lesson of bailout from little Ireland

Hi all,
In Ireland, where I live now, the Government is proposing to guarantee all Irish banks capital, loan books etc for 2 years.
The legislation is going through parliament (the Dail) as we speak.
I am very worried about this. The reason this was done was because of lending to developers on property that has now bottomed out. The loan book which should be an asset is now a liability, and the Irish taxpayer may have to bail them out. Also because of lack of guarantee, the Irish banks could not borrow any money on inter bank arrangements. Now they can do this at will, knowing the Irish taxpayer will bail them out. The bankers are still in their jobs, and not one of these people agreed to speak to the media about the bailout. Sad and disgraceful.
It is said that if all Irish banks need bailout it will cost the country 600billion Euro. Yes, that is nearly the same amount in dollars as the US bailout is may cost
We will be bankrupt if that happens.
I am afraid.
Has anyone got any words of comfort. This seems to be a Western problem. I don't see any such bailouts mentioned in the Far East yet.

....And a western problem is a property problem. Especially in the UK where the economy is heavily skewed by it. France is less affected by the culture of rental and strict credit facilities. The east has it's own culture here, too. But no one really knows yet who holds these 'toxic' debts originating from the U$, so global is this crisis. Reverberations will travel the world and echo into the future.

The problem is that the Irish Government's Bill in Parliament is touted as being a "template" for all of Europe's economic and banking problems. Instead of nationalising the banks, let's give them a guarantee! To me that means the taxpayer gets nothing back, and I can see the reluctance of US to agree to a bailout if the taxpayer gets nothing, yet the recalcitrant bankers get everything.
Sad days indeed.

I say it is the end of capitalism. On a lighter note, China will be turn capitalist in due course, and Western Europe - UK, Ireland and Spain particularly, and the US will be socialist - nationalising everything to keep things afloat. Oh the irony!

On a lighter note, China will be turn capitalist in due course, and Western Europe - UK, Ireland and Spain particularly, and the US will be socialist - nationalising everything to keep things afloat. Oh the irony!

...some would say china has 'been capitalist' since '78. I never saw socialism like this... as a social prop for private finance. Oh, the irony! Well,..., nearly there!