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Poverty and Morality in America

v Poverty and Morality in America Gerry O’Shea Americans are renowned as pragmatic men and women who have led the world in getting things done. They are practical people who focus less on theorizing and concentrate instead on achieving visible results. According to this narrative, Europeans strut their leadership in the areas of great art and literature, but they are behind in the world of business led by the aggressive economic strategies nurtured by Wall Street. From this philosophical perspective, nothing can be deemed true unless it is seen to work. For the pragmatist results define success in all dimensions of living. What does this approach reveal about the problem of poverty in America? How do our results in this crucial area compare to other developed countries? From this pragmatic perspective Americans are trailing all western European countries in their meagre efforts to ameliorate the situation of millions of poor people living in dire circumstances

Pope Francis' Synod

Pope Francis’ Synod Gerry OShea Every major document emanating from the Vatican has a Latin title, and the most recent one dealing with the upcoming synod, scheduled to start on October 3 rd, is named Instrumentum Laboris (IL). This is the official appellation for an important 60-page booklet containing a summary of the results of a 3-year consultative process involving Catholics throughout the world. The synod booklet asks serious questions about the mesmerizing allure of power and how that played out in the structures that evolved in the Catholic Church. For centuries the church has been a patriarchy with men making all the big decisions about its rules and dogmas. Successive popes aided by male appointees in the various departments in the Vatican and with a minor role for local bishops callrd all the shots. Until recently, everybody understood that in any controversy Rome had the final say. It is a top-heavy organization with

Child Rearing in Ireland in the 20th Century

Child Rearing in 20th Century Ireland Gerry OShea It is a truism accepted in most cultures that children thrive in a supportive family and in a community where they feel valued and encouraged. The old Irish adage “mol an oige agus tiocfaidh se” (praise young people and they will blossom) contains important wisdom from the ancient Celts. However, for most of the 20th century in Ireland, this advice in Shakespeare’s words was “more honored in the breach than in the observance.” There were two important considerations that underpinned Irish child-rearing practices throughout most of the last century. First, contraceptives were not available until late in the 1980’s mainly because of opposition by the Catholic Church, so big families were an important feature of Irish life. Think of parents in a crowded house rearing eight or ten kids and obliged to maintain order in the family. Anyone who stepped out of line would likely be slapped or otherwise physically reprimanded. According

The Need for Strong Trade Unions in America

The Need for Strong Trade Unions in America Gerry OShea In John Lennon’s fine album titled “Working Class Hero” he bemoans the betrayal of the American working class, “duped by religion, sex and TV” into believing the myth that they, above people in any other country, live in the land of the free and the home of the brave where every man and woman can join the elite. On the same theme of workers’ abandonment in England, “The Red Flag,” the idealistic anthem of the British Labour Party, invites a cynical response from some party supporters that matches Lennon’s bleak words about American capitalist culture. The working class can kiss my ass, I’ve got the foreman’s job at last. Adolph Wagner, a famous German 19 th century economist assessed the burgeoning industrial revolution underway in those years and foresaw good times ahead driven by what is now called “Wagner’s Law” which confidently predicts that when countries get richer people always get better salaries and m

Muslims in America Gerry OShea The four current Muslim members of congress are all Democrats. Last year, one of them, Ilhan Omar, unwisely engaged in antisemitic tropes while legitimately lambasting the Israeli Government for its maltreatment of Palestinians, a position with wide support among Americans concerned with human rights. Democrats immediately condemned her flirtation with antisemitism, and she quickly backed down and apologized unreservedly. Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders rightly excoriated her for her extreme views and tried to portray her opinions as typical of a far-left coterie of Democratic members of congress, without providing any evidence for that contention. Amazingly, Republican leaders have shown no outrage at their many members who openly identify with the Christian nationalist movement which, in blatant contradiction to the American constitution, would consign members of non-Christian religions to second-class status in America

The Lundy Principle in Northern Ireland

The Lundy Principle in Northern Ireland Gerry OShea In times of crisis, unionism still reverts to the Lundy principle and the predictable rhetoric it entails. In the siege of Derry in 1688 the Catholic forces of the recently deposed James 11 surrounded the largely Protestant city. Its governor, Robert Lundy, wanted to negotiate a surrender because he was convinced that they didn’t have the resources to withstand the siege. Thirteen apprentice boys bravely defied him and asserted their leadership of the dire situation. The siege lasted 105 days. Derry’s inhabitants were reduced to eating dogs “fattened on the flesh of the slain Irish”, as well as horses and rats. Fever swept through the city and multiple thousands died, but the defiant cry of no surrender empowered the protectors of the city until they were relieved by the army of the new king, William of Orange. Every year in the month of July the Orange Order, led by proud modern Apprentice Boys, celebrates tha