“Why I joined the Socialist Party”

After my mother, Susie Long, died in 2007 after waiting seven months for a potentially lifesaving diagnostic procedure which private patients were receiving within days at the same hospital I naturally became concerned about the link between income inequality and inequality in health in our society.

After my mother, Susie Long, died in 2007 after waiting seven months for a potentially lifesaving diagnostic procedure which private patients were receiving within days at the same hospital I naturally became concerned about the link between income inequality and inequality in health in our society.

According to the Institute of Public Health report “Inequalities in Mortality” over five thousand premature deaths could be prevented every year in this country if social inequality, and therefore the stresses and hardships that inequality begets, were eliminated.

Of course health inequality is not the only discrimination that people on lower incomes face but it is one example of how an unfair system can impact on the quality and even length of people’s lives.

However, any attempt to right the wrongs of social inequality would require a major redistribution of wealth and resources. It is quite clear that none of the mainstream parties would be capable or even willing to undertake such a process.

Under capitalism power is concentrated in the hands of people who have money which is why for instance, globally there is much more money being spent on finding a cure for baldness then malaria, even though the latter kills nearly one million children every year. The markets will never drive politicians or scientists or anyone else for that matter to do the right thing.

After studying politics and history at third level for almost three years I have only become more convinced that capitalism cannot be reformed. Until we move to a society where economic power and not just political power is democratised, these injustices will never be fully eliminated and millions will suffer as a result.

 

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

“How much longer can this government stagger from crisis to crisis?”

Next Article

Britain: Workers & poor hit hardest by Blitzkreig Budget

Related Posts
Read More

Door shut on thousands seeking education

“We aim to develop a smart economy and become known as the innovation island”, according to that esteemed authority on all things “smart”, Brian Cowen. In fact, in his speech in 2008 on “Building Ireland’s Smart Economy”, the word appears over and over again. The word education however is noticeably absent in the 2,000 word speech.

Organise to defeat fees: Shut down Third Level for a day

By Ann-Katrin Orr, UL Socialist Youth

ON 4 February, thousands of students marched through the streets of Dublin to vent their anger against the government’s plans to reintroduce college fees. This cannot be seen as the end but must be the start of a fight to force the government to back down. A mass campaign of thousands of college and school students, parents and staff must be built to achieve this.

Read More

State repression across Europe

The youth protesters in Spain have inspired many with the stand they have taken against austerity policies and the political establishment. However, they have also faced brutal state repression.

Read More

Youth Guarantee – a guaranteed failure

At the same time as cutting €35 million directly from young people in Budget 2014, the government proudly announced €14 million for its Youth Guarantee scheme. The spin suggesting that this would seriously tackle youth unemployment only added insult to the injury of the robbery of young people through the dole cuts and introduction of fees for FAS apprentices.