Mmmm. Cheese.
Mmmm. Cheese.
The reaction from some elements to the free cheese to low income families reveals a very ugly side of the Irish psyche. Think about it rationally: A government slashing spending because of a crippling fall off in revenues decides that it might be able to do something for the less well off.
It’s not proposing free cheese as a panacea for anything, just thinks that maybe a few free blocks of cheese created by the CAP might allow those families to direct a few Euro a week towards other things. And for that the government gets savaged? What the f**k? There are some who say it is insulting. Why? Does that make the people who take the cheese pathetic, or just glad to be getting anything, no matter how small it is? If someone can only afford to donate a €5 a week to charity, are they insulting the charity? Would they be better off giving nothing? Would the charity be better off?
I once got a block of free EU cheese (Don’t ask). It comes the size of a large brick, and was white cheddar. It lasted about two months, and saved me, I’d say, about €20. And it was very tasty.
The government are giving out free tasty cheese. What will these diabolical bastards do next? Crackers? Mango chutney? If only someone will stop them in time!
The problem I have with the cheese scheme is not that it will help the poor a little. It’s that the Government is taking credit for what a European Union initiative, paid for by European money (and by the consumers who pay inflated CAP prices).
They keep taking credit for European initiatives, which chokes off the oxygen of publicity for the good things that the EU does. No wonder the anti-Europe movement has such credibility.
I agree with you about the perks. There is something offensive about me paying taxes so that a higher paid public official doesn’t have to fund his/her own pension the way I do.
Jason
You are a bit wide of the mark here. I don’t think that commentators are criticising the existence of the free cheese scheme. What has put people’s backs up is that a government minister seemed to think that in some way the fact that people could get their hands on a bit of free cheese was worth mentioning as a relevant fact in the context of a budget that will take €6 billion out of the economy.
Really, it boils down to the central fact that nothing this government does or says will assuage the pain felt by the electorate at large unless and until there are major reductions in the excessive salaries/pensions/expenses/perks that politicians feel they deserve.
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Couldn’t have said it better myself. Hopefully none of those éirígí weirdos on the breadline get some, they’ll only throw it away!