No more slut shaming. No more body shaming. As for out-of-wedlock marriage and adultery, you cannot speak ill of any of it. Remember what happened when Dan Quayle dared to suggest that it was perhaps not the best idea to idealize Murphy Brown? Among the casualties of this war has been good behavior. Everyone has been told to say what is on his or her mind, regardless of how anyone else will see it.
So, the war on shame has produced a world that is awash in rude, crude, offensive and insulting comments. Since we no longer hold good manners to be of any value, we are reduced, according to a formula first stated by Confucius, to police bad manners. We do not say that they are rude; we call them microaggressions.
We no longer teach people to make positive gestures that denote politeness and respect. We tell them to overcome their sense of shame and to let it all hang out. When we do not like what is hanging out, we want to punish the perpetrator. I have often opined on this subject. Today, Karol Markowicz offers similar thoughts: The internet is full of examples of what we now call micro-aggressions but were once known simply as rude or nosy comments. Many black women complain of people touching their hair. I find myself often wondering if things will change,but I really fear that this country will forever be stuck in a boom and bust cycle which I really believe is the result of apathy and Irish people not really wanting what is best for the community and only the them self..
Ireland may not always have foreign investors to buoy up the economy and god help everyone if they disappear! Hi Glenn,thanks for the response. I have lived here for probably 7 years altogether after first visiting in I have lived in Dublin,Kerry and now Cork. After much deliberating I have recently purchased a house in what is considered a very good area after selling some properties back home.
I had a retail business for a couple of years here but nothing could ever convince me to do that here again. Wow,people were challenging here compared to working back home. Thankyou for setting up the blog,I thoroughly enjoy reading it and truth be said it has kept me sane the past few months when I could have thrown the towel in! Life here is a constant challenge.
Take note,you can be the most law abiding citizen and have no protection in this country if a known trouble maker decides to pick on you. No one takes responsibility for anything,that would entail intelligence and work. Look forward to future posts and feel free to contact me via e mail if you would like. Keep up the good work! I agree with you regarding people in Ireland wanting what is only best for them. Regarding retail business its the same all over.
I was in business here and people have high expectations all over. Going off topic…its probably the same in Ireland now but over here one day runs into another. Sunday is Bunnings day. In regard to your problem with the policeman and the bully, you will probably find they went to school together and they are related. The cat litter rant is fairly hilareous. I think Americans are far more obsessed about their pets than Irish people which may explain it. Also pretty hilareous is the water taps thing.
I mean really why would you give a crap about the taps? Dublin Bus is a law unto itself alright, although I like to call this character. The whole value systems thing is definitely very interesting but you seem to make a bit of a mess of it.
America: A Big, Fat, Stupid Nation
You may find that subtlety is a big thing in Ireland. Anyway I think you could do a better job of it in the future perhaps, especially the idea of seperating the professional sphere from the social sphere which I think Irish people in general are quite good at work hard in their job but have a laid back outlook to life in general while American people in general are not. Interesting stuff all the same. Keep it up, look forward to the next post. I found your post fun Glen and as an Irish person agree with the relaxed attitude, though personally I would call it laziness myself combined with a downtrodden psychology that makes us reluctant to complain about much of anything.
This is a great blog, really enjoyed reading through it, and I am looking forward to further posts. Dear Glenn, welcome to Dublin. My mother had an American neighbour for a few years who had the following issues with Dublin and Ireland and Irish people in general: The mixer tap issue. I am not sure why. Not being able to pay for take-away pizza with a credit card, and generally having to use cash more than she had to in the States. Do pizza delivery guys really have credit card machines in the States?
The way Irish people give directions by either supplying the name of a pub or, say, a crossroads that only Irish people know the name of e. She felt it was exclusionary. Though I would completely admit that you have to know in which general direction you are going in order to get anywhere in this country. Again, not exclusionary, just a different language our national language in fact.
The unrelentingly miserable and dark and miserably dark Irish winter. This will be your first Irish winter here, so good luck with that. Also a factor in her repatriation. We have fantastic meaty tasty sausages. American sausages taste plasticky and are of dubious provenance, but each to their own.
