Ireland Disease
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'Ireland disease' is the inclination of Irish people to put down people striving upward, or put down people who have already excelled in some domain, be it creative, entrepreneurial, etc.
Ireland disease is also the region-specific term for a certain begrudgery that permeates many cultures. It can be manifested anywhere, though the author notes it seems particularly pronounced in countries with socialist orientated governance i.e., where the group is seen as paramount to the individual. An example of this may be the Law of Jante in Nordic countries, or the Chinese proverb “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”
Ireland disease is characterized as a disease because if an individual lets it infect their psyche, they may feel disinclined to shine in some way for fear of incurring disdain from a comparatively unexceptional group/individual. Thus the world loses their unique perspective, new solutions etc. And they themselves feel a sense of frustration around their inability to fulfill their potential.
Irish people will often accuse those striving upward as 'having notions'. So for example, Bono 'has notions' because U2 has sold millions of records. But to take a more everyday example, attending nice restaurants might be seen as having notions.
"I think this is very insidious. And I think the only reason people do this is not a genuine belief that group identity ought to supersede the individual, but more that when you do something better, the person next to you looks a little worse. And it's way easier at that point for them to invoke some bullshit code than actually do something themselves".
The cure is awareness: awareness of it is a good start in inoculating people so they may step out and manifest their full potential to the betterment of themselves and the world.
References[edit]
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