Ezekiel 27:1-28:26
Hebrews 11:17-31
Psalm 111:1-10
Proverbs 27:15-16
RTE are reporting that the Irish Government are definitely not in talks with the EU about a bailout of our once bubbling economy. Every other news agency in the world is saying that they are. A few years ago property in Tullamore was more expensive than property in Manhattan. These days the houses on some estates are being sold at a third of the price they were going for in 2007.
In reading Ezekiel's words against Tyre you can't help but see the parallels between her fall and Ireland's fall. Thankfully in our case it has not been a violent collapse (so far) but the pain has been every bit as real for people. Tyre's success is written about first. All of the places she traded with are listed. As I type this I look round the room at a television made in Korea, I am typing on a laptop from a Japanese company, sitting on a Swedish sofa made in Poland, sipping New Zealand wine from a glass made in France, and everything else in the room was probably made in China.
But after listing the success of Tyre's trading relationships (and the Bible talks about international trade as a good thing as long as it is done fairly) and describing in overflowing language of how Tyre was a protective angel and partner for Israel it goes on to say, "Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace." At one point Ireland had the largest per capita income of any EU country and if you lived here with your eyes open you would have found that an incredibly embarrassing fact as cheek by jowl with immense wealth there was unbelievable poverty and disadvantage hardwired into Irish society. The wealth of our society had been built on the backs of the poor who had worked hard for those whose lifestyles eventually derailed the whole economy.
The violence in the Irish situation was not the physical violence of the army and navy of Tyre but instead the economic violence perpetrated against the poorest in Irish society. I can't help but think that if the driving force of the economy had been put to good social use improving the lot of the working poor in our society with free healthcare, free education and improving the living conditions of those who generated most of the country's wealth with their labour then when the inevitable property collapse hit we would still have people with some spending power who could have helped the country buy their way out of this mess.
Tyre didn't learn. It became so fascinated with its wealth that its King considered himself a God. I'm sure our Taoiseach does not think so highly of himself but even these many centuries later with Tyre's example written out for us in black and white we still do not learn. Let's hope that we not be singing these words about Ireland in the not-too-distant future -
33 The merchandise you traded
satisfied the desires of many nations.
Kings at the ends of the earth
were enriched by your trade.
34 Now you are a wrecked ship,
broken at the bottom of the sea.
All your merchandise and crew
have gone down with you.
35 All who live along the coastlands
are appalled at your terrible fate.
Their kings are filled with horror
and look on with twisted faces.
36 The merchants among the nations
shake their heads at the sight of you,
for you have come to a horrible end
and will exist no more.
Ezekiel 27:33-36
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