Ireland and China

[LBJer]

Ireland and China are hardly two countries people usually associate with each other.  Yet it occurred to me that both nations have experienced drastic transformations in recent decades that are very similar.

Thoughts?

[parochial boy]

Ireland: Achieve absurd and meaningless GDP figures by turning yourself into a transit point for tax evasion and avoidance and get given a pass on it because Leprechauns and Guinness and the fact that everyone in America thinks they're actually Irish.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Ireland: Achieve absurd and meaningless GDP figures by turning yourself into a transit point for tax evasion and avoidance and get given a pass on it because Leprechauns and Guinness and the fact that everyone in America thinks they're actually Irish.

opinion of the "irish pub" nearest my apartment having a painting of ireland on the wall where THE SIX COUNTIES are in orange

[Silent Hunter]

Both were major sources of immigrants to the United States in the 19th century.

[dead0man]

and the fact that everyone in America thinks they're actually Irish.

is this a European meme?  I'm not saying there aren't people who claim Irish that aren't, but it's really really rare.  Maybe it's a northeast/Boston thing?  Those people are horrible.

The main lie Americans tell each other about their ancestry is "I'm part Cherokee".

[Anti-Trump Truth Socialite JD Vance Enjoying Juror]

In a sense both were founded in 1949 (Republic of Ireland Act/Proclamation of the People's Republic).

[If my soul was made of stone]

and the fact that everyone in America thinks they're actually Irish.

is this a European meme?  I'm not saying there aren't people who claim Irish that aren't, but it's really really rare.  Maybe it's a northeast/Boston thing?  Those people are horrible.

The main lie Americans tell each other about their ancestry is "I'm part Cherokee".

Clearly people from Ireland are fake Irish because they don't dye the Liffey green or paint themselves green to show their support for Notre Dame basketball.

[CumbrianLefty]

Both know a bit about famines and civil wars as well.

[LBJer]

Both know a bit about famines and civil wars as well.

True.  Though I had thought the death toll from the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 was much higher than it actually was (perhaps 1-2,000 dead).  In his Ireland: A History, Thomas Bartlett points out that the number of deaths wasn't even comparable to that in the Finnish Civil War fought during the same period, in 1918 (30-40,000).  Finland and Ireland had--and still have today--very similar numbers of people. 

[CumbrianLefty]

Both know a bit about famines and civil wars as well.

True.  Though I had thought the death toll from the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 was much higher than it actually was (perhaps 1-2,000 dead).  In his Ireland: A History, Thomas Bartlett points out that the number of deaths wasn't even comparable to that in the Finnish Civil War fought during the same period, in 1918 (30-40,000).  Finland and Ireland had--and still have today--very similar numbers of people. 

Though of course Ireland had a de facto civil war for some time beforehand.