The biggest lesson will be for people to actually read small print, realise that their decisions impact on them and are their responsibility. A lesson that needs to be learned is that no matter how much we give out and slag off those who we think are better off than us, we are in the situation that we are in and if we don't dig deep to get out of it nobody else is going to do it for us. It is getting really tiresome listening to the moaning about tax when we all know it is needed and saying 'I didn't get us into this mess' doesn't cut the mustard as everyone has benefitted to some degree from the boom.
Careful now, we dont want people taking responsibility for their own actions . . .
Who voted the government in . . The Irish People . .
Who wanted lower taxes . . The Irish People . .
Who chose not to complain about these lower taxes, the quangos, the vested interest groups that were obviously looking out for themselves in the good years . . Yep you have guessed it . .The Irish People
Who chose to invest in property in Ireland when they could of rented . . The Irish People . .
Didnt see any strikes or marching on the streets during the good years, so people obviously werent upset enough to make a stand about the farce of the government and their banker-builder friends . .
If I didnt laugh I would cry. . . When I heard a lady on Pat Kennys show yesterday nearly crying at lenihan because all she had was her house in Ireland, her house in Croatia and her salary of €63,000 per annum at age 51 . . Seriously, just shows how delusional so many people are in this country . . If anybody remotely thinks this woman should be pitied, then you are much, much, much better off then me and a majority of the public in this country. "I bought a house and Investment property" But " I cant afford this anymore because of the government" . . Wow, in a nutshell what so many people love to do . . Blame somebody else for their financial decisions .
Many of the people on that show were probobley hand picked so that Lenihan couldnt properly debate their grievances. If it were me, I would of said . . "Ms, did the government force or ask you to buy rental properties instead of saving in bank deposits or something less risky". Fish in a Barrell Lenihan was . . . Yes the government deserve to be ridiculed but not for peoples own personal investment choices . .
By all means, complain about the government and their obvious failings (that have been there since teflon bertie was in charge), but dont for a second think that this country owes you anything if you have invested heavily in property and want the government to bail you out . .
I am so fecked off that the banks did pretty much get bailed out and that many builders APPEAR to be getting away with ripping off individuals and this country ( That said I know a builder who has the sheriff at his door looking to take his house!) .
I am so fecked off that Bigwig bankers are so far not being held accountable for their actions. Personally I believe there should be a strong case for bringing a "crimes against the economy" case against Seanie Fitz, given the trouble thats been caused by his blatant disregard for prudent directorship (if there is such a thing). Given the fact that Anglo has been mentioned , even when it comes to our countries credit rating, surely there is a case for accusing them of costing the country millions, if not billions . .
Yes, I am disgusted with the way things have happened, the way things have been handled and the way a huge portion of this country has responded with NOTHING but negative views on how we should work on recovering.
BUT . . .
That doesnt excuse our over reliance on personal loans, credit cards or our purchasing of cars or Houses. This country is learning, quickly, the valuable lesson of being prudent with your money, but even more prudent with banks money (as it has to be paid back eventually irrespective of your purchase).
This budget wasnt that much of a surprise to most educated people (who keep an eye on politics and economy). There are awful and hard luck stories out there, genuine hard luck stories . . But while I have empathy for ANYBODY struggling with Debt (particularly if you didnt take that much of a risk), at the end of the day,
in most cases , they got themselves into that position . .