I lived in China for several years and never even saw that there either. My friends were genuinely perplexed and asked what the point of it was…. Washing dishes in scalding hot water is not fun. Separate taps bothering the English? One Ireland has grossly overpaid, disorganised, lazy and unaccountable Irish people — government, local councils and civil service.
And the other Ireland has dynamic private businesses full of harding working Irish people. Much more honest to say that in each walk of Irsh life esp in public sector there are dynamic people but due to small insular nature of our society they get overwhlemed with the time wasters that are difficult to fire due to our intrinsic smallness. I think you may be on to something here. I also have met people representing dynamic Irish businesses, and the contrast between them and their government systems could not be starker.
Regarding sausages, Superquinn is your best bet. They have a fine variety. There are also many independent butchers that enter competitions with their own sausages, many of which involve spices and herbs not found in the popular brands. That said, Clonakilty sausages and Rudd sausages were handed down to us from heaven. Public transport — fair points. And bring me back some. As a Canadian living in exile in Dublin, I share many of your sentiments. Adjusting to Dublin can be a trying experience — especially when you have to deal with the original rednecks and crackers who run the country.
I would be interested in your take on how to improve this god foresaken rock! What do you think so? I see a lot of street harassment and xenophobia in the cities here. One day I was complaining out loud about my boss. My point is if the shoe was on the other foot? Getting things done here is very difficult. Nor does the lack of postcodes zip codes to you, Yankee! Or the fact that when you book a train seat online, other people just sit in it anyway. I know nothing of cat litter. You can get good sausages. It is precisely this casual, laid-back approach to life which makes this the most fantastic place in the world to live.
Nowhere else will you find people as friendly, charming, good-natured, welcoming and funny. They are also extraordinarily politically aware. They are largely well-read, interested in the world, often well-travelled and usually well-mannered. People here know how to party, and are not afraid of staying out late, having a few drinks and meeting people. There is no class system per se; people judge you by who you are and how you act, rather than how much you earn or where you went to school.
An Irish funeral is a celebration of life and the achievements of the deceased; an Irish wedding is a celebration of life at which you may risk death from alcohol poisoning. The Irish are deeply loyal, committed to the notion of family — and above all else, they are really, really good fun.
We think there is more to life than just money drink, for example, is far more important. As one of our many great national poets put it: You will literally want to bang your head against a wall. Your protest will dissipate as the ripples on a pond. Hey Fred, reading your blog entry was utterly therapeutic. I now definitely feel that I am not alone with my experiences. I am planning to move to Ireland in the summer of I think that hot and cold running taps will be a small price to pay for living in a beautiful country so richly steeped with history.
I look forward to living in a place where people still look you in the eye when they say hello. Something not done very often here in America. I hope to be accepted by this country and these wonderful people, and I am certain I can adapt to a slower paced life.
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This was the best comment I have read! I love the people and everything that comes with them. Thanks for the good read! Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, a twister has carried you over the Rainbow and delivered you to munchkin land. The native munchkins are a peculiar sort, inhabiting a country with one foot in the 21st Century and one foot in their collective mouths. Some observations about the munchkins. They hate to see anyone with talent succeed, and would rather put an idiot into office than someone with ability.
But I regret to say I actually agree with everything you have just said. Maybe that makes me one of the non-Yahoo munchkins? Of course, I forgot to mention one of the major problems with Ireland is the nepotism. In America and indeed in Canada, we would have fired their asses a long time ago! The competition is not much better, they just employ people from the same small town in the south called Cork! So I wonder how do black people get treated there? I myself am not black but do have some family who are mixed with white and black and would love to know the situation.
I wish there were better things to report. But sadly, I think a fair number of the stereotypes about racism and the Irish are true. Collectively that seems not to be the case. I am appalled at how black people beat their children and think its discipline. The rude loud entitlement behaviour a nd how their asylum seekers yet go home regularly on holidays. Yet we simple minded people have to put up with their criticism of our country. First of all, I want to genuinely thank you for reading the blog, and for taking the time to comment. Clearly it gets to the heart of your sense of Irish insecurity, and, offensive or not, I want to encourage conversations of all kinds.
