Mixed Signals

Today I took a walk down the Falls Road in West Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have often dreamt of doing such since I was young; I'd always romanticized about the brave Irish Republicans that fought for their freedom the same as did the American colonists in the late 1700s. However, as I looked on at the many murals spotting the walls, I noticed a key element which never existed in the American Revolution: an admiration for Socialism.

I not only saw paintings of Che and others of his ilk, but I saw many words congratulating Socialist leaders and demeaning the US. What the artists of these murals must forget is that the US was one of the few countries that took in their poor and starving during the Great Famine, that the US was one of the few countries where the Irish had rights, and that the US was one of the few countries that supplied the Irish Republicans with arms when they went to fight for freedom.

While I don't condone the use of violence, I certainly despise Socialism much more. And that the Irish Republicans advertise Socialism as a great system shows only their ignorance to the real fact that Socialism has NEVER prevailed in any culture or any state. Nearly all of the old communes fell into disrepair within a few generations and it has been made embarrasingly obvious that Socialism can only work when people are forced to adopt it. Much has been said about the US's 'illegal war' in Iraq which was meant to force democracy upon the Iraqis, yet folks never realize that Socialism does the exact same thing. No one will ever accept Socialism peacefully unless he thinks he has nothing more to lose. This is why Socialism only becomes prevalent in societies where the people are already subdued by poverty, hunger or fear.

As I continue my studies here in Belfast, I intend to legitimize the Republican struggle, however, I will also prove that Socialism is not an inherent part of that ideology and that if the Irish ever hope to achieve a united and free country, they should look not to Cuba or Palestine, but to the US.