Edo: Sorry for being such a bolshie so and so!( in vino veritas!)

Ok - whether yis like it or not!

Im back,back! back!

Apologies to Cookie M, and the rest of ye guys for the outbreak of hostilities last week - I was having a bad one - full stop!

Anyway - after getting a lot of shite off my chest tonight with a few fellow politicos and much much more qualified and able friends, acquaintances and general leeches when it comes to rounds in pubs - Im feeling a lot better now and more attuned with the rest of humanity in general( I gave my kebab and bus money to a particularly stressed looking young irish lady with child on Dame street - it was convincing enough for me and I walked home which IMO was a win/win situation for everyone) - this "going bust" shite as regards my employment is doing me head in - if we (me company) were a horse - ye would have shot us in the head by now out of mercy and sympathy - I dont know why I keep doing this stuff - Its my third redundancy from a start-up company that failed to make it- I seem to love a challenge (Yeah yis can throw Fine Gael in that column too!) - sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't and in the end its been a great education and either I will go for the same shit again or start my own gig - I know in my bones it will be the private sector again - despite the temptations and obvious attractions of the public sector (which Im well qualified for - have turned down the Panel twice) - I will either be working in another start-up or for myself this time next year - guaranteed - according to the balance sheet (I've been promoted to Financial officer along with everything else - the boys above me have already walked or being made redundant for being too expensive - no mercy for Financial people in this joint!) - I will be free within 2 weeks bar a massive infusion of capital -which in a world where Venture Capitalists are liquidating their stakes in Google to pay the Chauffeur - looks unlikely at the moment!

Anyway - I guess I've felt in the last while that this joint has turned into "Lefty" nation as opposed to Machine Nation - Well in fairness ,given the shenanigans in the World Stock markets, banking sector , etc etc etc - I can understand the gleefulness of that sector of society - they've had feck all to cheer about since Yuri Gagarin when it comes to all round humanity "Firsts" - but sometimes I do feel here that as a member of the mainstream of Irish Society - I feel like a total nut on this website -as a former treasurer and activist of the UCD Communist Party (1989-1992) I can understand and sympathise with many of the views - even Aragon and Hermes who I totally respect for their opinions and the eloquence and ability with which they propound their views - I still know that in 5 years time we will still be living in a capitalist world and my mission from where Im standing now will either be self preservation and or to be in a position to influence the ways,means and directions of that world - it hopefully will be a very different world to the one we live in now - but TBH - I know,as I have propounded here until Im blue in the face or worse - it will take serious engagement in that world to actually make a difference - as much respect as I have for the internet and sites like this - in many cases you are talking to fellow believers or that least fellow understanders - but unless you can convert and convince your physical neighbours - you'll still be on sites like this wishing what could have been???

Thanks for listening folks as always - I truly mean it - Cookie Im sorry - I was at the end of my tether on something else and it didnt take much for me to see red - and nothing ,absolutely nothing pisses me off more than apathy and cynicism and giving out while doing F.all about changing anything - I will take a wager that most of us here are in our 20s 30s(me) and 40's - this is our time ladies and gents - this is our time - we'll never have it again -with what has happened over the last year and what will happen in the next 2 years or so - there is a serious opportunity to change things - everything is up for grabs - this time is truly a serious fork in the road in the history of Humanity, let alone petty bullshit like nationalities, religion and 20th century political ideologies - the challenges we face are monumental and the true judges will be our children,grand children and great grand children - and they will be very cruel judges if the world we leave them and the way we went about things are as bad as they would appear to be today - get involved - as much as I like the Web - it still doesnt beat serious activism and example on the ground - and like all battles -its on the ground where it will be decided.

Think that "little you" are too small to matter - I've got 2 words for you - Sarah Palin!

OK - This Diageo sponsored vomit of the English Language is over - be good - dont panic - Take Jesus- Take Marx- Take Hope - but buy Shell, Hewlett Packard, Intel and Rio Tinto - all going for a fuckin Song at the mo - but all seriously profitable companies and will be in the future.

Im gone - see yis when I have a nice cup of camomile and honey beside the laptop.

Edo

Cheers Edo. We all have bad days, and there are plenty of those going around at the moment. Very good to have you back and particularly with that post.

"It will take serious engagement in that world to actually make a difference" -yes. The internet can't be a hiding place. Who would have predicted a year ago that the "moaners" on the Pin would be organising an active political campaign? I agree that the next five years are crucial. "Get involved" is right.

cactus flower wrote:

Cheers Edo. We all have bad days, and there are plenty of those going around at the moment. Very good to have you back and particularly with that post.

"It will take serious engagement in that world to actually make a difference" -yes. The internet can't be a hiding place. Who would have predicted a year ago that the "moaners" on the Pin would be organising an active political campaign? I agree that the next five years are crucial. "Get involved" is right.

My sentiments exactly except for the "having you back" bit. Have you not read the Charter yet? Anyone who insults another member will be put into stocks and bonds and rotten commodities will be thrown at the them from the dripping aisles of the Sibín Reoite where they will remain yea! even until the Sibin Reoite reaches the fortieth page of its existence. A fete worse than debt I can insure you.

I'm unemployed too and don't really have an idea what to do now at present - I've worked in the private sector and public sector and something in between I think and I wouldn't be employed for want of heart but my heart just isn't in pursuing work seriously at the minute. It looks like a bit of bad luck with the clampdown on surplus teachers now which I feel is a big mistake - in our little corner and in the wider world if it's the case there too.

Big changes should be on the horizon and there's plenty that folks on the internet can do. The reason we are here is to decide to decide what to do... which is very important, cannot be overlooked and takes time. As cactus said you wouldn't think butter would have melted in the mouth of the Pin a while back but now they are organising seriously... What if a bunch of other forums did something like that? Could anything be demanded? Could something be organised and done in an organised and concerted way?