I genuinely welcome your comments on this one as well. But, first please read the existing comments so that you can see where this extensive conversation on Irish racism has already taken us. Sure he backpedal a a bit, but the sentiment is there. Prejudice, xenophobia, and hypocrisy — you squeezed them all into one post.
Cats poop outside here, hence the different shades of green. Buses always come in two or never. If you need something done then just keep hassling, at least your not having to deal with an Indian far far away. I just wanted to comment about the racism. It, of course, never occurred to David that the prison population in Ireland is so skewed in that direction because of systemic racism.
Sadly, racism the world over has become a far more insidious and subtle problem than just beating or killing people. Casual slights and remarks are the regular and consistently damaging way that racism wounds people these days. Hungary has put up fences to stop refugees. A dark — skinned Brazilian friend of mine came to Dublin, and we met up for a coffee.
This has included both verbal abuse and unprovoked physical attacks. Of course not all or even the majority of the Irish are racist, but to say racism does not exist in Ireland is simply inaccurate. But, sadly, you are right. There is most definitely racism in Ireland. An American has difficulty integrating outside America?
I guess you must be unusual in that regard, and lack the tact, sophistication and open-mindedness for which your fellow-countrymen are so well-known. He was merely stating his observations after his short time in a new country — there is nothing wrong with doing so. It takes a long time to integrate, no matter where you come from or where you go, and you are bound to have your own opinions and comparisons to make.
He is simply expressing his on a public forum. There is no need to get nasty and sarcastic. Mark here from NewsTalk Radio, I sent you a mail with regard to getting in contact?
Just basically wondering if you might be up for a little chat. Anyhoot, looking forward to hearing from you. It appears that broadsheet. My favourite part of the whole blog entry, though, was your response to Fionn:. I disagree with your thesis that the Irish are easy going people who can never complete anything on time. I moved to Germany once and had great difficulty with the bureaucracy there despite the German rep for efficiency.
Irish people may have an easygoing manner but there is a difference between appearance and action. I like the sausage they sell in J Hick butcher which is in dun laoghaire and in the city centre at Essex St West. Tastes differ and an alternative to spicy food is to use sauces, to season to your own taste or to appreciate more subtle flavours. I have no idea why people buy these things. Same prob in UK. Result is heavy unionisation and a culture of knowing you get paid the same no matter what service you provide as there is no competition.
There has been an attempt to improve services: There is a tracking system installed on buses now and you can see when the next bus is coming by typing in the 5 digit bus stop number into http: The bus route network is being reconfigured for the first time in a million years and this process is halfway through so there is some confusion. Thousands are due to be fired, they are being amalgamated and the staff are taking a lot of flak from the public who resent having to bail them out. In addition, money laundering requirements oblige them to collect utility bills and other documents when you may not have these items yet.
When I moved to the UK I found that the banks were considerably worse to deal with than here, I had great difficulty opening an account despite having a large salary and the branches were staffed by mentally subnormal people. Every second retired mom and pop thought they could live on the proceeds of real estate investment. Following the house price crash, many of these people are struggling to make payments and only now realising the difference between the net and gross yields they expected on their investments.
You can expect that your landlord in Ireland will be a disillusioned moron. They do everything they can to avoid paying out any money to fix problems in their properties. They rarely give leases longer than a year. Tenants in turn treat their rental properties like complete shit and move frequently. There is a poor culture around renting in general and a presumption that decent people should own their houses. You would need to be more specific in your criticism. My interactions with govt are very easy and trouble free and mostly online.
Hey Glenn, ex-pat Brit here, coming to your blog via broadsheet. The times on the bus timetables? I agree that this is utterly insane and I often find myself explaining the system to tourists waiting at the bus stop with me in town. Taps are the same in the UK, and much of mainland Europe. I spend far too much time in the States and I still have my head-wrecked by how low the toilets are there and how close ones arse is to the water. Even the bread is sweet. After only a couple of days I crave sour.
