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An American in Ireland by The Yank

Ireland's President Michael D Higgins says intellectual crisis is worse than economic crisis

Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 08:53 AM

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Ireland's President
Michael D Higgins

I suspect I'm the only person in Ireland taking new President Michael D Higgins seriously. Truly. That's the only way I can explain why his comments yesterday have received so little attention.

Yesterday in a lengthy (and tedious) speech Higgins said: "There is now I believe an intellectual crisis that is far more serious than the economic one, the one which fills the papers; dominates the programmes in our media."

What utter tripe. I only wish Higgins had said this before last October's election because he would not be President now if he had. Oh no, during the campaign the media talked about Higgins as a poet, an academic, an activist, but they failed to press home the fact that he is also a pompous windbag.

Honestly, what planet is Higgins living on? Ireland is littered with the wreckage of a failed economy, of the effects of poor regulation and inept regulators, of a European Union that is anything but united, of a government that saddled us with public expenditures far in excess of what we can afford and Higgins thinks none of this is as serious as the need for academics to revisit the social theories of Max Weber.

{Read the whole thing for yourself, but have plenty of coffee at the ready. I told you it was tedious.}

I'm not disputing that Ireland has major issues and I welcome the input of intellectuals and academics on these issues. However, to imply that the anything that's going on in the halls of Irish academia is more important than the business failures, job losses, emigration and budget cuts in the real world is insulting to the rest of us plebeians, a.k.a. the citizens of Ireland.

I would bet that even some of those academics listening to Higgins yesterday were thinking to themselves, "Easy there Michael. All we do is argue among ourselves and then toss out occasional papers printed in journals. We don't really have any solutions. We're not going to create new businesses that will employ the jobless thousands."
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Higgins fancies himself as an intellectual. His speech is full of clues as to what he really believes should be done: people like him - thinkers - should be given a lot more authority to set down what is and what is not allowed in terms of economic policy, social policy and everywhere else that matters.

Higgins believes not only that the free market is irrational, but evil. It is sin. It must be avoided if possible, tightly controlled if not. He will tell us what we should want and when we should want it.

Higgins says the market has failed, but his model has failed too. His model was tried before and it produced a society and an economy that was great at producing chess players, but not washing machines; great at producing ballets, but not food; great at unaccountable bureaucracy, but terrible at change and freedom.

Yes, the market has wreaked havoc on Ireland, but much of that was thanks to the failure of our central planners in Dublin and Brussels. I see no reason to suppose that Higgins and his intellectual friends could do better. I'll take my chances with the market and freedom any day over Higgins' model society.

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joycean | Feb 01, 2012, 01:57 PM EST

I think Higgins's speech may be referring to a forum he is opening at Trinity College for university econmic majors about regaining "economic sovereignty." Maybe they hope to default and establish a different source of respectability. It is of no signifcance to the United States what Ireland does, any more than what any other country does. We need to concentrate on our own future, but not mistake people who don't like us for friends. I did read his speech and notice that in serveral places he could have said something about the US role, and did not.

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abhainn | Feb 01, 2012, 07:38 AM EST

It is ignorant absurdity to write of a proven intellectual that he "fancies himself as an intellectual". And "the Yank" writes, "Higgins says the market has failed, but his model has failed too." So if "the Yank" admits that the market has failed (no-one could deny it) why does he attack Higgins for proposing remedies for the future, which are so desperately needed?

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abhainn | Feb 01, 2012, 07:38 AM EST

Higgins's point was that Ireland's and the world's economic crisis has deep cultural roots and with intellectual aspects that need to be addressed. It was exciting to read his thoughtful and intelligent speech and to hear the sheer intelligence at work once he got into it. He was right to indicate the crisis that exists and to offer active and creative solutions to remedy the situation. Anyone who genuinely likes to think will find the transcript very stimulating, once the preliminaries are dispensed with (he was awarded Ireland's highest honorary degree before the speech, so he gave a preamble about university life before getting into the meat of his speech).

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kinvara7 | Jan 30, 2012, 01:25 PM EST

@The Yank: You say: “Yes, the market has wreaked havoc on Ireland, but much of that was thanks to the failure of our central planners in Dublin and Brussels.” And the United States (or have you forgotten where the crisis kicked off?). But what exactly does your comment mean? Are you saying: yes there was a failure in the old system (as Higgins spoke about), but so what? Do you not think we should try to think about some changes? You finish by saying: “I see no reason to suppose that Higgins and his intellectual friends could do better. I'll take my chances with the market and freedom any day over Higgins' model society.” Well, what exactly does that mean? You just seem to be saying: “The system has ‘wreaked havoc’ on us, but let’s not discuss ways to perhaps improve it; in fact let’s deride those that even attempt to begin that debate, because obviously anyone who questions the system that led up to the crisis is against ‘freedom’ and wants to turn Ireland into a communist state.” I suppose you would have levelled the same abuse at your fellow Americans who questioned the amendments to the Glass-Steagall Act i.e. they were opposed to the freedom of the markets etc.

