[CalRobert]

Ireland seems to have an intense undercurrent of begrudgery; it's a very strange place. I've had pretty good experience with my American-style resume (not really a CV but meh) - but I also generally discount Irish companies since they pay half as much as the multinationals.

I worry about my kids growing up somewhere success is viewed as something to be mocked, and hard work is for chumps.

[DoughnutHole]

It's a residue of being historically a very poor country. There's no belief that hard work is for chumps - laziness is also looked upon very negatively. What we do have is no faith that hard work will lead to "success" or material wellbeing - hard work is what you just have to do to survive.

Until very recently the Irish historical experience has been that you work very hard your whole life and at best your children's conditions are the same as yours, at worst they deteriorate.

In this context it makes sense that bragging or boasting are looked upon very unfavourably. If everyone is working themselves to the bone to just barely survive, then "success" isn't so much a result of your moral superiority and work ethic as it is a result of dumb luck. In that context boasting is distasteful.

[CuriouslyC]

The attitude that success is to be mocked and hard work is for chumps comes from the belief that luck plays a much larger role in outcomes than an individual's actions. If someone is successful mostly because of luck (but not humble) they deserve to be mocked, and if you work hard all your life but don't get lucky, you'll just be a worked out chump with nothing to show for it.

I don't necessarily agree with the attitude, but there is something to be said for optimizing your choices around a slightly pessimistic assumption of luck.

[CalRobert]

To be fair, hard work that isn't well-directed is a waste. Digging a giant hole with a spoon is hard work but won't get you anywhere. But it's strange to me that if I tell people an idea here in Ireland the first thing people do is look for reasons it won't work, but if I say the same thing to friends back home in California they'll look for reasons it could. Maybe it's just my friend circles.

[returningfory2]

This was exactly my experience growing up in Ireland, and was the primary reason I immigrated to the US after college.

[CalRobert]

Pretty sad that our biggest success story is the Collisons, who knew to get the hell out.