Real Slim Pickings
How Ireland has changed since I was a boy.
More Money More Problems.
In the last 20 years, Ireland as a country has come on in leaps and bounds by most estimations. We were the poor cousins of our European neighbors, the ones invited to the party last and always introduced to others with a knowing glance. We went from this to the heady times in the mid 2000’s where there was too much money in the Irish economy. So much money that we just didn’t know what to do with it, but we certainly succeeded in spending it. We bought expensive cars and built patios in the suburbs. We learned about foreign cuisine in foreign restaurants. We discovered that wine tasting was not as bad as we thought and you got to get drunk guilt free. And then it all went wrong in ’08.
The World Bank estimates that Ireland’s average income per capita is now approximately 39,000 USD and whilst this is down from the boom time high of $50,000, it still shows a marked improvement and one that we can all be proud of. And the numbers show that things are improving even if it’s a little hard to see it on the ground.
Inflation is back up to boom time levels and whilst no one will take any solace in that fact, many will agree that it is indeed another indication of the ship righting itself after the turbulent times of the past. Another good signal comes to us in the form of the reduction in household debt to 36,000 Euro per capita which is a marked decrease since the previous year.
But this are the numbers. What we have gained in income, we have lost in other areas of our lives as Irish people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ihEMA0m0I
Yes! Gone are the days of children sharing bath water with the youngest having to bath in the tepid dirty water of the older siblings. Gone too are the days when the entire household lived in fear of something called the emersion. The days of the Glenroe being a staple part of the week have long since disappeared to the cheers of many but then to the embarrassed silence of you’ve got talent. Nowadays phone numbers have so many digits that you will never be able to memorize even one emergency contact number.
These are the mundane things that we have lost. Is it any wonder that most Irish people now swan around with an air of entitlement? Such arrogance is shown by people when they refuse a perfectly good job as they believe it is beneath them. They grew to adulthood in the time when money grew on trees and the 80’s were the dark ages.
We have made huge progress as a country but with the explosive growth we have lost dome of those unique things that made us and shaped the national psyche. So as we stand on our patios gazing out on the suburban sprawl, as the capital city Dublin tries to envelop the entire country. What’s left of those special things that made us Irish?
How Ireland has changed since I was a boy.
More Money More Problems.
In the last 20 years, Ireland as a country has come on in leaps and bounds by most estimations. We were the poor cousins of our European neighbors, the ones invited to the party last and always introduced to others with a knowing glance. We went from this to the heady times in the mid 2000’s where there was too much money in the Irish economy. So much money that we just didn’t know what to do with it, but we certainly succeeded in spending it. We bought expensive cars and built patios in the suburbs. We learned about foreign cuisine in foreign restaurants. We discovered that wine tasting was not as bad as we thought and you got to get drunk guilt free. And then it all went wrong in ’08.
The World Bank estimates that Ireland’s average income per capita is now approximately 39,000 USD and whilst this is down from the boom time high of $50,000, it still shows a marked improvement and one that we can all be proud of. And the numbers show that things are improving even if it’s a little hard to see it on the ground.
Inflation is back up to boom time levels and whilst no one will take any solace in that fact, many will agree that it is indeed another indication of the ship righting itself after the turbulent times of the past. Another good signal comes to us in the form of the reduction in household debt to 36,000 Euro per capita which is a marked decrease since the previous year.
But this are the numbers. What we have gained in income, we have lost in other areas of our lives as Irish people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ihEMA0m0I
Yes! Gone are the days of children sharing bath water with the youngest having to bath in the tepid dirty water of the older siblings. Gone too are the days when the entire household lived in fear of something called the emersion. The days of the Glenroe being a staple part of the week have long since disappeared to the cheers of many but then to the embarrassed silence of you’ve got talent. Nowadays phone numbers have so many digits that you will never be able to memorize even one emergency contact number.
These are the mundane things that we have lost. Is it any wonder that most Irish people now swan around with an air of entitlement? Such arrogance is shown by people when they refuse a perfectly good job as they believe it is beneath them. They grew to adulthood in the time when money grew on trees and the 80’s were the dark ages.
We have made huge progress as a country but with the explosive growth we have lost dome of those unique things that made us and shaped the national psyche. So as we stand on our patios gazing out on the suburban sprawl, as the capital city Dublin tries to envelop the entire country. What’s left of those special things that made us Irish?