{"id":2184,"date":"2018-07-01T00:10:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T23:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2018-07-01T00:10:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-30T23:10:26","slug":"if-on-a-winters-night-a-lithuanian-spoke-with-leo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2018\/07\/01\/if-on-a-winters-night-a-lithuanian-spoke-with-leo\/","title":{"rendered":"If on a Winter’s Night a Lithuanian Spoke with Leo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The great Italo Calvino\u2019s novel Invisible Cities<\/em> imagines a conversation between the Mongolian emperor Kubla Khan and the legendary traveller Marco Polo. Kubla Khan asks Marco Polo to describe for him the great cities he has visited.<\/p>\n

After a number of vivid and enthralling accounts it becomes clear that Marco Polo is confining himself to a description of his native Venice, as if the rest of the world counts for little, a view for which I have some sympathy.<\/p>\n

Let us imagine another fictional conversation, set in contemporary Ireland, in which Taoiseach Leo Varadkar encounters a non-national \u2013 from Lithuania we\u2019ll say \u2013 and asks her for a description of Dublin and its hinterland.<\/p>\n

You will indulge this far-fetched conceit I hope, dear reader, of our imperator <\/em>deigning to converse with a migrant of modest means.<\/p>\n

Suave Leo will be confident\u2013 \u2018our GDP growth is off the charts\u2019 he assures himself \u2013 in a favourable verdict on his achievements as Taoiseach, and the state of the country after almost a decade of Fine Gael in power.<\/p>\n

\u2018She will surely recognise this as \u2018the best little country in the world to do business in\u2019, with near full employment; an economic powerhouse, like Venice in its day \u2013 they might have built St. Mark\u2019s and the gondolas, but we have the Dundrum Shopping Centure and the M50; a land of\u00a0c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 as long as you are an \u2018an ex-pat\u2019 with a decent credit line; of milk and honey, so much dairy in fact that we are the second leading exporter of powder milk to Chinese mothers, who can now work longer hours to produce the consumer goods we don\u2019t need; of comely maidens at cross purposes. The boom is getting boomier, again!\u2019<\/p>\n

Using the structure of Calvino\u2019s book let us imagine her response, chapter by chapter.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

She concedes Ireland has given her employment:<\/p>\n

\u2018Which requires me to work long, often anti-social, hours, though I am grateful for it, as others haven’t been so lucky and ended up on the street, or involved in organised crime. But I have to say that since the economic crisis I have encountered significant hostility from native Irish, even though I speak perfect English \u2013 perfect you understand \u2013 albeit with an accent.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Taoiseach I can\u2019t help feeling I have had to work significantly harder than the younger generation of wealthy Irish, who don\u2019t recognise my achievements. I am well educated but my academic qualifications are often disparaged. There is a Little Islander mentality, though I guess you might find the same attitudes if you came to work in my ex-Soviet republic.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We Lithuanians are also a small nation, like your own Taoiseach\u2019, she says, pausing to reflect that he might empathise with her plight, given his mixed-race background.<\/p>\n

\u2018Currently I live in a satellite town of Dublin, where I work and have studied in the past. I find the environment harsh and uncomfortable, and public transport pathetic, which forces most people into their cars.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Many Irish people I meet seem very nice, but this can be superficial, and I have been subjected to racist abuse for speaking Lithuanian with my friends on the bus.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I have the impression the country is being run for the sake of a privileged few. I have found out quite a bit about your country Taoiseach, and it seems there are dynasties that run it, especially in politics where I see the same names cropping up again and again, just like the former Soviet officials who re-invented themselves as democratic politicians where I am from.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I have also heard there are certain private schools in Dublin which most the top lawyers and businessmen attended, and now send their children to, and I think a lot politicians were educated in one of them too, including, if I am not mistaken, yourself. Do you work on behalf of these people or the wider community Mr Varadkar?\u2019<\/p>\n

Leo feigns a smile that looks more like a grimace \u2013 he\u2019s hoping the conversation won\u2019t go on much longer, but realises he can\u2019t ignore the woman as someone might have their camera on him. He interjects, summoning all the charm that bewitched his party when Enda finally fell on his sword: \u2018Look at me, I am half-Indian and gay. I made it the top, and so can you.\u2019 But strangely he doesn\u2019t look her in the eye when he speaks.<\/p>\n

