SO An Bord Snip is on the way. Come October, a new list of social welfare and “other” cuts will be presented to the public. This will be a fait accompli and unless people rise up, march on the Dail and demand the heads of Cowen and his ministerial team, there is no other route open to the populace than to accept the cutbacks.
We are facing into a severe winter of our discontent and we had better face up to it now – with reduced money in our wallets, it could be one of the coldest and bleakest winters, the majority of us have ever known. So, what’s to look forward to and how to keep despair, whatever about hunger from the door?
First and most apparent of all is the fact that if we have no other option, then the reality is we have to accept the inevitable. But unlike the final inevitability of death, there is in the human condition, the unconquerable spirit of hope and even of acceptance.
The downturn will pass. Like the seasons, it has come but it will run its course, devastating though that may be. It will take its toll and will cause pain. None of us are that secure that we know how we individually will face up to the physical and mental demands that will be made of us but it is a proven fact that human beings have the capacity to face up to great personal challenges and come out of them stronger and wiser.
Each of us may have to show a little more generosity and forbearance than previously. We may be called on to consider the position of others more than ourselves and we may have to become accustomed to resigning ourselves to a more restricted lifestyle in terms of treats, luxuries and disposable cash.
