What aspects of other cultures would you like in irish life?

120_Minutes

The Harney thread has me riled up. this country is sick, it needs to be put down and start anew. it was mentioned in the harney thread that we follow britain with our drug laws and we "borrowed" VRT from the danes.

so, if you could start this country over and could choose one aspect of a foreign culture to graft onto our own, what would it be?

as thread starter i get two:

the dutch relaxed attitude to soft drugs.

the american work ethic.


your turn.


*edit* fixed the work ethic typo....sorreeeeee..!

Danbo!

Polish wimmin

RATM

Hot salsa dancing chicas

DazMarz

French/Italian/Spanish cooking!!!

Japanese/German efficiency with life

Hackysack

The NY public transport system.

stovelid

Those stonewashed jeans that always appear to be beaten into Eastern-European women's arse-cracks.

McChubbin

Japanese dedication to costuming/ cosplay and video gaming.

American sense of optimism.

Meditteranian approach to diet and nutrition.

Also, twinkies? Please?

Cheap Thrills!

Democracy.

Pauleta

Mexican fast food

120_Minutes

McChubbin wrote: »

twinkies? Please?

no, just no.

Pauleta wrote: »

Mexican fast food

yes, i'd even take taco bell....even though its the worst.

The Gibzilla

Siesta's!!:D

Blobby George

Colombian Jails.

bazmaiden

French woman's lack of shaving.

We need more love rugs!!

orourkeda

The ability to start world wars

Hande hoche!

Cafe bars......

Susie_Q

120_Minutes wrote: »

the american worth ethic.

What on earth is a 'worth ethic'?

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Scandanavian attitudes to sex

120_Minutes

Susie_Q wrote: »

What on earth is a 'worth ethic'?

attitude to ones job, pride in ones work, unwillingness to do it half assed..

...or as its known in ireland: "ah shure it'll do"

bonerm

The Aboriginal attitude to sensible consumption of alcohol.

the american worth ethic.

It's "work" ethic. Unless of course you're referring to the general American attitude that the value of human life can only be determined based on personal wealth.

stovelid

Susie_Q wrote: »

What on earth is a 'worth ethic'?

The reason for Jonathan Ross' success and high salary.

Susie_Q

120_Minutes wrote: »

attitude to ones job, pride in ones work, unwillingness to do it half assed..

...or as its known in ireland: "ah shure it'll do"

No, you mean 'work ethic'. The clue is in the highlighted words.

Shryke

I'd like a proper social night life. Not just going to a pub but going to a restaurant really late, or sitting outside a nice spot and having a nice drink in an area not crammed with people wasted, posing and chain smoking.
Clubs open really late. I'm talking eight in the morning. (Loved Vienna.)

A big one. Proper amenities. I know there are things to do about the place but you really have to go out of your way to do most fun activities, and you also usually need a car to get to the place.

silvervixen84

The approach to dating in the States

SugarHigh

Topless sunbathing...I don't care how cold it is.

enniscorthy

nice food at cheap price

poisonated

The French approach to drinking. I.E just being able to have a nice drink or 2 without getting absolutely hammered.....that being said, I do enjoy getting locked.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Scandanaivian open-mindedness.

Spanish weather.

gubbie

The Swiss transport system

The_Kew_Tour

Saudi Arabia justice system for criminals

Barna77

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Spanish weather.

And cheap drinks

ascanbe

Turkish delight.

df1985

the chinese ability to get **** done (although not by the extreme measures they sometimes take)

the whole spanish thing of go for dinner at ten, few drinks after till 3, nightclub till the sun comes up-proper night out!

californias beach culture.....if we had the weather of course.

hollands liberal attitudes on soft drugs......and possibly some american states having the same attitude in the near future!

Barna77

df1985 wrote: »

the whole spanish thing of go for dinner at ten, few drinks after till 3, nightclub till the sun comes up-proper night out!

Now we are talking.

And I pray the fecking volcano will let me fly to Spain next week

orourkeda

We need to make more TV programmes that they used to make in Japan where various gameshow contestants (if you could call them that) are virtually tortured

nyarlothothep

French work ethic
German punctuality
Scandinavian metal socialism
Mediterranean food
Scandinavian metal metal

df1985

orourkeda wrote: »

We need to make more TV programmes that they used to make in Japan where various gameshow contestants (if you could call them that) are virtually tortured

haha takeshi's castle! something funnier about japanese creaming themselves too i dunno why!

up for anything

Clean up the streets - Singapore style.

