By Eddie McCabe
Donald Trump has been on a political rampage since retaking the White House in February, openly displaying all his vulgarity, cruelty and spite – both in the policies he’s pursuing and in the manner he’s pursuing them. While ordinary people around the world are repulsed by these actions, many establishment politicians and media commentators are dumbfounded.
Trump’s belligerence goes against the traditional practice by US Presidents of utilising the pretense of civility and diplomacy – even while they oversee their system of imperialist rule. As such, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar could have a cordial meeting last March with Genocide Joe Biden, where both nominally agreed that a ceasefire was needed in Gaza. As they spoke, the bombs Biden supplied to Israel rained down on a defenceless, imprisoned civilian population in Gaza.
Unfortunately for Taoiseach Micháel Martin, the chance of reenacting such a hypocritical charade – where two complicit heads of state can exchange mealy-mouthed words of concern – has been scuppered by Trump’s blatantly genocidal statements in recent weeks, including posting death threats against the people of Gaza on social media.
Corporate stranglehold
Yet, for Martin and many of his would-be advisers in the establishment media, standing up to Trump and calling him out on his despicable words and actions is out of the question. The consequences of in any way upsetting Trump are too great for them to countenance.
The basic reasoning for this cowardly stance was expressed by Simon Harris during the general election, when he said: “If three US companies left Ireland it could cost us €10 billion in corporation tax… that is the level of risk that our economy is exposed to.”
It’s true that ten multinationals account for 60% of Ireland’s corporate tax receipts, and the country runs a trade surplus with the US of $31 billion (which the deranged Maga regime sees as an affront to American prestige). This means that the Irish capitalist economy is particularly vulnerable to policy shifts by the US government, even if some of the fear mongering is exaggerated.
And in the end, these economic considerations outweigh all others for the Irish government. Their blather about supporting such things as human rights, democracy, and international law will be put aside as they bend the knee to corporate America and its new fascistic leader.
A failed economic model
Two things should become clear from this unedifying servility. Firstly, there’s clearly no low to which a US President can stoop before an Irish Taoiseach would take any action to oppose them. Even Sinn Féin, which has itself decided not to accept an invitation to the White House this year, has urged Martin to attend – implying that if Mary Lou McDonald were Taoiseach she would then accept the invitation, deliver the bowl of shamrock, and shake Trump’s blood-stained hand.
In a 1961 speech, JFK misquoted the conservative Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, saying: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke never said this, but if there’s any truth in it, Trump has nothing to worry about from the current crop of Irish political leaders!
Secondly, the economic model of Irish capitalism – of overwhelming reliance on foreign direct investment from multinational corporations, which is achieved by making the state a tax haven for those corporations – is completely unsustainable, as well as morally bankrupt.
The only rational option (and only option that doesn’t necessitate degrading ourselves to appease a genocidal maniac) is therefore to break with that model. That means taking the key wealth and resources, the big banks and industry, into democratic public ownership and planning their use to meet people’s needs, not the profits of an oligarchic elite.