Chapter 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lithuanian lady responds: \u2018As I said Irish people are very friendly, but sometimes this masks a lack of emotional depth. They love to talk but prefer not to listen. They are highly sociable, but drink to excess. They fill their minds with absurd patriotism, and tell lachrymose tales of hardship and grievance. They give out, but generally do nothing. They are often obsessed with trivia, or with pop culture, and televised sport. Politics seems to be reduced to personalities rather than the issues.\u2019<\/p>\n

She continues, a steely determination entering her voice, aware that this will be her one opportunity to speak candidly to a person in power: \u2018Politics, Taoiseach, is about the issues and nothing else. Irish politicians are economical with the truth, and often, frankly, lie. Compromise is not always possibly, and sometimes harsh words are required. Cover-ups of corruption are not conducive to a well-ordered society.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018More generally, it is difficult with such overt friendliness to work out when to take people seriously. In this context I have, as a young attractive woman, experienced numerous protestations of love from inadequate men, who only dare speak to me when they are drunk.\u2019<\/p>\n

At this stage Leo is getting exasperated at how ungrateful she is for all the country has given her. But he manages somehow to contain a rising disgust.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

She continues: \u2018when people get to know you on a personal level they are nice and there is still a strong sense of community in the rural areas I have worked in \u2013 social supports and community among the older generation. But this is nowhere near as prevalent in Dublin, where I encounter greed, selfishness and casual disregard. Homelessness is rampant and, I am telling you, you would not want to get sick. The one medical emergency I experienced I had to wait for hours in A&E, and I felt the treatment was inadequate.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I have now taken out private health insurance \u2013 as you advised young people<\/a> to\u00a0when you were Minister for Health \u2013 but even still I face queues, and that is the experience of other people I know in the same situation.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And my experience with the private sector, especially the banks, is that people are not that competent, often downright rude, yet curiously patronizing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018But really Leo the police are particularly rude and judgmental towards non-nationals. In my community I hear a lot of complaints about them. Some of their conduct seems to be legalized banditry, as corrupt as \u2026 any country on earth. Yet I read in the newspapers that your party does not have the will to deal with the institutional scandals, or train them properly. Frankly Leo they are in many respects as bad as the criminals they are supposed to police.\u2019<\/p>\n

Leo is now seething and on the point of flying off the handle. She is questioning the very essence of his<\/em> Ireland, despite the opportunities it has given her. He turns accusatorial: \u2018But we welcomed you, and you have lived here for over 10 years. Of course we are not perfect but which country is?\u2019<\/p>\n

Chapter 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

She responds: \u2018It is true there is sufficient food to eat, but as for the standard of living, or quality of life, it doesn’t compare favourably with other countries, unless you are privileged. There is a glass ceiling on how far a non-national can climb in this country, and you Taoiseach are the exception that proves the rule.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Non-EU migrants especially have had to endure victimisation, and the barbarities of Direct Provision. My humble abode in the sticks is far too small, and cost a ridiculous sum for negligible space, which eats into my meagre income. All around us people are being forced to live in ever-decreasing spaces. This is not conducive to emotional or intellectual wellbeing.\u2019<\/p>\n

She is becoming forceful again: \u2018Even applying your capitalist logic: you cannot produce creative or productive people if they are forced to live in shoe boxes. People will want to leave. They will have had enough. Even if I wanted a family that would probably be impossible, which I find quite depressing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Leo, now astonished and increasingly irate at this candid and uniformly negative response, asks, with a surprising, but revealing, innocence: \u2018well who is responsible for these mistakes?\u2019<\/p>\n

