Bock The Robber on the Your Country, Your Call idiocy. A farce from start to finish, it was obvious to me the day it was announced that we’d end up with the garbage we did. It’s Bock’s own suggestion at the end of the – entirely justifed – rubbishing I like though. It’s how I try – and sometimes fail, I’ll admit – to run my business, and I despair at the companies and people I come across that don’t.

Now, lest you accuse me of negativity, and point out that it’s easy to criticise, let me give you my positive suggestion.

It isn’t based on marketing, positioning, flim-flammery, three-card-trickery or trying to persuade the world that we’re honest when the world knows full well what a bunch of gobshites we are. Â It isn’t based on wishful thinking, it doesn’t use the sort of nonsense phrases like world-beating that for years we relied on to delude ourselves.

It’s simple. Â I suggest investing in ethics.

I suggest re-educating our entire population, from the youngest pre-schooler to the grimmest old businessman, and including the public service and politicians, explaining precisely what integrity means. Â I suggest teaching our entire population that marketing, promotion, sales, PR and international glad-handing are of no use whatsoever if the thing you’re trying to sell has no substance.

If we don’t take this seriously, we’re doomed to repeat the current economic disaster over and over again, each generation with its own Bertie Ahern, its own Seanie Fitzpatrick, its own Fingers Fingleton, and all the other assorted, integrity-free panhandlers and parasites who have soiled the reputation of this country and sold us down the Swanee for their own, ignorant, self-serving enrichment.

Forget about Eamon Ryan’s smart economy.

Let’s put all our effort into creating the Honest Economy.