The hotel I and my colleagues stay in for work is 10 min walk from the office. Also, when I walk back from the restaurant to my hotel after dinner I do not want to drive at night, with jet-lag, on the wrong side of the road, in a car with not enough pedals, after a glass of wine I do not appreciate the cop car following me. I am a middle-aged European business woman, not a bloody hooker. You may not be able to handle your booze mister thanks to that lemonade you insist is beer, but I can.
Ended up in a 10 minute standoff with the server; they eventualy compromised and she got a half-decaf. HaHa Ex Pat you make me laugh. But the water to ass proximity blew my mind away and that god awful cheese on everything plus the sweet food flavouring …haha I can relate…!! I found myself checking the contents of every-thing I was consuming….
Even commercial businesses seem to have unbreakable bureacratic walls. Rationality and professionalism are hard to find. I wish people were relaxed here as well though. One of the things about travelling that most non-Americans enjoy is the experience of finding how things are done in the rest of the world.
Why is it so many Americans love to point out those differences as though the Eeew-Ess-Aye was the only place getting it right? Is the rest of the world really trying and failing to be like the blessed yanks? They always seemed vaguely disappointed that they had come all this way, and what they had found was… well… not American. They were good friends of mine, so I humoured them. I refrained from pointing out them that the cure for their particular case of misery-guts was to feck off back home.
Have you considered fecking off back home? He pointed out the differences that affected his life and the differences he experienced and is having to adjust to. No where in anything I read did he say USA was better. BUT our faucets are better than yours, your faucets do suck. He has been giving his first impressions and experiences. Put your big boy or girl panties on and grow up. There nothing wrong with expressing his first impressions and things he is finding difficult to adjust to.
Our country, while we have some great things…is crap majority of the time and any American with any drop of intelligence will be more than happy to admit it and even go as far as to tell you why they think so. I would like to spend some time in Ireland and I am thinking about going for a couple years with my company to experience a people I think I would love.
Most people on here are getting it. Some people are too blinded by their own Nationalistic insecurities to see that observations and personal likes or dislikes are not attacks on its citizens or quality of people. Keep up the good work, I am finding this very educational. I am considering the move myself. Why not go home to your racially segregated country and enjoy a good sausage session there? Are you are waiting for the call-back re: If you think the Dublin Bus service is bad, god help you if you come down to Galway. At least Dublin buses turn up! Why is everyone giving out about taps??
Is it really that much of an inconvenience??? If so then I find that a bit sad really. To be honest, I think your comments make sense to an outsider. I am Irish and proud to be it. I am driven and have hopes and plans for the future. We do not all lack motivation simply because we are easy going.
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Irish people just take life as it comes, but we are constantly working to improve services such as Dublin Bus. Not all Irish people are relaxed about the transportation services we have and many complaints have been lodged against both Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. Our sausages are not composed of pig meat from several pigs either. Our butchers work hard to produce good and healthy food with a quality taste. Rumored to be the finest sausages in Ireland. They can be bought in most supermarkets nowadays. The hot and cold tap thing? Its just a good old fashioned way of doing it. Its not like it takes a scientist to figure out how to get the water to the right temperature by using two taps.
I must comment on the sausages. First, the pork here, I think, is superior to the pork in Australia. Probably the pork in America as well. I think your pork is fattier, which is a good thing. Full marks for pork. As for additives, I feel compelled to disagree. A common additive here, at least as far as I can see, is MSG. That is unbelievable to me, an Australian. It is also more difficult to find gluten free products, including sausages. But that is true in most rural areas. Like it or not, everything is more difficult here. There is a lack of maturity in processes and in the provision of basic services.
I suspect corruption is the norm here, a lot of behaviour that is accepted would be considered criminal in other first world countries. My mum has been here to Oz and tasted the coffee here and she would agree with you. Cat litter and taps? How incompetant are you? You must have a very uninteresting life to dwell on such things. As for the DART, the maps are simple. It only goes in two directions, it branches off ONCE. Most European Metro maps are extremely complicated compared so good luck if you ever move. Which, you really should do if the Kitty Litter is bothering you so much. This can also be seen in every stage of their education system, too.
