A Proposed É/Acc Reading List
Some thoughts on books that should provide an intellectual foundation for É/Acc - feel free to make suggestions.
Overview
No Irish political or social movement has been successful without some part of its intellectual foundation rooted in narrative of some form: the Fianna relied on oral tradition for inspiration, the Society of United Irishmen were thrust into action by the writings of Robespierre and Paine, the Irish Literary Revival was coloured by some of the same stories that animated the Fianna with Paine going on to further influence Daniel O’Connell and the subsequent Home Rule and independence movements.
At the margins, conditions in Ireland compelled contemporary thinkers into new forms of thinking with Edmund Burke, Henry George and Mahatma Gandhi notable examples of those whose writings, partly in response to Ireland, went on to propel the island through history. Modern Ireland is directionless with one probable cause the lack of a unifying narrative that compels a portion of the population to become agentic.
For Éire Accelerationism (É/Acc) to succeed, the movement must have some body of work that distils the core ideas necessary for Ireland to realise its destiny as a country with infrastructure, energy and housing in abundance. Such writings should emphasise the unique and disproportionate role the island has played in civilisation’s history, prize all that being high agency entails, including individualism, and highlight the importance of the misfit, the Great Man Theory of history should follow logically if the importance of being agentic is assumed. Poorly constructed but tempting ideas should as utilitarianism should be avoided for fear of attracting the wrong personality types, as has happened in other movements, and instead only those ideas that can be logically proven to be true should be accommodated - Burke must be lionised, John Stuart Mill should not be.
Thinkers and doers must be attracted to É/Acc, pure thinkers should not be in order for a framework where the Builder is the ideal. A community that enables Ireland to meet its full potential must have an urgency to it; there is no place for daydreamers at such a critical juncture in history.
Thinking about this has led to my sense that the below might be the start of such a reading list, suggestions are welcome.
The É/Acc Logo
Suggestions
'From Third World to First: The Singapore Story' - Lee Kuan Yew
With an emphasis on getting the basics right, Singapore has transformed itself from a backwater to having the world’s fourth highest GDP per capita in mere decades. Notably, Lee Kuan Yew recognised the importance of the populace’s trust in implementing reform, a pillar that is currently lacking for Ireland’s political class to implement an agenda of change. Like Singapore, Ireland has developed a thriving services economy.
Unlike Singapore, Ireland has failed to develop its infrastructure alongside the concurrent increase in GDP as pointed out regularly by Séan Keyes and Emma Waldron Chen. From Third World to First charts how Singapore managed to avoid the trap of securing Foreign Direct Investment in services without developing its more tangible economy. Most of all, the book charts how Kuan Yew managed to steer Singapore successfully in a multi-polar world.
'Lady Gregory's Complete Irish Mythology' - Lady Gregory
Myths are an integral part of a country’s culture as espoused by ‘Hamlet’s Mill’ by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend given the intuitive way in which they transmit knowledge. Lady Gregory’s Complete Irish Mythology collects what was, up to then, a largely verbal history of Ireland and is, in my opinion, the most complete compendium of the gods, tribes and heroes that went on to inspire later Irish movements. Otherwise known as Of Gods and Fighting Men, the book begins with stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the tribe of the gods, that were cast as idealised humans living in an Otherworld whose heroism was meant to inspire mortals.
The book also collects stories of the Fianna and the Children of Lir - these stories are fundamental parts of the Irish cultural tapestry and ought to be part of refounding Ireland’s purpose. It is not a coincidence that these same stories inspire both the Gaelic Revival, and an Irish literary renaissance, and independence leaders such as Pearse and De Valera, for an agenda of reform to be successful, Ireland’s uniqueness, and destiny, should be at its core.
'The Atlantean Irish: Ireland's Oriental and Maritime Heritage' - Bob Quinn
To think a book is important, one does not necessarily have to agree with its premise. Open-mindedness should be part of an abundance mindset, one likely reason for the lack of imagination in Irish policymaking is the fact the Overton window is too narrow, and appears unusually so in an international context and one. Quinn convincingly places Ireland’s maritime heritage at the centre of over eight millennia of international trade and thinks of Irish civilisation first and foremost as a maritime one and so Ireland’s outlook has always been an international one.
'An Irish Atlantic Rainforest' - Eoghan Daltun
Abundance does not have to come at the expense of the environment, indeed providing infrastructure at scale will help create a more sustainable Ireland, see Séan Keyes’ Rail Theory of Everything for details on how this could be achieved vis-vis more housing. Daltun describes how one can achieve abundance in a microclimate in West Cork’s Beara Peninsula through rewilding a 73-acre farm. The Plantations of Ireland played a critical role in what were then unprecedented levels of deforestation from which the island only started to recover in the 20th century through commercial forestry. For Ireland to regain its true self, rewilding is part of the story.
At Ireland’s cultural height, described in Lady Gregory’s Complete Irish Mythology and conjectured in The Atlantean Irish, native forests were a core part of Irish identity, perhaps restoring them would help create the scenius necessary for the island to meet its potential.
Pádraic Pearse: The Collected Works
Taking advantage of the blog of his day, Pearse was a prolific writer and published numerous books at a time when the printing press became accessible for many. Too little is his work referenced today and, on reading Pearse, the reason is obvious: independence has likely failed from the perspective of many of those who led the movement.
In From a Hermitage, Pearse decries those who spend their days debating and not creating something tangible. For É/Acc to succeed, there must be an unwavering emphasis on building, an often daunting task, and Pearse places immense importance on symbolism as a way of inspiring builders in From a Hermitage. Crucially, the book contains an Open Letter to Douglas Hyde, an analogue to today’s tweet, and demonstrates the importance of laughter in undertaking monumental tasks - É/Acc should not make its adherents miserable.
The Murder Machine outlines a vision for education, one that aims to inspire the learner rather than repress. Today’s system has changed little since independence with British civil service exams being the foundation for the ethos which fuels the Leaving Certificate system. Despite the numerous reforms which has occurred, perhaps É/Acc could advocate for a system that gives both the learner and the teacher more freedom, as Pearse advocated, in a framework that is reminiscent of Dominic Cummings’ idea of an Odyssean Education.
Pearse’s body of work is voluminous, all books and speeches are essential reading given that ambition and high agency are placed at almost every argument’s core.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing
This is a masterful account of how Ernest Shackleton led the last great voyage of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration for which he is said to have posted the infamous advertisement:
‘Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.’
Of the twenty-eight men on the Endurance, the crew aiming to make the first land crossing of Antarctica, Shackleton, Tom Crean and Tim McCarthy were Irish. The book recounts Shackleton’ effective fundraising skills, unusual interviewing techniques that sought unique candidates and rejection of hierarchy to create the crew that achieved one of the most feted expeditions in history. Shackleton’s approach to organisation and leadership creates a blueprint that ought to be replicated by É/Acc.
‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ - Edmund Burke
Burke correctly predicted the French Revolution would end in tragedy suggesting its ideas were too abstract to sustain such a movement. Every movement should have a theory of change, Burke argues such groups should focus on the practicality of their solutions rather than purely philosophical concepts - something É/Acc must keep at the forefront of its thinking.
Author’s Note
Thanks to Will O’Brien for founding É/Acc, I think the movement has a high probability of effecting an evolution in the kind of thinking that creates public policy in Ireland over the coming decades. My burgeoning interest in accelerationism is due to Matvey Boguslavskiy, Amaan Ahmad and Levan Bokeria. You can contact me at tolanro [at] tcd [dot] ie.