| Green Beer and Singing |
17 March 2003
|
God Bless Ireland
Today is St. Patrick's Day. It is customary for those Yanks who make a profession of their Irish heritage to bore the rest of the country with green beer and "Danny Boy" on this day, but they often miss the recent achievements of the Irish Republic and the Irish culture while dwelling on a past they never knew and which probably never existed except in legend.
Despite jokes to the contrary, Ireland consistently ranks at the top end of student scores internationally. Indeed, at one point the Irish could claim to have the most literate workforce in Europe. This has been put to use in the past 20 years to create what is known as the "Celtic Tiger," a booming economy that has succeeded in raising living standards, not just put paper profits into ledgers.
Moreover, Ireland has one of the most interesting tax laws in the world. Artists who write, paint, sculpt, etc., pay no tax on the income earned from those activities. The exclusion of actors and performing musicians and dancers has been an unfortunate error. Yet the fact that U2 don't pay a penny on their music except when they perform live is a civilizing force in Irish society. Suggesting that such a rule come to America would appear selfish, and so one will refrain from the idea.
Above all, the Irish are trusted. No ex-colonial nation can look at the Irish and complain that they don't understand. And so, Irish often provide the soldiers who stand in UN buffer zones. That beats green Budweiser any day.