Why are there so few "weird" Irish people compared to in the US?

smash · 16-05-2016 01:46PM

Apart from the small population size itself, we don't have the majority of our population doped up on prescription medication.

traprunner · 16-05-2016 01:49PM

smash wrote: »

Apart from the small population size itself, we don't have the majority of our population doped up on prescription medication.

Yet

Your Face · 16-05-2016 01:55PM

Also, this country tends not to like anything that's any way eccentric.

the evasion_kid · 16-05-2016 01:59PM

L'Enfer du Nord wrote: »

Traditionally a lot of our 'wiredos' emigrate, basically they cross a line and are encouraged to leave by their community, or they leave as of their own volition. Not so much true now as in the past tho.

In the US they may move around internally and be attracted to certain cities but they seldom leave the country.

I've noticed that a lot of our 'wiredos' are on the fringes of society anyway. They are generally unemployed. Much more Wierdos in the US in main stream jobs, well spoken, seemingly educated.

As has been suggested it much easier in the US it's much easier for these to flit from place to place, group of 'friends' to group of 'friends' causing havoc.

Mental health services probably aren't great of there either, more people who need help just end up on the streets. Napping here now too of course.

I'd agree, look at slab city in the states or nimbin in Australia,just attracts them all to one spot.

easyeasy · 16-05-2016 02:39PM

Have lived in a few cities in Ireland and find Cork has the largest percentage of weirdo's I've encountered.

Yes there's Junkies galore in Dublin but a quick youtube search and you see "Jesus is a Corkman"

homerjay2005 · 16-05-2016 03:18PM

hop on the red luas line about 9.30 every sunday morning and you may change your mind about the number of weirdos in Dublin anyway.

this country is full of weirdos/wasters or what ever you want to call them.

16-05-2016 03:20PM

There's plenty of "weird" people in Ireland.

You've obviously never been to Ballinasloe.

Billy86 · 16-05-2016 03:28PM

The fact we're a pretty introverted culture probably plays a role too. While in the US if someone goes and really commits themselves toward achieving something they will often be vocally encouraged by their peer groups, in Ireland there is more likely to be a mix of quiet support and open begrudgery hoping to cut them down. Almost as if in the US, they see this person succeeding and want to keep up with and compete with them, while in Ireland people are more likely to want to cut them down so as not to see someone do better than them, which in turn would make them feel inadequate/insecure about their own lot in life. It would be interesting to see how much 'The American Dream' propaganda vs. the hopeless bleakness that existed so long in Ireland has a role to play in that.

As a result, less people actively go for what they want to achieve, and become quieter about their goals and aspirations than those in the US. Though I guess the upside to that is a less extroverted society in general, leading to less people like the woman singing and rapping aloud to herself on the street car I saw last week (Toronto, but a very similar culture as it basically thinks of itself as north New York) in the window of the door to see her reflection, using a hairbrush as her mic... and this woman could neither sing, nor rap.

It lends itself to a bunch of other areas too, such as people being more open to someone asking for their number in a setting that doesn't involve alcohol, or women regularly approaching men if they're attracted to them. So it certainly ain't all bad!

Billy86 · 16-05-2016 03:30PM

the evasion_kid wrote: »

I'd agree, look at slab city in the states or nimbin in Australia,just attracts them all to one spot.

Sydney is actually very similar to Toronto or Chicago (more limited experience, but I did a J1 there about 9 years ago) in terms of extroverts and oddballs, to be honest.

HensVassal · 16-05-2016 03:34PM

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Ireland was pretty sheltered up to about 25 years ago.

There was not a great deal of cultural or ethnic diversity in Ireland at that time. The bar for 'unusual' may have been to watch cricket sometimes, never mind playing such a game. Mormons would have been regarded as nothing short of weird.

If an Irish person went to the USA after having grown up with that level of localism during the 1990s or before, he or she could prepare to have their mind blown with exposure to different ethnicities, sports, etc.

Or you could ask an American what they think of the homogeneity of Irish people, perhaps among Irish men more so than Irish women. One American woman told me that she thought that Irish men seemed to be hugely over-represented by skinny guys with similar short haircuts, similar shirts and jeans. Possibly somewhat unfair but maybe there was an element of truth to it, at the same time.

Bull.

I went to the US for the first time in 1986 and wasn't "blown away" by the ethnic or cultural diversity. Why? Because I expected to see blacks, orientals, Latinos. I was 17 and had actually educated myself a bit about the world and in case you didn't know we did have books and tv back in the 80's and 90's. There were movies and documentaries depicting life in other countries. Also New York was no more diverse than London, just hotter and more nuts.

