1EQQ8ZzGD

[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_poetry
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws_(Ireland)
[16] http://www.nala.ie/
[17] http://www.isle-of-skye.org.uk/celtic-encyclopaedia/celt_
c3.htm
[18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_the_
White_Horse
72
http://www.quora.com/l/boq-domhnall-ohuigin
irish people
Do Irish immigrants to the Bay
Area feel guilty for living in such an
amazing place?
Patrick Collison, I lived in Ireland for 17 years.
The Irish are certainly a race somewhat predisposed to feeling
guilt and compassion for just about anything[1] — and I
find it interesting that this question is asked of Irish people.
I'd love to know what the various Chinese, Indian, Russian,
etc., immigrants to the Bay Area would say. (Is the question
less pondered?)
We also have a bit of a tendency towards doleful solipsism.
I don't know if the person who asked this question is in fact
Irish, but it'd be quite Irish to feel guilty for the other Irish,
and not, say, the 94% of the world's population that lives in a
country with a lower GDP per capita than Ireland.
Admittedly, though, that kind of humanist objectivism
only extends so far. of course almost all Irish emigrants (myself
included) feel an attachment and fondness for our home
country. And of course we're affected and saddened more by
tribulations in Ireland than, say, Senegal.
But even allowing for that, Ireland remains a staggeringly
successful country with, by global standards, an extraordi-