THE SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE
Paul Flynn,
refuseresist.net
July 21, 2009
This piece is in response to an article submitted to the Irish Times on July 20th 2009 by our former Taoiseach John Bruton. I never usually pay a large amount of attention to this sort of article because well, call me old-fashioned but I like evidence for any political claim made because politicians tend to lie on occasion don’t they? But Mr Bruton did something that nearly knocked me off my chair; he called his article “Irish Sovereignty would be maximised under Lisbon”. This is either pure ignorance that would rival a foreign student struggling with the English language or a blatant lie.
WOULD THE REAL SOVEREIGNTY PLEASE STAND UP?
Before I continue the dictionary definition of the word “sovereignty” is going to be central to many of the points made by both sides of the future debates and it is as follows:
1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state.
2. Royal rank, authority, or power.
3. Complete independence and self-government.
4. A territory existing as an independent state.
(Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sovereignty)
Now having read the definition of the term sovereignty does Mr Bruton’s headline of his article make any sense? If he was correct it would mean that the European Union would have no authority whatsoever over Ireland, giving Ireland complete control over fisheries, farming and the economy. Is this true? It isn’t even close. The Yes side keeps claiming that in Bertie Ahern’s words we will “pool our sovereignty” and we will as Bruton claims “maximise sovereignty” under Lisbon. The only sovereignty being maximised is European. You can’t have both. This is the most blatant example of Orwellian doublethink that I have seen from an Irish Politician. For those not familiar with the term “doublethink”, George Orwell’s “1984” book describes how the meaning of words are changed in order to deceive the population to accenting the form of governance dished out to the populace (and that nothing has fundamentally changed), one example is “war is peace”. According to Orwell’s novel doublethink is:
“The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them….To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary.”
YES SIDE WE’RE WAITING
In Bruton’s article it gives two reasons for a yes vote which he takes directly from a Government White Paper, which are that “as a small state Ireland values a rule-based system of international rules” and that full participation in the EU will maximise our sovereignty. Now something is missing here; it’s basic; these so-called reasons here do not have any explanation. It’s almost like you come up to your employee looking for an explanation of the figures, and to which he replies back saying “trust me with these two points; you respect the rules of others especially me to govern over your business and you now have more power by letting me run things”. The reason why I say “employee” is that politicians should work for us, and not the other way around.
The first reason is more of a statement of what this government White Paper has spewed out and has served to you like it is caviar. If this statement is true we would have to like outside rule. Anyone remember the British Empire? If you like the idea of outside rule then this is for you because that is what “international rules” means. I don’t personally because historically it always leads to tyranny, oppression, war and social unrest.
The second reason is a lie unless by “our” they mean European sovereignty. Again back to the definition; does handing more power of administration to Europe increase Irish supremacy of authority, Irish rank or power, Irish independence, or Ireland existing as an independent state? It instead increases European supremacy of authority, European power, European Independence and the EU officially becomes a federal state for the first time. Call it whatever you want in any warped universe but it is not Irish Sovereignty. Let’s be adults about this Mr. Bruton and call this what it really is: European Sovereignty.
ALONG CAME A GLOBALIST
I also love the next point the man moves onto:
“In the 21st century, no nation is an island”
It brings up the whole point that reverberates around the media like an out of tune parrot that no country can survive without the big guns. This is where a globalist such as Mr. Bruton comes in with his solutions of solving the problems caused by globalisation (outsourcing of jobs to slave labour countries, interdependence and suppression of nation states), with more globalism and global regulation that benefit large companies and stifle small businesses . It’s like all their global panics and crises must lead to some sort of “rule-based system of international relations”. According to Mr. Bruton even the United States can’t escape the inevitable web of “rule-based system of international relations”. Here he is referring to the North American Union that the US has become entangled in even though at least 90% of the American population wants nothing to do with it. It’s like they (the globalists / elite) are enjoying this world crisis and that it is a huge opportunity to further monopolise power; power they have already abused.
Before I continue I must state that I am a capitalist. I am for trading with neighbouring countries and strengthening ties between countries but not at the expense of the people of that country. Put basically I am against a country’s taxes used to prop up bad businesses that ultimately end up outsourcing jobs. That’s what happens when a country loses control of its borders, it loses jobs and not to immigrants (because they usually help the economy; at least at the start) but to other countries with lower wages. The business has no reason to manufacture in that country if there are no tariffs or extremely low tariffs for goods from other countries. I am for co-operation between countries but not to the extent that they depend completely on other entities (countries or organisations) for their survival as a nation.
GRAINS OF TRUTH
He doesn’t completely mangle the truth throughout this piece as he admits how he was part of the convention that drafted the Constitutional Treaty. He also admits that this (the EU Constitution) provides “most of the content of the present Lisbon Treaty”. So this is the same treaty as the Dutch and the French said “No” to. You would think after three “No” results the authors of this horrific piece would get the message but alas they are again pathologically incapable of hearing the people. His loyalty is to Europe and we must realise this.
The whole article continues in a style that if this was a college paper the student would really have to consider his future. What I mean by this is that there are no reasons developed or scenarios discussed of examples in everyday life of how this will help you. Because even if you do not care about the rest of Europe and the fate they have no say over, please at least realise what this Treaty will mean for you.
CONCLUSION
Generally I overlook the yes side arguments because quite literally they never borrow from logic. Well at least not the logic that we subscribe to. You know the simple things we need like how much will electricity cost and will I be able to afford my family’s mortgage payments? No they think the general public are all in knots over can we influence world decisions. Wait a minute isn’t that the reason we want to remain neutral? Isn’t that what the word “neutral” implies, or even means, is that we don’t want to influence or take part in wars and decisions made before or after by other powers. Quite simply we mind our own business. Well the political class don’t want that. They want you to want what they want. Is it working? You’ll get a chance to answer that on October 2nd.
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