Your closest Costco… England and Ireland are the same place right? With regard to cat litter: Slan abhaile, dood ;. We are about ten-to-twenty years behind London, Paris and New York etc. No one in Ireland will ever fully understand your frustration with this and you will seem pedantic and anally retentive in your language the more you bang on about it.
A Tom cat, about 4 years old, likes attacking things, thinking about himself and general mayhem etc. Least of your worries, just go to the Pet Shop or order online. Enough has been said on this already. Buses are a philosophical concept in Dublin. More of a riddle, to tease the foreigners into talking to us and make it easier for us to find out why they are here. Just enjoy it in the spirit of chaos theory or get on a bike or walk. Goat Rodeo, I like that one…. Look at the US though. Or , sell it online and then buy an Android phone Free yourself from the cult and catch up with the curve.
Think about island mentality though, It explains much of why we are seen as or like to perceive ourselves as very outgoing, friendly and good at mixing with people from around the world. We do have an innate curiosity but as a kind of self-defense mechanism because we are only a couple of hundred miles apart, coast to coast, in a one and a half degree of Irish bacon sort of way…. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom ….. I feel sorry for people like you. If everything was the same everywhere life would be so boring.
You see the dual taps thing is a manifestation of Irish hardiness and desiciveness ok i dont know how to spell decisivness. Consequently our choices in life were very basic. Eat whats there of starve, sing or go home, go to work or call in sick and yes hot or cold! While you Americans with your fancy pants choice of different shoes and fancy pants had let to an indecicivness dammit!
Similarly with your choice of water temperature. Should you have it cold, hot, a mix of the two, maybe more one than the other?
Make a decission man! Hot or cold, youll be washed either way, theres things to do! This is also why we had had such a stable financial system without a glitch for decades. If you have heard anything else that was just French propaganda you guys hate them too right? Most modern cities lets not forget Dublin made itself one of the most expensive cities on the planet have a one-ticket system, a ticket that uses any form of public transport within the city.
You can only pay coins to get the bus. In a capital city. Try living in continental Europe. Or are you not open minded enough? The sausages argument is also a joke. Ever been to countries like Italy or France? Gastronomically speaking, it is a mess.
Sub-par food at supermarkets with high markup price. Expensive restaurants, low quality food. But why bother wasting so much money on expensive food? The sausage here IS bad, excepting Hicks and other regional producers. Dennys, Galtee, and the other main producers are no longer as good as they once were. Many products from the US. Cat litter there, or was. That and because few Irish will pay what the best meats and products cost.
You might try some of the online butchers like Jack McCarthy in Cork. He wins contest in France no less and Queen Eliz was served his black pudding. But euro and you have free next-day delivery to Dublin. His chicken and beef are excellent and cheaper than Tesco or Dunnes. They ship to Ireland: For cheap phone calls, try ww.
Many airlines allow you to bring pets with you on the plane in the cabin at no charge. It varies on international flights. Aer Lingus is very backward. I brought over my pound dog but went through London and drove over here. I moved here ten years ago, after twice-year visits since Ireland has gone downhill in the past ten years. They deliver, have great staff and at Christmas they deliver free gifts for your pet. This IS ridiculous but you can actually get hand basins with mixer taps.
I nearly lost it when I moved into my new house and they had the old fashioned kind. Dual taps should be banned for safety reasons. You should try http: Their Chorizo is particularly good. We don't do the flat sausage patties you get in the US, because come on now, they're a sin against pork, but can always make your own.
I tweet them on a weekly basis; try it. They do respond with useful information. They're a bit jaded but then again, that's a complaint one could make of nearly all public transit workers, globally. The system is improving with the live timetables and new routes are being added this Autumn. But seriously, wait till it snows again this year.. You can probably tell from the ire you've generated with your post that Irish people are a lot more passionate than you first thought. The country has come on a lot in the last 10 or 20 years, and that didn't happen without the people.
