Why are the Irish Public so laid back?

In most countries in the continent and also the world people usually protest if they feel they are getting a bad deal because their government is introducing new legislation that affects them. In most cases it will be hundreds of people attending, shouting and screaming in order to get their message heard.

In Ireland it is much different. This recent recession as seen the introduction of many new taxes for the Irish public. Firstly the government increased income tax and following that they rolled out a series of additional taxes such as the household charge, property tax and a new water charge which is on the way.

We also have to pay a television licence charge and part of this money pays exorbitant salaries to tv presenters of the national television station. Recently these presenters have had a cut in their salaries but some of them may still earn more than president Obama who earned $400,000 in 2012. It is understood that the tv licence is now to be converted to a general media charge. If you dont have a tv but have a laptop you will have to pay this new charge.

It makes you think about the current situation in Cyprus.  Their government was planning to take deposits out of peoples bank accounts and what did the people do? They hit the streets and protested. What would the Irish do if this happened?  Probably stay at home and have a cup of tea. We are really laid back about everything and nothing seems to phase us.

So what difference does it make which way the government takes our money whether directly or indirectly?  Maybe they should have taken once off deposits from our bank accounts. At least it would have been a once off charge.

With annual recurring taxes such as the household charge, property tax and water charges we will be paying these for the rest of our lives. They are hardly going to cancel these taxes in 10 years. If you do the sums on it maybe once off payments from our deposit accounts may have worked in our favour, depending on how much savings you have of course.

With the introduction of this new water charge how will the Irish public react? We probably will just take it on the chin like the other charges we have incured. Pictured is a recent protest about the water charge that is being introduced.  The protest is so civilised it does not even make it onto the street. What message does this send to the government?

Once this water charge is introduced the government will probably brainstorm some other pointless charge so they can tax us. Ask yourself the question when will it end?

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