Even as President Obama and members of Congress celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I doubt they will dwell on the worst chapter in the history of the Emerald Isle -- the Irish Famine of 1846 to 1850.
Yet shamrock-sporting politicians everywhere should pay heed to the depths of that calamity. An inadequate response and misplaced priorities of the government in London added immeasurably to the tragedy.
How horrific was the famine? In the decade before 1851, the population density in Ireland dropped from 335 to 231 inhabitants per square mile. Almost one-third of the population perished, or moved away -- one million peasants died. But sheer numbers cannot tell the horror of the famine.
In Paul Bew's seminal work, "Ireland: The Politics of Enmity 1789-2006," he includes a passage from a magazine article written at the height of the famine: "In a sort of hutch there lay four skeletal children... death-stricken. Had they been removed at this moment to go to the Queen's palace, they could not have lived."
Bew then recorded this report from A. M. Sullivan, a Young Ireland activist: "a sort of stupor fell upon the people, contrasting remarkably with the fierce energy put forth a year before. It was no uncommon sight to see the cottier and his little family seated on the garden fence, gazing all day long in moody silence at the blighted plot that had been their last hope."
As thousands perished in 1846, the British Government under Sir Robert Peel spurred roads and rail improvements in Ireland, imported 12 million pounds of corn meal from India, and lent money for local relief. Those measures proved to be a thimbleful of help in a rising sea of tragedy.
Those grudging half-steps were never Peel's top priority. In 1846, his primary focus was the repeal of the Corn Laws and the tariffs that protected English farmers from imported grain. Repealing those tariffs would reduce the value of the only crop Ireland could sell -- corn -- even as its potatoes turned black. The lure of Free Trade was great. In the debate over repeal, some called reports of conditions in Ireland "exaggerated," "a gross delusion" or even "a pretext." All sides played fast and loose with the truth of what was happening just across the Irish Sea.
Sullivan was later quoted as saying, "It would be utter injustice to deny that the government made exertions which, judged by ordinary circumstances, would be prompt and considerable. But judged by the awful magnitude of the evil then at hand or actually befallen, they were fatally tardy and inadequate."
Fast forward to today. Sullivan's even-handed judgment applies just as well to the Congress and the Obama administration. The original stimulus package was "prompt and considerable." Yet, Washington's lack of focus on the "awful magnitude" of this Grave Recession means any initiatives this year -- or even next -- will be "fatally tardy and inadequate."
Since the Economic Recovery Act became law in 2009, more than 400,000 Americans have filed first time claims for unemployment benefits every week save two. Our jobs crisis still affects over 30 million Americans. Yet, President Obama keeps searching for "solutions on the cheap," according to one adviser quoted in the New York Times Magazine. And Congress seems intent on deep spending cuts even for programs that assist the unemployed.
Right around the corner, in the name of job creation, there are plans to press for passage of the Korea, Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements. These NAFTA-lite deals may create jobs across the globe. Here at home, they will add to our jobs crisis.
What is missing from the White House and Congress approach is any sense of urgency. For millions of 99ers -- Americans who have exhausted all unemployment benefits -- this is a time of blight. Their careers, credit, savings and homes are forfeit. Hunger and homelessness, helplessness and hopelessness -- those are the four horsemen of today's jobless.
Will history judge our government as cruel and callous as Her Majesty's in the 19th Century? I suppose so.
On a smaller but no less depressing scale, American workers today are reliving the hard times that laid waste to an entire island. As the toasts of "Erin Go Bragh" echo across Washington today, the complete indifference of politicians is, once again, on display for an entire continent to see. And our jobless millions will not forget -- for now, forever.
Ironic but true, on the night that the House of Commons repealed the Corn Laws, Peel's conservative government fell. It lost a vote over the Irish Coercion Act, legislation meant to curtail the violence erupting across Ireland. The peasants, ejected from their leased lands and gripped by hunger, were taking matters into their own hands.
Rick Sloan is the Acting Executive Director of "Ur Union of Unemployed." His ancestors emigrated from Counties Down and Tipperary during the Irish Famine.
Follow Rick Sloan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RickSloan
Michele Somerville: No Green Beer: Keeping St. Patrick's Day Holy
If liberals, progressives and Democrats were so concerned about history and knew that what Democrats, liberals and progressives did hundreds years ago, and even more recently, they would have to switch parties or be labeled hypocrites.
And, by the way, learn the difference between "maize" and "barley" before you talk about "corn," since what was imported, what was not exported and what the "Corn Laws" covered was not all one grain.
From the consolidation of English power in 1691 until well into the 19th century, religion was the gulf which divided the colonial rulers of Ireland from the native majority. This sectarian division resulted from deliberate government policy. It reached into political, economic, and personal life, through a series of statutes known as the Penal Laws.
Catholics were prohibited from buying land, bringing their children up as Catholics, and from entering the forces or the law. Catholics could no longer run for elected office, purchase land, or own property (such as horses) valued at more than 5 pounds. In the early years of the 18th century the ruling Protestants in Ireland passed these laws designed to strip the "backwards" Catholic population of remaining land, positions of influence and civil rights.
The Catholic educational system was outlawed and priests who did not conform to the laws could be branded on the face or castrated. As a result, much of Catholic church services and education and record keeping was forced underground, to operate only under extreme secrecy. By the time of the census of 1841. the Irish were impoverished, landless and leaderless by the eve of the famine.
The object of the Penal Laws:
"To deprive Catholics of all civil life; to reduce them to a condition of extreme, brutal ignorance; and, to disassociate them from the soil."
Lecky added a fourth objective: "To expatriate the race."
What happened in Ireland almost 200 years ago is only relevant to those who are of the same type as those who hold grudges and engage in extreme tribalism. It seems extremist Muslims are the same way, hating Jews for no known reason other than Jews have different beliefs and have hated them since Islam came into existence (if anyone knows why they hate Jews, please post a link to the information. Thanks). A modern day example is someone who always votes for one party because that's the way their family votes and that's the way their friends vote and anyone who doesn't vote the way they vote are stupid backwards superstitious mouth breathing teabagging hicks who couldn't recognize the truth if it hit them in the head.
John Russell was a Liberal politician who was Prime Minister after his Whigs ousted PM Peel, a conservative, who had attempted to change import/export laws and provide food for the Irish. Russell, the liberal, stopped all government food and relief projects.
The problem was as much and export problem as it was the restrictions on imports and the English couldn't care less about the Irish. The Brits wouldn't lower or eliminate import tariffs on "corn" for decades.
Oh, and FYI: Bill Clinton made NAFTA the law in this country. He didn't have to as the GOP did not have a filibuster proof majority in the US Senate.
I love word games, but they become annoying in a serious conversation.
When I think of unions and St. Patrick’s Day I think of a different story. In the early 1980’s I had a new Buick that was a constant problem. One day a mechanic looked at the manufacturing date on the door tag and said “There’s your problem – never buy a car that was built on St. Patrick’s Day.” He then told me that he had found all sorts of problems with these vehicles, down to an empty beer can sealed in a door that was causing a rattle.
NAFTA has bled off jobs but union excesses didn’t help either. When it becomes difficult to be fired or laid off, the motivation to do quality work is diminished. It is human nature and it plays out across all forms of employment.
If unions want to return to prominence in the country the employer/union relationship will have to be more partnership than an adversarial. Until that time, there will be little incentive for businesses to bring manufacturing jobs back to areas with strong unions.