Gay Marriage, for example. How many US States have that? Make new friends and stop talking to the people who have been giving you this impression. Hi there and thanks for writing the post. I started reading through the comments and saw a sensitive Irish backlash beginning. The Irish appear to be very sensitive to anybody picking holes in the way the country operates. Born and living here. I rant about it to friends far too much. The buses own customers have often made websites to display more helpful information than the buses own and that speaks volumes. Too many people are pat on the back for getting a job done quickly and cheaply, with short-term solutions rather than slowly and with a larger budget to leave a long-term solution and overall cost-efficiency.
Few recognise that the things that appear to be unimportant feed into the things they count as important. In relation to the tap issue, they are separated for energy efficient purposes. Your hot water tap is sourced from your boiler which is always located on the ground floor. Therefore convection currents are used to rise the water through the pipe.
Your cold water tap is sourced form your cistern tank which is always located in the attic space and simply gravity is used to move the water through the pipe. A dual tap requires more expensive and energy consuming techniques to source the water. I hope this helps clear up the situation and I look forward to reading the 5 things you love about Ireland. Fundamentally, it is identical. All that matters, what you are told to put in your mouth, is aligned to the same destructive, corporate-sponsored dietary doctrine.
I apologize for my original accusation America, this is not stupidity -- it is insanity. Einstein is no longer around to identify and solve your problems. However, a little-known Welsh obesity researcher, Zoe Harcombe, may be the surprising, next-best hope for salvation. For the last six months, I have been peeling through the twenty years of obesity research that she has accumulated.
Some insight will be shared in her upcoming publication 'The Obesity Epidemic'. If you want to know why you're fat, and who wants to keep you that way, I suggest you head to the Welsh valleys and plead with her for a little chat. Americans still rule the world. They can stroll on the moon, influence global diplomacy, finance unstable countries around the world Of course they could, if it were actually desired.
Unfortunately, for the world's most powerful companies, an unhealthy America is, perversely, a very profitable America. If I own a sock company, I need people with feet to maintain my business. Similarly, if I own a diet company total combined U. Luckily for the diet industry, the even more powerful food industry estimated value: Foods which make people fat. The medical industry is similarly grateful -- the unhealthy obese are as vital for their profit margins as oil is to the oil business.
And we've seen what happens when the oil industry has their supply stream compromised. So, if industries with a combined net worth and power exceeding many actual countries , need a vital supply chain to survive, we can safely say that they will probably work out how to get it. People in America like to think that they eat with freedom. Ultimately, however, they can only pick what is presented to them, and what they can afford. Then, the decision is based on what they believe to be healthy, tasty and safe. With that in mind, can you imagine how great it would be for the industries mentioned above, if dietary advice given could be contained and restricted to just one organization that they could pour money into?
That scenario is not just some North Koreanesque wet dream. It is USA To keep the bubble airtight, the full might of the law has even been implemented. Kim Jong-il would be proud of the attention to detail. Staggeringly, in 46 out of 50 States, the message the authorities want you to have is protected. The law determines who is able to provide you with nutritional advice.
America: A Big, Fat, Stupid Nation | HuffPost
My friends, it is a beautiful army. Partners recent and current -- and their latest annual revenue figures:. There are even some 'premier sponsors': Why are these gargantuan companies -- whose only intention is to make money, not make you healthy -- allowed to fund the ADA? The ADA themselves can perhaps assist us. On their own website in the section where they are trying to seduce corporate America , they offer a helping hand:.
But, Martin, darling, they are paying you to be at their table. You are publicly telling America that you are somehow the one wearing the trousers in the relationship?
- Five Things I Hate About Dublin Ireland.
- Crude, Rude, and Stupid: An American Epidemic?!
- theranchhands.com: Crude, Rude, and Stupid: An American Epidemic? eBook: Barry G. Dolgin: Kindle Store.
- Das Hildebrandslied (German Edition)?
- Sell Digital Knitting Products Today.
- Kulturmarketing: Das Marketingkonzept für Kulturbetriebe (Beck-Wirtschaftsberater im dtv) (German Edition)!
My headline must be correct -- even the ADA seem to think that America is stupid.