Ireland

Ireland, what can I say about it? I am sitting in Panera looking for flights to Ireland for the summer and am thinking that I have done a good deal of traveling in my 25 short years. Ususally you need to be in the army to have seen this much of the world. I have been to 4 Europeon countries and will go to at least 3 more on this trip. Perhaps four if I can work it out. When I think about all that I have learned on the trips I have taken already I am overwhelmed by the similarities between the cultures. If you examine the way that most countries do business, On the local level you see that the market is running the daily lives of the people. Then you can expand to the macro level and you see a central planned system, (if the country has one), and although I have never been to a true centrally planned system, the differences between Switzerland, Germany and Italy, are dramatic. These differences fly in the face of the Europeon Unions control over the countries. In this regard there is still a good deal of autonomy despite the trading block the the Union is attempting to create. Ireland now as undergone a major transformation into the capitalistic world by all but aboloshing their corporate income tax. Now this might be a vast oversimplification but the results speak for themselves. Take a look at the major companies that have moved in the area and you will be amazed at the names that are there. From as little as one to two centures ago, thier citizens were suffering from mass poverty, now, most of their country is in world terms, upper middle class. I will continue to post about Ireland, especially about the towns and regions that I am going to. I wanted to get a post out about the trip though because I am increasingly growing excited about this trip. It will be the longest that I will have been abroad, additionally, I plan on using this as a test to see if I will be able (mentally) to be an international attorney. How hard will it be to be across the world from my family for extended periods at a time. Although this is not a perfect example as I have no wife or kids yet in my life, I hopefully will at some time and if this is the business that I want to go into, I will have to get used to these extended trips. Well, I guess if you have to leave the ones you love, where better to do it than Europe?