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11/07/20
14:54
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Originally posted by madamswer:
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My people (I’m of Irish descent) were slaughtered in the millions by the English for long periods of time over the course of history. Despite we Irish being brutalised and exploited by the English, the role models in Irish society over the past decades have strongly exhorted the youth to be forward-looking and to avoid seeing the Irish people through lenses of self-pity or as victims. I’m immensely grateful of the way my grandparent and parents - and many adults of that generation - instilled a strong work ethic and sense of self-respect in young Irish people. “Walk on. No one gets free eggs, ” is something my grandparents and my uncles used to always say. It means, “Don’t rely on, or call for, free handouts from anyone just because your circumstances are bad. Instead, look forward and apply yourself to improving your lot in life, without looking for excuses when you fall short.” I am convinced that the strong cultural discouragement against looking for excuses, or laying blame on others, for poor outcomes, has been a major reason that Ireland is today the successful country that it is - after being an economic backwater just a few decades ago - and why the Irish today tend to punch above their weight around the world in terms of their contributions to society. And it’s not just something confined to the Irish; Japan in 1950 was impoverished; today its a highly functional and prosperous country. Ditto for other nationalities who have recovered spectacularly from horrific oppression or economic hardship, such as the Jewish people and the Chinese. There’s a lesson in there, I believe. And the largest elements of that lesson involve application, discipline and hard-work, as opposed to constant ruminating on history. .
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@madamswer ; my great grandparents came to Australia as free settlers from Ireland [County Armagh], the UK [coal miner in Cornwall] and New Zealand in the early 1860s [I do not claim to be Irish, English or Maori though as I regard myself as Australian]. Many people work damn hard all their lives only to get to old age and find themselves having to rely on public support. For whatever reason doors don't open for them and they never make influential contacts such as a judge on the High Court. Of course many people inherit money while some like Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull manage to make themselves materially wealthy. Then there's what some our politicians do.