Good Old Ireland
I guess we just have different priorities. When I think of quality of life issues, none of them have EUR symbols in front of them.
Money isn't my priority, however if I can buy a much nicer house in a much nicer area, with much better local services and ameneties for less than half the price of the houses I'm looking at in Ireland then I'm well on the way to a better quality of life. That's just common sense.
[/quote]I'd worry more about living in a country where this kind of thing happens on a worryingly regular basis than whether my house has a pool or not.[/quote]
It doesn't happen on a worringly regular basis. America is a big place. These kinds of things happen in Europe too.
If you want to make a direct comparison between Ireland and the States then you need to ask what's the crime like in the Very specific part of America that I want to live in. A shooting on Colorado or Minesota has no more impact on people living in say Florida, than a School Massacre in Scotland has on people in Dublin.
Yes gun crime is a HUGE problem in the states, but it's been shown that it's predominantly gun owners and their families that are affected. I know lots and lots of People in America, maybe 50 to 100 people, I know nobody, not even one that has ever been directly affected by Gun Crime.
Far more important that the sensational Headline catching news stories is the everyday experience of people. Let's look at life in good old Ireland....
I bought a car in Ireland 4 years ago, it was keyed on the first weekend I had it, it has been keyed again since then.
I've had the window of my car broken twice outside the house in two different areas of Dublin (not bad areas). I've had a leather jacket stolen from my car while I was changing a tyre.
I know personally of two cases of people being very seriously assaulted on the streets of Dublin (Not Late at Night), one got a broken nose, the other got hit on the back of the head with a Baseball Bat at 6pm while walk along minding his own business.
Neither of these people went looking for or expected to be attacked.
I myself was approached in the Point Depot by 3 guys who took a shine to my watch. Fortunately I got to keep my watch thanks to the intervention of a couple of friends of mine, had they not been there I might have fended off one of the scumbags, but not 3.
So let's not get all misty eyed about how great Ireland is and how crime ridden the US is. I would not dare to buy a nice car e.g. a Mustang In Ireland because it would be stolen or keyed or both within Days.
On the one or two occasions a month when I find myself in Dublin city center late at night, I can't wait to get out of it. I'm nervous walking from Marlboro St Car Park to O'Connell St.
I feel much much safer in the US.
Trust me, my priorities are not Financial. Even if it was more expensive to live there I'd still go.
I suppose the question I have for you Rainyday is if Ireland is so great, why are you anxious to remove the Party that has been in Government for 16 of the last 18 years. If Fianna Fail are doing so well, why risk putting another party into Power? Labour MIGHT only wreck the great Quality of Life you seem to enjoy so much? Why not stick with something that's working so well? Fianna Fail might not be perfect, but they've built a country that you seem to Love. That's a pretty good reason to vote for them.
-Rd