Are we lucky to live in Ireland?

pmcmahon wrote: »

i plead anyone to go to Scandinavia and see how far behind we are

True. I miss some things about Sweden terribly sometimes-the efficiency of the place, how clean and safe it is, low levels of corruption and Govt. incompetence, how socially progressive and egalitarian it is compared to here with the vast majority having a high standard of living not just those at the top of society like here; and what a great country it is to be a woman in, in terms of equality and rights.
And the people are lovely too when you get to know them.

I did miss some things from here though like the warmth and casual friendliness of the people, how easy it is to strike up a conversation, how much less Irish people are fixated on their appearance (though that's not always a good thing :pac:) and our beautiful country side.
Overall I'm happy to be living here and don't think I'd leave again unless I had to. I love this little country of ours, warts and all

It's all relative really.
Compared to third world countries, we're incredibly lucky to be living in such a country.
Yet compare us to other countries with a similar standard of living to us, and there are some ways in which we're not perfect.

Our general infrastructure has improved, but there's little things like not building services when building the motorway network, or building a national stadium that's too small that are just ridiculous.
Which is all to do with the *adopts Roy Keane voice* acceptance of mediocrity and lack of planning and organisation which is part of our culture, the "ah shure 'til be grand" attitude. Also, compared to other countries like America or France, we're very accepting of corruption and poor planning, or at least not very willing to take action against what we don't like.
Lots of people still seem to have an inferiority complex about the country too, and be very concerned about how we're seen by the "big" countries like America and the U.K, and too concerned about how we look to them, not embarrassing ourselves.
We're also still old-fashioned in many ways. It's not as obvious or as powerful as before, but the unquestioning acceptance of Church authority is still out there. We've only had divorce in this country for 16 years, I think, and it was a fairly tight vote.
And our food, well, spend a week in Italy, France or Spain and try to go back to a feed of boiled spuds with a bit a butter for taste.

Having said that though, on a global scale, it's pretty good to live here. Compared to many countries we're fabulously wealthy with a strong welfare state (though not compared to the Nordic countries), and we speak English.