Things You Never Want To Hear Said About Your Country

During the Euro 2012 tournament last summer, I made the mistake of rooting for Ireland. They were obliterated in the first round and never gave anyone even a hint of trouble. Leading up to the games, I found an Irish radio station on the Interweb Tubes and tuned in during my daily commute. Yesterday, just for grins, I found an Irish podcast - Today with Pat Kenny - to enjoy on the way home from work.

Pat's show was all about the Cyprus fiasco where a financial bailout of the nation was being predicated on an instant 7-10% levy on all bank deposits. The citizens were being looted without warning and the end result of the plan was a series of bank runs despite the fact that the plan was never implemented. On Pat's show, very near the beginning, we heard this immortal line:

"Technocrats from the Ministry of Finance presented the Troika with a draft plan ..."

They're all screwed. It doesn't matter what follows after that phrase, they're totally screwed.

Here, a family of proles mends clothes while listening on the radio for the latest edicts from the Troika.

The choice of words, the phrasing, the idle manner in which it was said all screamed that you were subjects, not citizens. The Technocrats were analyzing, the Troika was deciding and you were sitting, gape-mouthed and filthy, awaiting their daily decisions. One can just imagine the conversation around the family pot of gruel.

"Mum, I 'ope the Troika give us more gruel next week. We's right 'ungry every day!"

""Ere now, lad, don't go asking for more. Them Technocrats know what's best for the likes of us. We'll get what's proper, make no mistake."

Oh well. I suppose as long as we get our orgasms and weed, we'll be fine. Self-governance is overrated.