National stereotypes: March 22, 1999 issue of New Thinking

March 22, 1999 New Thinking:
National stereotypes

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March 22, 1999

National stereotypes

By Gerry McGovern

Well, I hope you’ve had a happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you went out and got drunk and then started a bloody big fight. That would have been the Irish thing to do! We Irish love to get drunk and fight. We’re the world’s best at it and proud of it too!

Strange then that Ireland has one of the lowest alcohol consumption rates in Europe. Strange, that a 1999 report entitled ‘The Drinks Industry in Ireland,’ found that about 75 percent of the adult population consumes alcohol in the Republic of Ireland, compared to 80 percent in the Netherlands, 83 per cent in Spain and 90 per cent in the UK.

I’m not saying that the Irish don’t like to drink and that some of us do get very drunk, but to even consider labeling us a nation of drunks is way, way off the mark. Now, I’ve traveled a lot and I’ll tell you, there are many countries where a macho drink culture is far, far stronger than it is in Ireland.

Of course, the Irish are a bit simple. That’s why there are so many jokes about us. We were cute but not very bright. Strange then that the Irish are second only to the Jews for success in the United States. Strange then that Ireland used to be known as the Land Of Saints And Scholars, a country that educated the elite of Europe, and that at one stage was producing half of Europe’s books.

National stereotypes can be hard to overcome, and I’m sure that many readers will have at some stage found themselves judged in a negative way because of where they came from. Will the Internet help to break down national stereotypes? This newsletter could not be possible without the Internet. It reaches over 70 countries. I’d like to believe that you, my prized readers, don’t see me as some ‘thick Paddy.’

However, to think that something such as national stereotypes, that have endured for so long, will somehow be washed away by the Internet, is wishful thinking. They draw from a deep well of tribalism, nationalism and community.

Oh, I know that many will feel anger that I should associate anything negative with community, but it is a fundamental law of nature and society that anything that has a positive has an equal negative. I heard an interesting definition of community recently: ‘When two people get together to exclude a third.’

Communities, cultures and nations have a habit of thinking wonderfully about themselves, and thinking strange things about other communities and cultures.

The Internet may bring before us the ability to find information on and communicate with other cultures more easily. Hopefully, it will lessen the fear and racist driven stereotypical thinking that comes from ignorance.

Unfortunately, the Internet itself is an environment where stereotypes can blossom. In the computer industry, we have our nerds and dweebs. There are communities online, whether they be professional grouping or just fan clubs, where not knowing your stuff begs for exclusion and contempt.

The Internet is no miracle that transforms the human race. It is more like a mirror that reflects us.

Gerry McGovern

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The Internet is no miracle that transforms the human race. It is more like a mirror that reflects us.