I don't think we are left or right here - there are elements of both and whether there are or not it's important to try to keep both in mind when formulating a manifesto which forums perhaps should do. If you're fighting for something then it's important to know what it is you're fighting for... this is where we are near now; soon it will be time to decide.

I've not been around much lately, so I've not see where you unloaded on Cookie. But I'd hate to see you leave. I don't agree with everything you've said, that I've read, but it's way more interesting than talking to myself. When we stop trying to communicate, we draw lines and move to extremities. When I look at extremists I don't see left or right - politics and philosophy have left the building. Dermot Lacey, the former mayor of Dublin has described me as being "far left" and "hard left," on the odd occasion or three (I say this in the interest of being transparent) and I've often thought to myself that if I were so hardline, I'd not be running around, saying what it is I've got to say, or indeed talking at all.

Truth is (for me), personality tempers politics and can build bridges where ideolologies tend to distance folks. I've come to know and like many right wingers despite their beliefs and practices. The politics of inclusion will always trump the politics of exclusion in my view. We don't need to build walls.

I've met many interesting people through the internet and count some of them to be very close friends. Then again, I've been on the internet quite some time (since my early 20's - at the end of this year I'll be in me 40's). I'm by nature a disagreeable chap, and would disagree with most folks about most things to some degree. I'd be alone in the world if I were only looking to deal with another me. So keep talking. I'm not looking to steal the food off your plate (not all of it anyway - maybe a chip or two ).

Good luck with the finances. That mitigates against having a bad day and sharing it with others, the table will still be in the same place tomorrow. So sit and make with the talk.

Hermes wrote:

I've met many interesting people through the internet and count some of them to be very close friends. Then again, I've been on the internet quite some time (since my early 20's - at the end of this year I'll be in me 40's). I'm by nature a disagreeable chap, and would disagree with most folks about most things to some degree. I'd be alone in the world if I were only looking to deal with another me. So keep talking. I'm not looking to steal the food off your plate (not all of it anyway - maybe a chip or two ).

Good luck with the finances. That mitigates against having a bad day and sharing it with others, the table will still be in the same place tomorrow. So sit and make with the talk.

Jaysus, you could be describing me. Now I'm off for a damn good rant on another thread against the right wing.

Keep up the good work Edo. Many people don't realise how much a modicum of luck is required for a start-up to get off the ground. Just remember us poor plebs when you make it big.

rockyracoon wrote:

Hermes wrote:

I'm by nature a disagreeable chap, and would disagree with most folks about most things to some degree

Jaysus, you could be describing me.

And me possibly !

Quote :

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man."

--George Bernard Shaw quotes

( I'm sure he meant unreasonable wimmin too )

Quote :

I still know that in 5 years time we will still be living in a capitalist world and my mission from where Im standing now will either be self preservation and or to be in a position to influence the ways,means and directions of that world - it hopefully will be a very different world to the one we live in now - but TBH - I know,as I have propounded here until Im blue in the face or worse - it will take serious engagement in that world to actually make a difference - as much respect as I have for the internet and sites like this - in many cases you are talking to fellow believers or that least fellow understanders - but unless you can convert and convince your physical neighbours - you'll still be on sites like this wishing what could have been???

Thanks for listening folks as always - I truly mean it - Cookie Im sorry - I was at the end of my tether on something else and it didnt take much for me to see red - and nothing ,absolutely nothing pisses me off more than apathy and cynicism and giving out while doing F.all about changing anything - I will take a wager that most of us here are in our 20s 30s(me) and 40's - this is our time ladies and gents - this is our time - we'll never have it again -with what has happened over the last year and what will happen in the next 2 years or so - there is a serious opportunity to change things - everything is up for grabs - this time is truly a serious fork in the road in the history of Humanity, let alone petty bullshit like nationalities, religion and 20th century political ideologies - the challenges we face are monumental and the true judges will be our children,grand children and great grand children - and they will be very cruel judges if the world we leave them and the way we went about things are as bad as they would appear to be today - get involved - as much as I like the Web - it still doesnt beat serious activism and example on the ground - and like all battles -its on the ground where it will be decided.

Glad you're back, Edo.

Praise the Lord! A fair and fine citizen returns! I heartily endorse the sentiments expressed in your post and look forward to your future contributions here on the Machine Nation.

Hey Edo - nice post. The exchange of ideas is the thing, I suppose? Anyway, put yer dukes and we'll have another set-to, shall we?

Edo wrote:

Thanks for listening folks as always - I truly mean it - Cookie Im sorry - I was at the end of my tether on something else and it didnt take much for me to see red - and nothing ,absolutely nothing pisses me off more than apathy and cynicism and giving out while doing F.all about changing anything - I will take a wager that most of us here are in our 20s 30s(me) and 40's - this is our time ladies and gents - this is our time - we'll never have it again -with what has happened over the last year and what will happen in the next 2 years or so - there is a serious opportunity to change things - everything is up for grabs - this time is truly a serious fork in the road in the history of Humanity,

The time is now indeed. If your unemployed you have a certain freedom or opportunity to think out a long term strategy depending on your goal.

What is your ultimate goal? Is it to be rich or is it to enter politics as a career politician? Or could it be to write a book, to invent something, to build a world class company, to establish a direct democracy, to convert the creationists to Darwinism, to make a film, to have a son who is good at football, or a daughter who is a famous actress? Those questions, by the way are for everyone as well as myself.

Of course if you are unemployed, then according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs you wont be worrying about higher philosophical matters, but mainly about getting and keeping a job that will keep you and your family.

I'd love to work to a long term strategy to change the world, but I have lots of compromises. Perhaps one day. Hopefully not when its too late.