Do other first world countries suffer from "junkie/scumbag" problem that Ireland does

techdiver wrote: »

I think a point is spectacularly missed by many posters on here. Yes we know many countries and cities have their anti-social/crime issues etc and that Ireland is by far an away one of the safest countries in the world, but, I have yet to travel to countries where the main thoroughfare is infested with drug addicts and scumbags/dealers the way Dublin is.


I've been to London, New York, Chicago, Vegas, Rome, Boston, Miami, etc etc and I have not seen such obvious social decay in the main tourist spots in those cities.

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George's St in Sydney is the main business thoroughfare of the city. It's thronged with loud, aggressive crystal meth addicts. Police foot patrols don't exist. Nor do security on the doors of takeaways- it's fairly standard practice to be sitting in McDonalds and have some junkball come up to you looking for money unchallenged by staff, or to see one passed out in the jacks on heroin. It's the main street of a major city and it's standard to see screaming meth heads roaring about. The media here have been predicting the impending meth and crack epidemic for about 20 years now and it by and large hasn't materialised.

Last time I was in Prague, while I wouldn't say the main strip had many visible junkies, what it did have was black lads mixing club promotions with offers of drugs, Granted, their market was the stag do crowd but for those who say open air drug dealing on the main throughfare* is a uniquely Dublin thing, I'd tend to disagree. Not to mention I've seen open drug pedalling in nearly every resort type place I've been. All throughout SE Asia, Spain. Offered a coke connect the second I got into an Amsterdam taxi, the streets there used to be awash with street dealers (they seem to be gone now). This simply doesn't happen in Dublin for whatever reason.


I'd tend to even disagree that dealing is done on O'Connell St with any degree of regularity. There are swaps on the adjoining areas granted, the Boardwalk and Talbot and such, but OC itself? Gerrup the yard. My whole life I've been offered drugs by strangers on the main streets of Dublin a grand total of twice (excluding inside clubs, raves, festivals). Even the rickshaw drivers only talk if you talk first, and even plenty of them refuse to have anything to do with it. I've walked up and down Moore St a thousand times and I'm yet to encounter the street corner black dealers so many on social media are adamant are making a fortune there. I don't disbelieve that some on Moore St who operate in the drug trade operate front businesses, but as for street level I've never seen a shot of it.

Deleted User wrote: »

Universal access to unlimited information has eroded the fashion treadmill that always existed until then. For example, in 2006 rich south dublin kids wore Abercrombie, by 2009 it was commonly worn by lower middle class college students and by about 2011 it has trickled down to working class kids, with upper middle class kids no longer wearing it. Nowadays a working class kid knows as much about fashions that come out as the upper middle class kid so can look the same as them. Same goes for haircuts, attitudes etc. The internet has led to social homogeneity. People who used to be recognised as “scumbags” used to just be acting naturally, un-self-consciously by looking and acting the way they were. Since social media and internet access for all led to a self-awareness revolution, nobody wants to appear to be a scumbag because it means they are low status and so they have modified their behaviour.

I'd still say Nike etc tops and trackies are far more likely to be worn as daily wear by working class people than upper class, but Adidas seem to have reinvented themselves as a label for all, a lot of celebrities get pictured wearing their gear, they use attractive models on their promo stuff etc. I'd agree with the haircut point mind- half the young lads these days have boyband haircuts. It wouldn't have been seen 10 years ago.

The funny thing with fashion, I was watching The Van a few months ago, Sharon is wearing a black Adidas shirt that 5 years ago you'd have called late 80s early 90s but which is back on sale today, same shirt. It's mad how these things go in cycles.

On the topic, what's the story with these black jackets that look like heavy padded jackets but are light as feck and have no arms on them. Every lad under about 22 seems to wear one, even in the summer. What's the point in them?