On April 24, 2016
Economic Justice Media, an imprint of the interfaith think tank, the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ),
published Easter
Witness: From Broken Dream to a New Vision for Ireland. There were many good books published about
the Easter Rising during the centenary year, all of them well worth reading, so
this volume from a small publisher got overlooked.
Given the fact
that the issues raised in the book have yet to be addressed by the Irish or any
other government, however, it might be even more timely than it was three years
ago:
As the short video hints, the
Easter Rising began on Monday, April 24, 1916 and ended less than a week later,
to all appearances a blood-drenched fiasco. Easter
Witness, however, takes the story further, giving the political and
economic context of the Rising.
More important, the book
presents a unifying and empowering new vision for the future of Ireland and for
the world.
The book relies heavily on
contemporary newspaper reports, Statements By Witnesses collected in the 1940s
and 1950s by the Irish Bureau of Military History (Buro Staire Mileata)
1913-21, diaries, personal correspondence, and first-hand accounts of events
leading up to the Rising. This gives the
reader a unique perspective for understanding a transforming world event.
The story begins with a
concise overview of the Easter Rising and its aftermath. It then presents the
often confused and confusing, century-long series of events that led to the
decision by a small band of Nationalists to sacrifice themselves to bring an
end to British rule of Ireland and reassert the sovereignty of every individual
in a free and independent Irish Republic.
What makes Easter Witness unique and relevant for
today, however, is that it concludes by presenting the outline of a proposal
that has the potential to make Ireland a global model for systemic reform
offering a more just and humane future for all.
This is a program of expanded capital ownership that would secure to
every child, woman, and man the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and
private property.
This, in the words of R.
Buckminster Fuller, would “make the world work for 100% of humanity in the
shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological
offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” Even
now, Ireland has the opportunity to establish and maintain a more free and just
market system for the benefit of everyone in Ireland. It would make Ireland a global model for the
21st Century for people throughout the world who desire economic and social as
well as political freedom.
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