We the citizens make up the State

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

When I was a young boy it would have seemed to me that no one had any sort of a chance of standing up against the State or large organisations.

These days far more attention is rightly given to the rights of the individual person.

Modern technology, modern media has made it so much easier for the individual to disseminate news, information and opinion. 

Sometimes it’s accurate, other times it can be far removed from the truth.

It’s easy and tempting to blame the State and large organisations for all our woes. And it’s good that we can. They are not beyond reproach. But it takes two to tango.  We have individual rights but we also have responsibilities.

I bring my recyclable waste to a bring bank. The facility is operated by the local authority and individuals are allowed to dispose of their bottles, plastic, batteries, bulbs, papers and other recyclables for free.

Over the years I have become friendly with the attendant who manages the facility.

On many visits I have noticed people dispose large quantities of waste at the facility, which does not cater for commercial quantities The manager of the facility assures me that people are abusing the system but it is difficult to prove it. So there is nothing he can do to stop them in their bad behaviour.

Think of all the times the media world, you and I, criticise the State, county councils, government ministries for all sorts of shortcomings. But what about how we individuals don’t play our part in enhancing the common good.

Is it an Irish characteristic to try to find a way around breaking rules and regulations?

Talk to any employee of Irish Rail, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and ask them about Travel Card abuse. Next time you are on a train and happen to meet a member of the Revenue Protection Unit you might ask him or her to fill you in on some of the remarkable stories they have to tell. Those people could write a brilliant book on the topic of people who abuse the Travel Pass.

How many people don’t pay their television licence? How much money is lost to the State in the black economy?

We are forever criticising the Department of Health and the HSE for inefficiency and poor management. How often do individuals behave dishonestly in matters concerning our health system?

There is no one who is perfect and I’m most definitely not but I’m thinking of a saying I first heard from my novice master fadó fadó.

It is from Germany’s literary giant, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: ‘Let everyone sweep in front of his own hall door, and the whole world will be clean.’ It makes great sense.

Of course we have to support the weak and fragile, that’s the purpose of our social welfare system. But for it to work to our best advantage it depends on each one of us to play our part in being as honest and ethical as possible.

The State is not some amorphous body. We the citizens, make up the State. And every time we abuse the system the chances are it’s the poorest and most fragile who suffer.

We all depend on one another. Rules and regulations are there for the smooth-running of society. The value of democracy is that the people decide at the ballot box who will make our rules.

And then we should keep them. It’s so easy to blame someone else for all our woes.