In the classic novel 1984 Orwell warned of newspeak; a muddled and twisted version of the English language manufactured to make dissent impossible. Here in the 21st century newspeak is a reality but rather than being the tool of oppressive governments it has become a weapon for the public at large. Using this new language a newsagents sales assistant becomes a ‘till manager and consumer consultant’ while a road sweeper becomes a ‘public area environmental maintenance officer’; and so rather than limit people into monotonous and unchallenging though, this manipulation of terminology has allowed its users to elaborate in the name of self promotion, largely in order to convince themselves of the validity of what they do. One fine example of the phenomenon which has managed to become a regular fixture in Ireland is ‘disposable income’, a more reasonable way of saying ‘money to burn’. The use of the term is itself a sign of a more successful Ireland; however its acceptance has highlighted one of the less responsible aspects of our country when it comes to wealth.
There is something worrying about the idea of having so much money that actually disposing of it is an option; so in a country where personal debt has hit 130% of income it can be assumed that much like ‘money to burn’ the term ‘disposable income’ was not intended in the literal sense. Whatever the original meaning was, however, it seems that this phrase has lost all trace of its embellishments and become a reality.
A scam that has recently been doing the rounds in William Street and Cruises Street of Limerick shows this; a member of the public is approached on the street and duped into buying a box full of phone books under the pretext of it being a laptop. While you can just about forgive the naivety of someone who buys computer goods from a complete stranger on the street without even opening the box, it is the bemusing fact that these “victims” were willing to hand over as much as €650 on the spot that demands attention. It must take some level of ‘disposable’ income to allow a person to hand over more than the average weekly wage packet on something they have never seen, given to them by someone they do not know but this is the state of mind that our new found wealth has put us in.
A natural fact of Irish life that the money a child makes from their communion today seems far greater than the amount in previous generations; things like the euro changeover and inflation are just two much-stated factors that go towards explaining this. Of course when these children’s parents are hiring limousines and even stretch hummers for them to travel in while they harvest this cash, the state of the nation begins to look more than a little bit distressing.
Perhaps flamboyant expenses like these are made with the best intentions at heart; most Irish parents remember the harder times and everything that came with them, they may also remember all the advantages and comforts they missed out on as a result of them. They may thus be forgiven for wanting to ensure their children do not endure the same sense of exclusion.
The problem is, however, that giving a child more than they would even ask for only ensures that they begin to consider such an attitude normal; that may lead to them demanding more of it or even worse passing the same disrespect for money onto their offspring.
The way some people seem to be spending their money would make you think we had been guaranteed a millennia of good fortune; spend now and worry about it later. On the other hand it would be prudish to suggest that those making big money should not spend it, but when the term disposable income is no longer a figure of speech the warning signs become unbearably bright. We as a country are suffering from a growing lack of prudence and financial responsibility and the SSIA’s that tried to halt that spread have now become a driving force for it.
Perhaps the prediction of a bursting bubble in the Irish economy is not to be taken as negatively as some would suggest after all. While no one would like to see a return to the 1980’s, no one is predicting it will be that way. Maybe a sudden bolt from the blue will shock people into a better degree of financial planning and open the countries eyes to the fact that Ireland is not a likely contender for consistent financial greatness if its advancements are squandered. ‘The Celtic Tiger’, another product of newspeak, is being smothered; perhaps when it is dead the public will realise the days of a ‘disposable’ lifestyle has died with it.