Young people and emigration: The elephant in the room

The land they were on has been sold off for housing.

I don't think that's true though. The only limitation is where you decide to live. Take two foreign countries I've lived in. China, and Japan. In China, I lived in Xi'an, which has a general population of 9 million people. It's considered something like Galway, with that small town vibe to it, while still living in a city. For the average Chinese person, the quality of life would be much lower than Ireland.. however, for any foreigner earning a semi-decent wage, the cost of living is so low in comparison to Ireland, that you can avail of much of what's on offer for the rich. In fact, I'd say that in Xi'an, I had more access and choice in where to go to find top quality services. Sure, there were downsides, but they exist anywhere. Then, I stayed in Kyoto, which has a population of 1.4 million. Again, the small town vibe but that's more to do with the architecture and the city layout. Far more expensive than Xi'an, and closer to what Ireland is like, but there are still a lot of bargains (considering the Japanese culture towards price increases). Extremely high standard of living available on a reasonable salary, although far less money kept for savings after it's all added up.

I think you're not really considering places outside of western nations... because you can have an extremely good standard of living in many countries around the world. It's worth remembering that you can earn, and live at a standard higher than the local population due to being a westerner, while paying local prices.

I spent some time in London. Great city, but there are many great cities out there. Asia is freckin fantastic an option for people. Just jumping over the pond to the UK doesn't involve much change, which I suppose is "nice", but I'd recommend to everyone if they're thinking of going abroad, try Munich (or any German city, as they're awesome places to live) to start with, and then, look to Asia.

I could buy a property in those countries had I wanted to. There are many countries with fairly reasonable or outright cheap property costs, due to the lower cost of living, and also the difference in salaries that westerners receive vs those of the locals. I wouldn't recommend somewhere like Tokyo, or Beijing, but a 2nd tier city? Sure.

Private health insurance, and care. That's what it comes down to, and for China, there are the private hospitals, but also the military hospitals (state funded but similar to private hospitals) which provide a higher standard of care compared to the rest. However, if we're talking about Japan, they have very very good medical care, and it's also very much aimed at providing such services to its population, which you can access.

China is awful towards anyone with disabilities, but the people here aren't talking about they, themselves, having a disability and having to manage it. As for differing political views, or sexual preference, as long as you're not shouting out your opinions, they couldn't give a F. Keep them to yourself, or your immediate circle of friends, and sexual preference isn't an issue, again as long as you're not advertising it to everyone.

And you're just looking for objections at this stage, rather than dealing with the spirit of what I posted. There are many options for westerners to have a life as good as Ireland in terms of Quality of life, and also the ability to earn/save money.

Nope. But then, outside of Western nations no country does. That's why you do your research to see which is best for you. Places like Singapore do it better, than places like China. There's a spectrum in how non-natives are perceived, and treated.

Now, that's just stupid.

You're meeting a need in their economy for westerners, due to their own perceptions that westerners are better at some things than their own. It's the perception that having a western education is better than an Eastern one. That our values, and sense of logic, is more efficient or more suited to success in a wide range of field. There's no mistreatment of people involved.

You're not listening. There was no drop in standards when I lived in China. In pretty much every area of my life, except for air quality, China met the same standards I had experienced here... because I was not living like a native Chinese person. In Japan, my standard of living was the same, or in some areas, better than what I had in Ireland. In both cases, overall costs are less than Ireland. Was I viewed the same as the natives of those countries? no. However, it was in my interest to not be, as it results in a wide variety of benefits.

The point is that even China could have (I wouldn't recommend going there now) provided a high standard of living for lower costs. Other countries like Japan can easily meet those standards, and the return on the costs involved are much higher than what we experience in Ireland.

We get so little back from the State for all the costs of living in Ireland.

I'd started replying to you, addressing each of your points or questions, but when I reached this place... I said **** it.

Back to the stupid comments, and more goalshifting shite.

Not going to waste time discussing this with you. You're incapable of having a reasonable discussion.