SOMETIMES YOU
ARE WHAT THEY
SAY YOU ARE.
SOMETIMES YOU ARE WHAT THEY SAY YOU ARE. Sometimes, the values you hold dearest, those which define your beliefs and drive you to see them born into the world, are the very things that are held against you.
Sometimes, when you’re accused of being something, it’s because you are that something. More than that - sometimes you’re proud of it.
Ireland’s political landscape has been radically altered over the last few years. Hatred, bigotry and division have seeped into our communities, spread by those who prey on fear and vulnerability and exploit those emotions for their own gain.
Social media has become a cesspit of misinformation, disinformation and intimidation. Politicians and public figures face constant online abuse whenever they speak out for what they believe in. However, not all intended insults are even insults at all. SOMETIMES YOU ARE WHAT THEY SAY YOU ARE is a collection of examples of that.
One X (Twitter) user once said that the Social Democrats are “#NotANormalParty” – they’re correct. We bring something different to the table, something that’s been absent from our country’s leadership for decades: a vision of a nation raised up by the quality of its public services.
Another user said that we’re “a party that calls abortion reproductive healthcare,” as if it was a derogatory remark; we, of course, don’t see it that way, as that’s exactly what abortion is.
Being accused of having “rebellious trendy lefty ideas” is not the insult some think it is, nor is calling us “tote bag merchants!” Our ideas are formed from our collective dissatisfaction with the status quo, and we would like nothing more than to see the eternal slew of Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil-led Governments put to an end so that we could implement some of those “rebellious” and “lefty” ideas and begin to progress towards a fairer Ireland. Calling us trendy, however, just makes us blush – and tote bags are pretty great too.
If you believe in something, don’t let that belief fade because some faceless social media account paints it as something you deserve to be derided for, something you should be offended by. It’s more important now than ever before that we show courage and back our beliefs in the face of rising far-right sentiment.
Wear those insults with pride.
But…
Sometimes you’re not what they say you are.
The unfettered vitriol and hate which has dominated X (Twitter) ever since that weirdo took over is damaging our democracy. During the summer’s local elections, candidates from underrepresented backgrounds were consistently targeted and abused for being nothing other than themselves, and that abuse continues to flow unchecked.
Jibes often turned to insults, and insults often turned to threats, and those threats have not been taken seriously by the social media companies which platform them or by our Government, who must do more to compel these tech giants to treat online hatred and abuse with a zero-tolerance approach.
If we don’t see a crackdown, we’ll begin to lose the diverse voices which make Ireland the place that it is, the place that I’m proud to call my home.
To those who continue to plague online posts with racist, bigoted, hateful remarks – your time will come to answer for the disgusting ways in which you spend your days, square-eyed and full of rage.
To the others, who call me things which I am, which I’m proud to be, all I’ve got to say is:
“Ginger!” – is that the best you’ve got?
Gary Gannon
Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central