What Happened To Ireland's Independence?

The "Ireland debt crisis" is an interesting example of State corruption and financial corruption.

Since when did Ireland become a nation of wimps? The IRA (Irish Republican Army) fought the UK for independence for decades. Now, a handful of banksters have enslaved Ireland, via debt and fiat money. Nobody is complaining much.

Interestingly, the banksters who own the Irish national debt are probably British, although the exact identity isn't revealed.

That's the advantage of debt enslavement compared with a military conquest. Debt enslavement is presumed legitimate. "The national debt is sacred and must be repaid!" is one of the best economic lies of all time. Most "national debt" is owned by insiders. They will always profitably lobby to prevent a national debt default. If you own $10B+ of government debt, it's very easy to lobby against default.

The banksters borrow at the Fed Funds Rate (or ECB central bank rate) and buy government debt. It's practically risk-free profit. The banksters borrow from the government and lend to the government, taking a cut. They don't have a legitimate debt ownership claim. The banksters don't legitimately own the national debt, because their debt purchase is State-subsidized.

That's ironic. Almost every country has a huge "national debt". The big question is "To whom is this debt owed?" The "national debt" is mostly owned by the banksters. They borrow from the central bank at cheap rates and buy the national debt, earning a practically riskless profit.

Not counting debt payments, Ireland has a positive balance of trade. Irish exports > Irish imports. How did Ireland get into economic trouble?

1. Ireland is a member of the EU and Euro.
2. The ECB (Euro central bank) kept interest rates artificially low a few years ago, just like the Federal Reserve kept interest rates low in the USA around 2001-2004.
3. This caused a housing bubble in Ireland, exactly the same as in the USA.
4. The banksters made a ton of money during the housing bubble.
5. The Irish housing bubble burst.
6. The Irish banks are bankrupt.
7. The Irish banks are "too big to fail".
8. The Irish government bailed out the Irish banks. More technically, they bailed out the other banks who lent the Irish banks money.
9. Now the Irish government is broke.
10. The other EU members are demanding tax hikes in Ireland, in exchange for a bailout.
    

The US government is issuer for the dollar. They can always print more bonds to roll over the debt. They can always create more Federal Reserve Notes and finance more debt. The US government still has monetary sovereignty, although they did partially delegate that power to the Federal Reserve.

Ireland is a member of the Euro and EU. They gave up control of their money. That's functionally equivalent to ceding sovereignty. Ireland can't just print new money/bonds like the US government can. Ireland's government doesn't control its own money.

By joining the EU, Ireland gave up its hard-earned freedom.

Ireland has relatively low tax rates compared to the rest of the EU. That's one reason they're economically successful. The tax hikes will decrease Ireland's economic advantage.

Why don't the Irish people say "We aren't the ones who caused the housing bubble. We fought the UK for freedom, just to be debt-enslaved by some British banksters? We're not paying! We're defaulting!"

Ireland is an excellent example of the bankster scam. The banksters speculate. They make huge profits during the boom. The get bailed out during the bust. The government has huge debt for the bailout. They must raise taxes and cut spending, to pay off the national debt.

The Compound Interest Paradox guarantees that everyone is enslaved under a crushing debt burden. That leads to the current perverse situation. Every government is almost broke due to crushing "national debt". To whom is this debt owed? The banksters own the national debt.

The banksters borrow from the government and lend to the government, via central bank borrowing and purchasing government debt. The slaves pay higher taxes so that the banksters can earn huge salaries without doing any useful work. "Interest on the national debt" is the #1 expense for most governments.

These are two of the top economic lies of all time. They are "too big to fail" and "The national debt is sacred and must be repaid." When a big bank is bailed out, that's a stealth bailout of that bank's creditors, which is usually an even bigger bank.

The "national debt" is an excuse for higher taxes, higher inflation, and "austerity measures". Why can't a country say "We're defaulting!"? If you lend money to someone who can't afford to pay, you deserve to lose your investment.

Why can't Ireland drop out of the EU and default?

It's very ironic. After fighting for decades for freedom, Ireland is now enslaved by British banksters, and everyone presumes it's legitimate.