No spitting
No chewing gum
No littering
No jaywalking
Having to flush a public toilet after using it

and their drug laws:

Drugs
Trafficking, manufacturing, importing or exporting more than 15 grams of heroin, 30g of morphine, 30g of cocaine, 500g of cannabis, 200g of cannabis resin and 1.2 kg of opium carries the death penalty if convicted. Possession of such quantities is deemed as prima facie evidence of trafficking. Persons convicted of unauthorized traffic in the following drugs in the respective quantities face imprisonment of 20-30 years, and 15 strokes of the cane.

Opium – Not less than 800g and not more than 1,200g
Heroin – Not less than 10g and not more than 15g
Cannabis – Not less than 330g and not more than 500g
Morphine & cocaine – Not less than 20g and not more than 30g
Cannabis resin – Not less than 130g and not more than 200g

Unauthorized traffic in controlled drugs, other than those specified above, carries a minimum sentence of 2 years' imprisonment and 2 strokes of the cane, and a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane. For unauthorized consumption, there is a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment or fine of S$20,000 or both.

df1985

jesus bit extreme?? death penalty/canes/massive fine?

Fizman

Public stoning for any convicted rapists/murderers.

up for anything

df1985 wrote: »

jesus bit extreme?? death penalty/canes/massive fine?

Ok. Maybe drop the fine so.

30txsbzmcu2k9w

Every aspect of the Dutch is pretty much great.
Awesome race of people. Creative, open-minded and progressive.

Danish looks, German nightclubs and Japanese politeness would be nice too.

As a culture we're probably up there in terms of having fun, we're just not allowed here really are we. ...

Carlos_Ray

Just basically mimick Germany. What a people. 60 years after losing WW2, and they end up ruling Europe anyway. What a people.

Perhaps a bit of Chinese zero tolerance would be good too. Love to see all the scum on Irish streets cleaned up. ( It'd also solve our organ donation problem too)

Morlar

I'd like the american 3 strikes rule for serious offences & general attitude to violent criminals. The australian immigration system and no nonsense, 'we are doing what suits us so f*** you' kind of governing. The Polish work ethic (well for some Poles anyway), German efficiency (yes I know it's a huge cliche).

McChubbin

120_Minutes wrote: »

no, just no.

You pie racist.

Face_Kicker

more face kicking

Einhard

df1985 wrote: »

the whole spanish thing of go for dinner at ten, few drinks after till 3, nightclub till the sun comes up-proper night out!

That's the worst thing that could happen. I'd be dead by now!:eek:
Seriously, two weeks of that every year is enough for me!!

I can think of two things-

i. Proper seperation of church and state. Doesn't necessarily have to be as strict as in the US, but at least get them out of practically every school in the country.

ii. Some of the American concept that we aren't owed anything by anybody, especially by the state. Again, I wouldn't necessarily follow the American model to the letter, but would like at least some sense that the state can say NO now and again.

InReality

Whats this ?

Scandinavian metal socialism

flas

Morlar wrote: »

I'd like the american 3 strikes rule for serious offences & general attitude to violent criminals. The australian immigration system and no nonsense, 'we are doing what suits us so f*** you' kind of governing. The Polish work ethic (well for some Poles anyway), German efficiency (yes I know it's a huge cliche).

ha,are you serious, any polish person i have ever worked with has been so unbelievably lazy it makes irish people look like sweat shop workers, and that is saying something!

Dionysus

120_Minutes wrote: »

The Harney thread has me riled up. this country is sick, it needs to be put down and start anew. it was mentioned in the harney thread that we follow britain with our drug laws and we "borrowed" VRT from the danes.

so, if you could start this country over and could choose one aspect of a foreign culture to graft onto our own, what would it be?

as thread starter i get two:

the dutch relaxed attitude to soft drugs.

the american work ethic.


your turn.


*edit* fixed the work ethic typo....sorreeeeee..!

Litter free.

Clean villages, towns and countryside.

A dramatic reduction in vandalism.

More intelligent recycling (i.e. Scandinavian style).

Better, classier and more cultured shop fronts (e.g. bilingual).

Finnish-style education system.

Dutch-style accommodation for cyclists.

Much less car use in Ireland's cities and towns.

German-style trains (double deckers).

More pedestrianised streets.

Higher personal taxes with lower taxes paid by those who look after the planet around them.

Dionysus

Good idea for a thread by the way. Hopefully people can be inspired by examples from beyond the anglophone world.

dasdog

Some kind of attitude to white collar crime involving punishment for the perpetrators. Has anyone been convicted for the going's on over the past few years or is it still "under investigation"?