I lived in the US for 8 years and there is a larger proportion of weirdos and headers there because a huge percentage of Americans have a tenuous grip on reality. They are gullible, overexposed to Hollywood fantasies and pitifully ignorant of the wider world. This breeds a shocking level of delusion. A lot of Americans actually believe in Hollywood solutions to real world problems. A friend (college educated) once postulated that hurricanes approaching the gulf coast be nuked to break them up, ffs.

Throw in the fact that doctors will feed toddlers Ritalin for behaviour that most normal toddlers display, you know, jumping around, playing, crying, laughing, the odd temper tantrum, etc., and then have that same toddler sucking down Prozac in his or her teens to counter the side effects of the Ritalin and you've got lots of mentally fcuked up people.

realdanbreen · 16-05-2016 03:35PM

Thomas24 wrote: »

I've gone to school and lived in the US and here for about the same time. What I find interesting is that the US has a lot more weird people.

Now you'll all be saying "We have knackers, scum teens etc" but almost all of these people you can agree don't fit into society. They are seen as outcasts. Scum teens tend to drop out of school, get into drinking, pregnancy, drugs and can't do anything productive.

In America the weird people are considered to be nihilist, misanthropists, conspiracy theorists, sociopaths but these does not generally impede their ability to be a successful member of society. e.g Donald Trump

From personal experience have never more than 1 sociopath in Ireland at the workplace. I knew 2 guys in my former community school here who were sociopaths and learned later that they ended up in jail. . In America that's definitely not the same story.

So is it population size, different cultures etc?

I take it you've never lived in Co Clare?

Robsweezie · 16-05-2016 03:39PM

A lot of the 'wacky" news stories of people getting ridiculous sex toys lodged in their butthole, random beheadings, toddlers shooting each other , bestiality, incest etc. seem to come from America.

"Man rapes donkey before going on meth fuelled killing spree in local Walmart" is something I'd totally expect from them.

5rtytry56 · 16-05-2016 03:44PM

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Ireland was pretty sheltered up to about 25 years ago.

There was not a great deal of cultural or ethnic diversity in Ireland at that time. The bar for 'unusual' may have been to watch cricket sometimes, never mind playing such a game. Mormons would have been regarded as nothing short of weird.

4 years ago, Ireland's Own magazine had an article about the Mormon religion and pronounced it as such.

Wicklow Brave · 16-05-2016 05:47PM

I work in the tourism industry and interact with people from all over the world on a daily basis and Americans are like no other nationality. I shouldn't really generalise (I wil anyway!) but most Americans display deafening extraversion and a complete lack of self-awareness (I don't mean that in a bad sense). They care little what others may think of them and have no shame. It would take a lot to embarrass your average American. There is something quite admirable about that and it would be no harm if Irish people were a bit more like this, but I think it's why the US has more than its fair share of 'weirdos'.

Annasopra · 16-05-2016 11:51PM

imitation wrote: »

Population size I would guess, combined with the fact there seems to be poor mental health facilities for low income people.

Also as a nation we are as about as cynical as they come..

We don't particularly have great mental health facilities in Ireland though

Annasopra · 16-05-2016 11:58PM

blinding wrote: »

Historically maybe a lot of the headers emigrated and the other less obvious headers stayed at home.

Ireland is not short of headers at home or abroad.

some headers might even be proud of this:eek::eek:

Actually historically Ireland locked people away. Anyone with mental health difficulties or intellectual disabilities or pregnancies out of wedlock were locked away and thrown into institutions. Ireland had the highest institutionalisation rate in the world for mental illness in the 1950s and 60s and that continued for a long time afterwards as well.

Lyaiera · 17-05-2016 12:46AM

The weirdness starts when you're a teenager. You start to buy into it, and form yourself. And in Ireland we have a bountiful supply of beer-bellied, pint-drinking uncles who'll ask you to, "Say that again? Go on. Say it again!" Then laugh their arses off at you while calling you a fcuking weirdo. Then tell you you're grand, slip you twenty quid and a box of 20 Benson and Hedges before telling you to head out and get yourself a bag of cans.

Mad bastard uncles, the solution to Ireland's weirdos.

Cake Man · 17-05-2016 01:28AM

HensVassal wrote: »

Throw in the fact that doctors will feed toddlers Ritalin for behaviour that most normal toddlers display, you know, jumping around, playing, crying, laughing, the odd temper tantrum, etc., and then have that same toddler sucking down Prozac in his or her teens to counter the side effects of the Ritalin and you've got lots of mentally fcuked up people.

