick and easy to say they're racist. But why does that seemingly apply only to travellers? There doesnt seem to be such a view against the Polish community for example.
So lets be honest and admit the problems that exist between the 'settled' and traveller communities and not just brand people racist when these problems are shown to exercise many people.