Skip to main content

Posts

Ireland Then and Now

  Ireland Then and Now      Gerry OShea I had a discussion with a Jewish friend recently about the continuing tendency among many people to hold on to old ethnic and racial stereotypes. He said that his family, with an obvious Jewish surname, feels that some people still view them as Shylock types defined by strategies for accumulating money. He often feels that even his friendly neighbors and co-workers are convinced that Jews dominate the banking industry and Wall Street. I responded to him on the same theme that in a recent study, representatives of Epic Museum, a Dublin-based research organization, typed “Irishman” into the most-used AI image generator. They were dismayed by all the derogatory comments that spewed out, focusing on aggressiveness, inebriation, and people preening like leprechauns. The behavior of some people at the Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year seems to confirm the stereotype. The day after the march, local Councillor Ed Flynn, reflecting on disg
Recent posts

Strongman Politics

    Strongman Politics     Gerry O’Shea Viktor Orban’s recent visit to the United States was highly irregular. As a prime minister, he avoided the usual protocol of meeting with American government leaders in Washington to discuss issues of mutual importance. Instead of talking to officials about issues like trade and tourism, Mr. Orban went to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where former president Donald Trump greeted him in effusive terms: “There’s nobody that is a better and smarter leader than Viktor Orban. He is fantastic. He is the boss .” Of course, Mr. Trump doesn’t utter such encomiums of praise without similar laudatory paeans flowing in his direction, and the Hungarian didn’t disappoint. He told a gathering of prominent conservatives meeting in Budapest, “If President Trump had been in the White House, there would be no war in Ukraine and Europe. Come back, Mr. President. Make America great again and bring us peace.” President Biden slammed his opponent in the Nov

Catholic Social Teaching

  Catholic Social Teaching       Gerry OShea The Catholic ethical teaching on ownership of material goods can be encapsulated as follows: the goods of the earth belong to all the people in the universe without distinction of place or culture. This important right is universally accrued based solely on people’s humanity. In some future idyllic world imagined by high-minded idealists and saints, this thinking may evolve into a new world order. We are talking about a utopia, the mysterious place over the high mountain seen only by mystics who believe that possessions and acquisitiveness should no longer define a person’s importance. Readers are likely to conclude that such a place is a dreamland that can never exist because one-upmanship will always reassert itself. Status, power and money will inevitably corrupt this imaginary Garden of Eden. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the brilliant philosopher and theologian who lived in the 13 th century but who remains in the front line

Ireland in the 1980s and Today

  Ireland in the 1980s and Today      Gerry OShea   Eamon Ryan, the impressive Irish Minister for the Environment, recently bemoaned some of the political and social media commentary about the country, which he asserts sometimes suggest that Ireland is some kind of a backward state. Contradicting this negative image, he pointed out areas of major progress in the recent past. According to the United Nations Human Development Index, Irish people enjoy the second-highest quality of life worldwide, and the country is ranked 12 th in the 2024 Social Progress Index. Life expectancy, currently at 82.88 in Ireland, has increased by five years in the last fourteen – in the United States, the longevity number is 79.74. Mr. Ryan went on to indicate that Ireland is rated fourth in the Human Freedom Index, third in the Global Peace Measurement, second-best in the world for reading ability among 15-year-olds, and eleventh in mathematics. He could have continued in this line by lauding the fac

Clericalism in the Catholic Church

  Clericalism in the Catholic Church               Gerry OShea The heart of the clericalist problem in the Catholic Church revolves around gauging who is important in the organization. Who exercises control? Who makes the big decisions? Who is consulted about the major conundrums the church faces?   Will the pope and his senior bureaucrats lay down the law, or will the Vatican find meaningful ways to dig deeper into the wisdom of the wider international membership? Clericalism aptly describes the current system, which is being challenged in the ongoing synod where questions are being asked about the appropriateness of the old hierarchical methods of managing the institution. This involves a major effort led by Pope Francis, confronting the deeply embedded clergy-dominated power structure in the church.     The Vatican leads a top-down system of control in which uniformity and obedience are traditionally seen as the highest values, almost equated with virtuous behavior. Since th

Inequality in America

  Inequality in America          Gerry OShea The United States can be proud of its record in promoting political rights - free speech underpins American culture, and adherence to the rule of law mandates treating all citizens equally. It is noteworthy that former president Donald Trump’s assertion of privilege because he served in the White House has failed to get support in the judiciary. The administration of law claims to operate above assertions of status or financial exuberance. Unfortunately, the story is very different when we reflect on economic rights. According to OECD data, America has the second highest rate of poverty among developed countries, with 17.2% of the population living in that humiliating space – around 60 million citizens. By comparison, other rich countries such as Canada, Germany, and Sweden score at about half that percentage in this crucial measure of modern progress.   According to a recent speech by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in Trinity College

Beleaguered Unionists

Beleaguered Unionists         Gerry OShea The concept of losers’ consent is central to American politics since Donald Trump refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory in the last presidential election. It also provides an important prism on political developments in Northern Ireland, although not in arguments about election results. While David Trimble, the leader of the Official Unionist Party, played a central role in negotiating The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), many unionists viewed the terms of the deal as a sell-out to Irish nationalism. In particular, they looked askance at provisions that mandated the release of all IRA prisoners and the replacement of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Although many international leaders justifiably laud the 1998 agreement which has largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a recent poll revealed that only 34% of unionists view it favorably. They still believe after twenty-fi