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kinvara7 | Jan 30, 2012, 01:00 PM EST

@The Yank: Your comments on our President’s speech are very childish. He spoke at the beginning about the very real problems faced by people due to the economic crisis. He went on to talk about an intellectual crisis: “Intellectuals are challenged, I believe now to a moral choice, to drift into, be part of, a consensus that accepts a failed paradigm of life and economy or to offer, or seek to recover, the possibility of alternative futures… we have paid a heavy price for unfettered speculative accumulation, for light regulation for the global consequences of what followed acceptance of amendments to the Glass-Steagall Act in the US, an act that had its origins in responding to the crash of 1929 that sought to ensure it would never happen again. The amendments released a flood of virtual financial products across the world. To that, many countries including our own, added their own speculative bubble.” The speech was about challenging people to think independently and challenge mantras and assumptions, in other words to oppose the herd mentality. He ended by saying: “I am very conscious that for the first time in many years young people now graduating from college are faced with very uncertain futures…I plan to hold a number of Presidency seminars…It is my intention that the first of these seminars will focus on our young people and will explore relevant issues such as education as well as focusing on issues of participation, employment, emigration, and mental health… To navigate successfully through today's troubled, uncertain, and probably uncharted, waters, now, more than ever before, we need vision, foresight and bold strategies. Now, more than ever, an original and confident education system is needed, to help us to achieve our social and economic objectives and to place us on a sustainable footing.”

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Pittsburghkid | Jan 26, 2012, 04:11 PM EST

He should define intellectural. Can you be Pro-Life and intellectual?

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joycean | Jan 26, 2012, 02:10 PM EST

He suggests that Irish universities should find a new social-economic theory, something like Max Weber's, and the rest of the world should go to Ireland to participate in creating this theory since markets have been shown to be irrational. First, while markets may be irrational, the world runs on money, not theory. I am not sure that the current economic downturn means that the current world situation IS a failed "paradigm of life and economy." Maybe it is just the world stumbling along, and things will continue to slowly improve for most of us. Also, I am not sure that Ireland will be where a new one will be found. Perhaps the next New World Order will be that of China, where workers sleep in huge dormatories, work 12 hour shifts for little pay, so that the world can have cheap goods. It isn't an attractive scenerio, but it is more likely. Also, there are many other great universities in the world.

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bunkerisland | Jan 26, 2012, 12:45 PM EST

Had the Bogside resident Martin been elected we would have a President focusing on economic development by promoting Ireland and its productive capacity to other nations, not a someone pontificating by standing on a stool at a podium.

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GeorgeDillon | Jan 26, 2012, 11:16 AM EST

It shouldn't be forgotten that this guy was caught coming out with downright lies during the Irish Citizenship Referendum a few years back. Even the Nigerian Embassy had to contact the media to deny the lies that Higgins was pushing about Nigerian citizenshp law.

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donal1951 | Jan 26, 2012, 09:59 AM EST

Had I been residing in Ireland for the presidential election _ yes I am a dual national _ I would have voted for Mr. Higgins. Nothing in his speech convinces me otherwise. I'll admit academics can be blow-hards and fight over stupid matters. But they also come up with good ideas and should be a key part of the policy advice listened to by the government.

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cillowen | Jan 26, 2012, 09:57 AM EST

moron on morons

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joycean | Jan 26, 2012, 09:49 AM EST

I went to the speech site and read it. As a speech, it must have been incomprehensible. Possibly, someone could sit down with a large-type printed version and wade through it( I skimmed). He seems to be saying that in these troubled times, academics should come up with a new social theory (something on the order of Marx and Socialism). And the State should install it. Didn't the USSR, Europe do that?

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JohnJoe4444 | Jan 26, 2012, 09:37 AM EST

Very few in Ireland take him seriously! He is regarded by most as a charming eccentric who spouts some poetry every now and then. He has a cuddly image that has served him well for many years. Under the charm there lies a rutless windbag who likes nothing more than the sound of his own voice. I have seen him play the dotty old uncle role many times but have also seen the ruthless politician he truly is. His life's ambition was to be President and to be fawned upon by admirers. As a person who fed hungrily from the state all through his working life he is one of the few with the luxury to consider intellectual ideals. The rest of us who are struggling to stay afloat would love the same luxury.

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