The Americans are fond of their "meds" alright. It seems like it's almost a rite of passage for American teenagers to go through phases of guzzling down these kinds of tablets. Not being insensitive but if a friend for example told me they were on those kinds of medication, I'd be surprised but in the US, it seems to be par for the course.

I think someone mentioned here a while ago that apparently the painkillers given to patients who just had a tooth extraction/toothache in the US is nearly the equivalent of what is given in Ireland for someone with terminal cancer.

I think the Americans would look at us as being cynical, cold and distant but we see through their fakeness and OTT approach to everything.

Nekarsulm · 17-05-2016 08:03AM

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Actually historically Ireland locked people away. Anyone with mental health difficulties or intellectual disabilities or pregnancies out of wedlock were locked away and thrown into institutions. Ireland had the highest institutionalisation rate in the world for mental illness in the 1950s and 60s and that continued for a long time afterwards as well.

Prevented them breeding, so actually an Irish form of eugenics.

jimgoose · 17-05-2016 08:11AM

Lyaiera wrote: »

...Mad bastard uncles, the solution to Ireland's weirdos.

Many fine Mad Bastard Uncles of some note and distinction started out as relatively unremarkable weirdos. Don't knock it.

tomofson · 17-05-2016 08:17AM

By the looks of your post thomas24 it would seem you have somewhat of a superiority complex. And you clearly haven't been outside your house between 12 and 2am thats when the weirdos come out.

metaoblivia · 17-05-2016 08:18AM

Wicklow Brave wrote: »

I work in the tourism industry and interact with people from all over the world on a daily basis and Americans are like no other nationality. I shouldn't really generalise (I wil anyway!) but most Americans display deafening extraversion and a complete lack of self-awareness (I don't mean that in a bad sense). They care little what others may think of them and have no shame. It would take a lot to embarrass your average American. There is something quite admirable about that and it would be no harm if Irish people were a bit more like this, but I think it's why the US has more than its fair share of 'weirdos'.

I think this is the root of the issue, and I say that as an American, born and raised.

Generally speaking, Americans tend to prize extroversion and individualism more than Europeans. And we love a spectacle. You can dress that up as negatively or as positively as you want, but at the end of the day a lot of Americans are weird because as a culture we tolerate and, to a large extend, encourage weirdness. We're also a nation of attention-seekers, frankly (and I see nothing wrong with wanting attention every now and then, but like everything, it can become a problem if it goes unchecked). And if you want the attention of a nation of 322 million people, just being a little weird isn't enough.

On the one hand, some Americans love a weirdo because a lot of our great thinkers and artists were full on weirdos. To quote E.B. White, "Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one."

On the other hand, a lot of Americans just love to laugh at a weirdo and will humor them for their own amusement. Bread and circuses, after all.

:pac:

jimgoose · 17-05-2016 08:25AM

metaoblivia wrote: »

I think this is the root of the issue, and I say that as an American, born and raised.

Generally speaking...

This is pretty much it.

D3V!L · 17-05-2016 08:28AM

Baron Kurtz wrote: »

The 'Murica thing.

Cos' F*UK YEAH !! :cool:

jimgoose · 17-05-2016 08:29AM

D3V!L wrote: »

Cos' F*UK YEAH !! :cool:

We need the V8 baby, Urf Urf URF!! :pac:

weemcd · 17-05-2016 09:19AM

Too many prescription drugs and a diet full of hormones and chemicals would attribute to at least 50% of it, I'd imagine.

ToddyDoody · 17-05-2016 06:10PM

Because America's an individualistic society making it more conducive to the lone wolf weirdo? (of a more cerebral rather than greasy variety)

5rtytry56 · 18-05-2016 01:59PM

metaoblivia wrote: »

.......a lot of Americans are weird because as a culture we tolerate and, to a large extend, encourage weirdness....

this.
Here in ireland, being regarded as a weirdo tends to confer the status of 'persona non grata' in many scenarios - the 'odd man out'

gourcuff28 · 18-05-2016 02:37PM

Berlin is our San Francisco, Ireland is like Iowa of Europe(obviously better)

gourcuff28 · 18-05-2016 02:38PM

More people are definitely similar in Ireland, think about all the people you know who do the same ****ing thing, like the same thing, have the same backstory, its just do with being a small country, Europeans are more insular than Americans by nature and tend to stick to where they are from.

Why are there so few "weird" Irish people compared to in the US?

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