Letters About My Past - Letter 4

Newsgroup: SCI

Name of thread: The Irish Christian Brothels revisited.

LETTER 4

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.irish/msg/93421b273d61fd6e

http://tinyurl.com/ngoyzk

June 3rd 2009, 4:39pm

Thank you for your support, "Mothed Out".

I read a very good essay by Noam Chomsky.

Here:

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20090521.htm

He writes,

"As long as such "exceptionalist" theses remain firmly implanted, the
occasional revelations of the "abuse of history" can backfire, serving to
efface terrible crimes. The My Lai massacre was a mere footnote to the
vastly greater atrocities of the post-Tet pacification programs, ignored
while indignation focused on this single crime. Watergate was doubtless
criminal, but the furor over it displaced incomparably worse crimes at home
and abroad -- the FBI-organized assassination of black organizer Fred
Hampton as part of the infamous COINTELPRO repression, or the bombing of
Cambodia, to mention two egregious examples. Torture is hideous enough; the
invasion of Iraq is a far worse crime. Quite commonly, selective atrocities
have this function. "

When the MyLai massacre became public knowledge in the USA at the end of
1969, when the photos surfaced of innocent men, women and children who were
killed or were about to be killed by US troops,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Womanandchildren.jpg

there was understandable outrage amongst the US public.

Yet, despite this outrage, other atrocities were being undertaken at the
same time such as the US bombing of Cambodia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu

which killed anywhere between 100,000 and 600,000 people and doubtless
paved the way for the rise of Pol Pot a little later on. Cambodians are
human beings too but where was the outrage? And the murder of Civil Rights
Activist and US Citizen, Fred Hampton, with the involvement of the FBI.
Where was the outrage for that?

We have the expression in English, "You can't see the forest for the trees".
Let's turn back to Ireland.

What happened in the Industrial schools in Ireland was outdoubtedly horrid.
But what happened there was a symptom of an underlying problem that is still
not being discussed in Ireland, as far as I can tell, namely the phenomenum
of endemic violence in Irish society, not just sexual and physical abuse of
children by priests in Industrial Schools and elsewhere, but violence in
many many homes in Ireland without the direct involvement of bishops or
priests. There is still endemic violence, I believe, in many families in
Ireland. Domestic violence, as far as I can tell, is still kinda a taboo
topic of discussion in Irish public and political discourse. Of course, it's
taboo. If it weren't, Ireland wouldn't be such a damn conservative country.
Domestic violence is another symptom of the underlying problem of endemic
violence in irish society. But, we focus in our public and political
discourse in Ireland chiefly on one symptom, sexual and physical abuse of
children by priests and other "religious people" in Industrial Schools and
elsewhere but we ignore other symptoms and, crucially, we ignore the cause.

We contemplate the tree of violence inflicted by priests on helpless
children in industrial schools, expressing justifiable outrage over that,
but we ignore the wide forest of endemic violence, including domestic
violence amongst "the laity", in our society.

I think one or two of you on this newsgroup have already stated that the
victims of sexual and physical abuse in Industrial schools have received the
short end of the stick. This is not surprising in a society where the
discussion is limited to one symptom, ignoring other symptoms and,
crucially, ignoring the cause.

And, it was the same with the Mylai massacre. When, the news broke in 1969,
there was public outrage. But, discussion was limited to that particular
horrid event. There was no discussion on the possibility of other and
bigger MyLais in other parts of Vietnam. There was no discussion on the US
terror bombing of Cambodian civilians which was kept "covert". There was no
discussion on government agents assassinating one of its own citizens.
There was no discussion on the fundamental nature of the US Empire or,
indeed, on the nature of any Empire. And, what happened with Mylai? Was
justice served?

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre

"While 26 US soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for
their actions at My Lai, only William Calley was convicted. He served three
years of his life sentence." A day after his sentence he was ordered
transferred by President Nixon from prison to house arrest.

Certainly, if I knew about helplines back when I was 12 or 13 years old when
the bullying against me at my school had started, I could very well have
picked up the phone and called someone. But, St. Catherine's Vocational
School, as bad as it was, was no Industrial School. It wasn't that bad. It
was a mixed school, boys and girls studying together, which, I think blunted
the barbarism of the teachers against the students and also undermined
inter-student violence. My self-confidence collapsed in my first year at
St. Catherine's Vocational School and, certainly, a big reason was because
I was being bullied by new students who had been bussed in at the start of
my first year from places like Fintra and Bruckless. But, I think it would
have taken a little bit more than just some bullying, as bad as it was, by
students to trigger a complete collapse in my self-confidence around this
time. Fact is, there was also domestic strife in my home. My father was
unemployed (one reason being he had had a medical operation a few years
previously and was recovering from it) and my mother was forced around this
time to return to the workforce as a nurse. She was a nurse in Altnagelvin
hospital in Derry in the late 1960s before she met my Dad. There was
domestic strife. A taboo issue of public discussion even today in Irish
society I think. My mother and father engaged in blazing quarrels around
this time, 1985 and 1986. My mother wanted my Dad to get a job. But, in
fairness to my dad, times were tough and it was difficult for him to find a
job. He was one of those eminently overqualified guys. So my psychological
wall of defense against the bullies was being undermined at home as well.
The bullies breached the wall during my first year in 1986/87 and continued
to mind fuck me right up to my liberation from secondary school in 1991.
Yes, I remember the genuine emotional tears I shed, even in school in front
of other students and teachers, in 1986/87 as I began my descent into my
psychological prison. I was still human then and could still be saved.
Those tears I shed turned out to be tears of goodbye to my humanity. And,
yes, maybe then, I could have rang a helpline if I knew of one. I was
desperate for a solution. But, a little later on, say 1988/89, it was too
late. I don't think I could shed any heartfelt genuine tears about anything
by 1989. By then, I wouldn't have been motivated to ring a helpline even if
one was available I was apathetic, a zombie, indifferent to many
circumstances around me and psychologically walled in by impotent anger.

And, finally, let us not forget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Womanandchildren.jpg

Paul Carr