this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Ireland

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Dia dhuit agus failte! I am creating this community because I really liked /r/Ireland, but the decisions that Reddit admins have made regarding API access and the frankly awful way they have treated third party developers and the wider user base have left me wanting an alternative.

Simply put, the worst part about /r/Ireland was Reddit and the direction the company was going in.

So with that said, here is an alternative. A community for the island of Ireland, a place for Ireland and Irish people. I hope to enable discussion about news & current events, where people can ask questions, share memes, and just for general good craic and good vibes. Memes, shitposts, questions, discussions and news are all welcome.

I would ask people to not take the piss please, and if ye are going to post articles, please don't post paywalled ones.

Anyway, suggestions welcome. I hope you enjoy this community.

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Why can't employers find enough people to do the work of society? There aren't enough people available to work as teachers, vets, bus drivers, etc. All these common, essential jobs are going unfilled in large numbers, leading to problems in the functioning of society as a whole.

And this despite rising poverty levels forcing ever more women into the workforce, and high immigration rates increasing the relative number of people of working age.

So what are the adults of Ireland all doing, that they're not available to do these jobs?

https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-lfs/labourforcesurveyquarter22021/employment/

Well for a start, 15% are working in "motor vehicles". This sounds too high. I'm sure this industry does not need so many people. It's the same number as work in "human health".

How can this number be reduced, to allow more people to work in more valuable jobs?

  1. Extra tax on high earning jobs like "motor vehicle" tradesmen? This could be used to fund higher salaries for jobs like driving buses. If the market is thus manipulated so essential jobs pay better, people will switch jobs and the problem is solved.

  2. Promote cars which are more durable and require less frequent maintenance. Punish the sale of new cars and especially cars which cannot easily be maintained by the owner, or whose parts cannot easily and cheaply be acquired by normal people.

Encouraging electric bikes and electric cars will not help. I mean it won't help in general, but it especially won't help with this problem. Electric bikes and electric cars require more frequent maintenance and replacement than conventional cars. It is possible to design electric vehicles which are far more durable that petrol ones, because of technology advantages. But that will not happen until it is promoted through taxation, as above.

  1. The need for vehicles in general is proportional to how badly towns are planned. Housing, jobs, and amenities and leisure need to be placed near each other. The placement should be enforced by planning law. This reduces commuting distances and increases usage of "mobilités douces".

So only #3 is the real solution. Through a happy coincidence, this is also the solution to most of society's other problems, like the housing crisis, drug use and bad behaviour and petty crime, global warming, etc.

Although #3 is simple and obvious, it requires critical thinking which the current government is not capable of. So it is worth remembering for after the next election.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Forgetting the rest of it, how does reducing vehicles reduce drug use?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is the most tenuous point. Maybe I should have omitted it, because the argument is just as convincing without it.

It's the ideda that drug use is partially a symptom of widespread depression. You've seen the effect where building a skate park reduces petty crime and suicides and drug use and other mental problems. Improving people's society improves people's lives which reduces rates of misery which reduces things like drug use. It's an observation that is widely made, and makes sense, but I'm not sure how thoroughly it has been researched. Forcing developers to include in their developments things like skate parks, employment, open space, cafes and pubs, etc, reduces rates of all problem behaviour.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah sorry, I knew this was the point you were trying to get across and nitpicked for no reason. I would love to see more facilities for people that are close to them. As someone who lives between two tiny villages I understand this way too much and would personally love to see more skateparks especially. A state funded/run indoor one would be great as just about all private indoors have closed since COVID and we all know what the Irish weather is like.