Lessons learned after living in Ireland and the UK

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Lessons learned after living in Ireland and the UK

By iwog Follow Wed, 12 Dec 2012, 4:17pm 5,407 views 136 comments
In Lafayette CA 94549

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Subjective, under-researched, and scientifically meaningless however here are my observations. I'll be here until Sunday. I don't vacation like most people and I spend most of my time hanging around the locals and chit chatting.

1. I can't stress this strongly enough. Most Republicans are ignorant misinformed fools when they say the UK and Ireland are socialist countries. You ignorant jackasses aren't going to listen to facts nor are you going to come look for yourselves, but the economy here is dominated by large corporations just like the United States. Real Estate, restaurants, airlines, construction, autos, heavy industry and almost everything else is dominated by national or multinational capitalist corporate interest. Poor people here are very poor indeed. Even transportation, which is generally assumed to be state run, is heavily contracted out to private firms who are allowed to charge tolls and fees in many cases.

2. There is a lot more racism than I expected here. Other than London, minorities are in small numbers and I've already talked with two locals who claimed they would never date anyone outside their race. The few black men and women I've seen did not look happy to be there although that might have simply been perception. The odd thing is that they see Americans as more racist even after electing a half black president.

3. The last 2 nights a friend and I have wandered the streets of Belfast at 2am after the bars let out. Yes those are the same streets that have been hit with rioting and gasoline bombs all week, in fact we've seen the emergency vehicles driving by us. We both felt perfectly safe although the locals were either scared or angry depending on which faction they supported. Mostly they were drunk and indifferent. I honestly believe that being right in the middle of one of these nationalist/IRA protests is safer than walking through almost any large American city. I did speak to one gal who was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet back during the "troubles" in the 1990s.

4. One of the biggest criticisms/stereotypes of American culture is the prevalence of so many guns. It is by far the most significant image of this country in the minds of almost everyone I've met. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that by any objective measurement, we live in a dangerous police state dominated by violence, prisons, and arrogant trigger happy officers of the law. Obviously there are many nations more dangerous than this one, but what is the point when it could be so much better?

5. Roads suck here.

6. The drinking age is 18 and age of consent is 16 although it's a joke. My friend and I questioned two girls in a bar drunk off their tiny asses and aged 15 & 16 with fake IDs. No one cares. The girls wear less than hookers in Las Vegas. FAR less, and it was 15 degrees out. They are totally off the leash and everyone knew where the after-the-bar-closes party was. I don't think this bodes well for future generations.

7. Police are stationed in front of the pubs at 2am to keep order and make sure anyone dying of alcohol poisoning is rescued, however they stand there like mother hens and don't try to fuck with anyone. These cops are a different species than in the USA and there is no way to even remotely describe how alien they appeared. I ran into (literally) a fully uniformed police officer in a convenience store. He politely said "excuse me" while reaching for an apple and laughed at my clumsy American comment. You don't touch a cop in America without expecting the taser or having him unclip his gun.

8. Americans are generally liked and solicited although I'm afraid me and my friend reinforced a few stereotypes. I talk too loud and my buddy slammed his fist on a restaurant table for emphasis during conversation and caused the entire restaurant to jump. Otherwise we went out of our way to be overly polite.

9. Feminism is on steroids here. Don't dare try to talk about traditional values or any patriarchal opinions to most women. A store clerk even took offense when I said "Hillary Clinton isn't that special." and started to go after me before I told her she was my second choice after Obama for president. Hillary is something of a hero over here. This is NOT a place I would look for a wife under any circumstances.

10. The British Islands are far more confused than I expected. Religious, cultural, and tribal divisions are deep and influence everything that goes on here. For some insane reason, the Republic of Ireland has all the road signs in English and Gaelic although I can't imagine there's one single person in the world who speaks Gaelic without knowing English as well. Belfast is a powder-keg. There is no clear national identity anywhere and petty politics dominate the radio and television. Everyone has an opinion and everyone knows what is best for everyone else. Those who call me a liberal don't know the meaning of the word. I'm far right by the standards in these two nations.

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Lessons learned after living in Ireland and the UK