Learning From History

Ireland 2011?

Reading history is a worthwhile and profitable venture, something the men and women of our time should really make part of their lives, especially in these difficult times.  We have often heard the phrase that history repeats itself - not totally true, but history does influence the way we live now, whether we want to believe it or not, and as men and women are susceptible to making the same mistakes over and over again in each generation, history can serve as a wise teacher.  

Well, after listening to some on the radio yesterday, we could all do with a history lesson today.  On an afternoon talk show people were ringing in complaining about the state of the country - nothing new there.  But some of them wanted reform, no problems there either, but the way they wanted it was bordering on the naive.  "Get rid of the Senate" was one of the slogans.  Some even wanted rid of the Dail.  You could dismiss such comments if they were uttered only by a certain constituency in the country, but such ideas are now common parlance.  Now our parliamentary structure is not perfect, but when Eamon DeValera, the one who drafted our Constitution, was trying to come up with a system of government, he tried to share out the State's powers so it would be incredibly difficult for one person to assume total power in Ireland.  The Constitution was written and adopted in 1937 at the height of fascism and communism in Europe.  DeValera saw how Hitler came to power, how Lenin and Stalin rose to control half a continent, and wanted to make sure that no tyrant could do the same in Ireland. 

Now our system needs reform, no doubt about that.  Our Senate does need to be restructured to give it more power, with less dependence on the Dail, so as to be able to throw a spanner in the works when the Dail wants to rush through legislation - at the moment, for the most part it merely rubber stamps Bills.  It needs to be a real and effective check on the government and the lower chamber. We also need to open the franchise for the Senate - at the moment only certain citizens can vote in a Senate election.  But to get rid of the fine balance of power shared between partners in the state seems to me to be opening a Pandora's box.  It was in similiar circumstances - economic chaos and frustration, that Hitler could convince the Germans he had the answers, and they were so desperate for improvement they endorsed his party and handed the state to him and Nazi tyranny took control of German democracy.

History teaches us not to be so silly, and people who are willing to throw out the checks and balances because they are angry or desperate, are silly because there may indeed be another Hitler waiting in the wings to step into the void.  Is what I say stupid, unrealistic?  Well, that is what the Germans would have said in the 1930's.  Things may be difficult, but that does not mean we run around like headless chickens.

The Church has a long memory, she has lived through many such periods of history, and, hopefully, she listens carefully to history.   The state could do well to imitate her in this.