Chapter 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Without naming names Taoiseach, I\u2019ll offer you a biblical reference, which became an Italian film and a byword for corruption. Ireland is becoming ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’, or at least Gomorrah. No one has any confidence in many of the state institutions or private actors; there is a sense that the political class is corrupt and self-serving; dispensing patronage for favours and committing the sins of simony with Big Business and the professional classes. Our banking structure is a farce: why didn\u2019t we just nationalize them like Iceland, which got out of its recession much sooner?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I have to confess Taoiseach that I bought my apartment at the height of the boom, and now have difficulty making repayments. The bank won\u2019t allow me to get back on a tracker mortgage, even though they promised to do so. The interest rates are crippling me. I want out.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018My friends who are renting are in an even worse plight, and are often randomly evicted by the purchasing power of Canadian and American vulture funds linked to Goldman Sachs. This is not right. Further, it seems to be a society where, if I may be so bold as to quote an Irishism: \u2018it is not what you know, but who you know \u2019, that gets you ahead, which is not meritocratic.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I am sorry to be so forward Taoiseach but governance here does not conform with that of a functioning European social democracy. I am hesitant to be so candid as my culture has imbued me with a formal politesse and deference. I am a decent and civilized person. But Ireland has the resources to become a genuine social democracy, but can\u2019t be as long as you misapply and mismanage your revenue.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Also the endless diet of violence both real, and magnified by the press, is undermining my quality of life. As a woman I am alarmed the stories of sexual assaults I hear in the press. Whether real or exaggerated, I do not feel completely safe walking the streets of Dublin at night.<\/p>\n

\u2018Newspapers trivialise and sensationalise, and do not report the truth at times. Violence has unfortunately become part of the entertainment industry, but increasingly truth and fiction are difficult to disentangle.\u2019<\/p>\n

But Leo, a crackle of emotion in his voice, at last gets a word in: \u2018surely the youthful energy here can make this society work?\u2019<\/p>\n

Chapter 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

She replies: \u2018Ah yes the youth. The youth want to leave Leo for a better quality of life. Many older people too. The brain drain is continuing. Even young native Irish in creative fields don’t have career opportunities, and prefer not to work for multinational companies. They don’t want to live in a satellite town in order to live independently of their parents. The environment you live in impacts significantly on your self-esteem Taoiseach.\u2019<\/p>\n

Some of the younger generation in Ireland are doing well of course, and there is a culture of entitlement, both boorish and materialistic. Culture is commodified, and it is almost impossible for independent artists to live here with the inflated cost of living. Irish people don\u2019t seem to read the \u2018big books\u2019 that I grew up attached to. Ignorance seems to breed a culture of compliance. Of course this is what happens when survival is the main priority. The desperation for money and pervasive avarice have coarsened social interactions. You have lost God and embraced Mammon. It is not that I am particularly religious, in fact I am an atheist, and I too want enough money for a decent standard of living, but this society seems rudderless, and unprincipled.\u2019<\/p>\n

This continues on for many more chapters.<\/p>\n

Endlessly critical, endlessly precise, endlessly judgmental. Lucid, and scathing. By the end, Leo\u2019s world is falling apart and he implores his vengeful demon to offer a dose of optimism.<\/p>\n

Chapter 7<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018The countryside is beautiful\u2019, she responds, \u2018in particular the Atlantic coastline. Connemara is one of the most glorious places I have ever set eyes on. I often try to hike in Wicklow, which is nearly as wonderful as the West, but much of it is inaccessible without a car, as the bus services is almost non-existent. An American friend of mine also says that Ireland is a good place to play golf. And at times in bars and socializing \u2018the craic\u2019, as they say, is \u2018mighty\u2019. But Leo not even the Irish can live on craic alone, which has its disturbing shadow.\u2019<\/p>\n

She then stops abruptly and bids adieu. She has to get up early in the morning for a job interview in London, assuming, post-Brexit, she can get a visa. She is increasingly conscious of how perilous being a migrant is, and may be, throughout Europe in the future.<\/p>\n

Her parting shot is that it is not just Ireland, but Europe and the rest of the world, that is increasingly hostile to migrants. She may be confronting a future of further displacement.<\/p>\n

Leo sighs bemusedly \u2013 remaining convinced of his beneficence. He will consider carefully what she has had to say. He will make Ireland better for those willing to work. But soon the failings she has pointed to slip his distracted mind, and as the problems multiply, he sees no obvious solutions: \u2018Let\u2019s just keep it business as usual\u2019 he says to himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The great Italo Calvino\u2019s novel Invisible Cities imagines a conversation between the Mongolian emperor Kubla Khan and the legendary traveller Marco Polo. Kubla Khan asks Marco Polo to describe for him the great cities he has visited. After a number of vivid and enthralling accounts it becomes clear that Marco Polo is confining himself to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[190],"class_list":["post-2184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-uncategorized","tag-2018july"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}