It might seem like I get side tracked all the time here. I get to write about various things which may or may not appear to be drink or sobriety related. I waffle on about my opinions on life and liberty. I try to get to the root of what drives us Irish, us people and indeed what causes us to remain so still, as is often the case.
I think that the world is very complicated but could be so simple. I don’t think we live in a free society and I think that alcohol is used as a tool to control people. I know that in Ireland a vast sum of people drink without thinking.
There are swarms of numb drones vaguely existing who never question. This is not their fault. They are born into a system which gives them all the answers. The deep beliefs which they accept in their day to day lives may seem like common sense, or normality, yet….
This is where it gets tricky for me here.
Confronting people with extreme opinions is a challenge. Especially in the male Irish world. Any kind of deviation from the norm is weird and frowned upon. Innovators, rebels and those who buck the trend face constant ridicule and begrudgery.
Wasn’t it Brendan Behan himself though, who said “Fuck the begrudgers”.
It might seem that sobriety and freedom are non-related. For me there was a shift in my mentality when I took up sobriety which caused me to analyse the deeper roots of what makes us tick as humans – and more to the point…who or what is causing the ticking.
I don’t take my personal freedom for granted. I have physical freedom right now as I am drink and drug free and travel the world. I am one of the lucky ones.
I hear stories from Europe of Governments trying to tax money in bank accounts. I hear tales from Ireland of taxes on property, taxes on water and more taxes on taxes. Here in the USA there are so many crazy taxes that to do them justice would take many moons and keyboards.
I hear of suicides, families on the streets and mass unemployment growing hour by hour.
These are days of empires building for the select while they slaughter the low and middle classes. This is happening right now, in front of our very eyes, being perpetrated by the politicians we elect into a system that swallows them up and spits them out.
There is a war going on and most people are ignorant, broken or simply do not care.
This is the age we live in.
This is the age where alcohol fuels the numbing. This is the age where drugs maintain a level of softness which defuses the anger that people should be feeling.
Maybe my mistake is mixing up my ideas here. But in truth I believe that it is all related. The masses are swayed by mass opinion and with the mass consumption of booze by Irish around the world, we extol the virtues of a “devil may care”, cajoling parody of personality, which extends into every facet of our being as a people.
What I mean by this is that if we spend our time half drunk, no one takes us seriously – LEAST OF ALL OURSELVES. We live up to our reputations as likeable rogues who won’t worry too much about the serious stuff – sure let’s have a few pints and ease our troubles.
Flann O’ Brian immortalised this sentiment in the oft recanted “Workmans Friend”
When money’s tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt –
A pint of plain is your only man.
Don’t you worry about a thing young Paddy. All the governments, the politics, the banks, the unemployment are no place for a mind like your own. Go grab a few pints and talk shite for a few hours to relieve your ailments. Nothing to see here.
It is all related for me – the lethargy, the obsequious whimpering, the numbed reactions to events across the World, Europe and The Emerald Isle.
Our country has been sold out. Sold down the fucking river and people do not seem to care. Get a six pack of Dutch Gold and dream on. Smoke some wacky and live in la la land. Sup some pints and ail your troubles. Sniff some coke and pop some pills and deal with the shit in six months time.
In six months time the machine will have taken even more of your money through taxes and inflation. The Global Unions will have taken more of your freedoms and ability to succeed.
The media won’t help you. The Premier League won’t help you. Your mindless drivel TV show that you love won’t help you. Drink and drugs won’t help you.
It is all related.
Get involved. Get thinking. Get off the drink and drugs for a few months and take some action. Get reading. Get as active as you can in this war.
This is a war, make no mistake about it.
It is time to do some fighting.
nice one lenny,
probably said it more eloquently than my rant the other day on facebook,
even monsanto has gotten a law passed in the states where no judical system has the power to question them planting untested genetically engineered crops even if they are found to be harmful to the public,
????
as you said people are too busy being attentative to some absolute drivel of a show on tv than whats happening in the real world, with real consequences,
to use the analagy again, the frog is sitting in the water as the heat gets turned up, nice and toasty not realising he’s getting boiled, happy to stay there not realising whats happening, but drop him in it and he’ll jump the fuck out…
people need to take their heads out of their asses and actually look around and see through the smokescreen of fear being peddled,
thats the oldest trick in the book, strike fear into them and you can get away with anything and they’ll do whatever you tell them to, to get out of it, would people be letting themselves and their country be raped by the government if they weren’t fearfull that the sky would fall in with the banks being up shit creek??
anyways keep up the good awareness,
and ge’up outta dat gardin you bouyo ya
peace out man…..
I did read your blurb and rant and appreciated a lot of the sentiments too man. There is very little to be done apart from constantly trying to talk about it – Keep your message as clear and simple as possible and keep the good fight going!