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Having large multinational corporations is hugely beneficial to the Irish economy, through direct employment. Sure any company that is just a brass plaque and f

Having large multinational corporations is hugely beneficial to the Irish economy, through direct employment. Sure any company that is just a brass plaque and funneling money through Ireland is of no benefit, but most of the big ones have significant high quality high tech jobs here. Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel, you name it, they all have huge operations here.

bobthechef 5y ago
Yes and no. Ireland may seem materially better off than they were before, but they've effectively been recolonized. Putting aside matters of tax evasion, these corporations aren't sticking to just employing labor. They're also politically influential. The rapid shift in Irish cultural norms in recent years is jaw-dropping.
- shard 5y ago
  Tax evasion should be prosecuted, but I believe most of the time I read about these companies and taxes, it's about tax avoidance, such as the source article for this thread.
  - johannes1234321 5y ago
    It's probably legal, even though it's not as intended. If you need 50 shell companies you are clearly abusing some loopholes, which I morally/ethically consider wrong. But that's something society has to fix ...
    - shard 5y ago
      Finding loopholes seems like it's perfectly aligned with the hacker ethos. We cheer when we read about the guy who figured out how to always win at Press Your Luck, the guy who gamed the lotto system to greatly increase his odds, the guy who bought large quantities of pudding and got enough free air miles to last the rest of his life. I wouldn't be surprised if the first lawyers who figured out these loopholes got the same hacker high from finding the cracks in the system. Of course, for the first 3 examples, the loopholes were closed after those people exploited it. Now if the governments don't close these well-known loopholes, isn't it equivalent to implicitly condoning them?
      - SilasX 5y ago
        Maybe it’s just me, but I’d say the hacker ethos would be to, yes, exploit that loophole but also publicize the dickens out of it so it gets fixed and refactored into a more rational system that obviates that whole class of errors.
      - johannes1234321 5y ago
        Hacker Ethos is mot to find the bug in the bank's system and transfer a billion dollar, but to find the issue and report it and get it fixed. The hacker Ethos is to improve things.
- tails4e 5y ago
  I think the shift in culture is directly correlated to being better off for the average person. Dublin is very different from rural places, that have changed more slowly. Its modernisation, for better or worse. Politics is as crooked as ever. Some serious sennanigans were had well before the multinationals were big

bobthechef 5y ago

Yes and no. Ireland may seem materially better off than they were before, but they've effectively been recolonized. Putting aside matters of tax evasion, these corporations aren't sticking to just employing labor. They're also politically influential. The rapid shift in Irish cultural norms in recent years is jaw-dropping.

shard 5y ago
Tax evasion should be prosecuted, but I believe most of the time I read about these companies and taxes, it's about tax avoidance, such as the source article for this thread.
- johannes1234321 5y ago
  It's probably legal, even though it's not as intended. If you need 50 shell companies you are clearly abusing some loopholes, which I morally/ethically consider wrong. But that's something society has to fix ...
  - shard 5y ago
    Finding loopholes seems like it's perfectly aligned with the hacker ethos. We cheer when we read about the guy who figured out how to always win at Press Your Luck, the guy who gamed the lotto system to greatly increase his odds, the guy who bought large quantities of pudding and got enough free air miles to last the rest of his life. I wouldn't be surprised if the first lawyers who figured out these loopholes got the same hacker high from finding the cracks in the system. Of course, for the first 3 examples, the loopholes were closed after those people exploited it. Now if the governments don't close these well-known loopholes, isn't it equivalent to implicitly condoning them?
    - SilasX 5y ago
      Maybe it’s just me, but I’d say the hacker ethos would be to, yes, exploit that loophole but also publicize the dickens out of it so it gets fixed and refactored into a more rational system that obviates that whole class of errors.
    - johannes1234321 5y ago
      Hacker Ethos is mot to find the bug in the bank's system and transfer a billion dollar, but to find the issue and report it and get it fixed. The hacker Ethos is to improve things.
tails4e 5y ago
I think the shift in culture is directly correlated to being better off for the average person. Dublin is very different from rural places, that have changed more slowly. Its modernisation, for better or worse. Politics is as crooked as ever. Some serious sennanigans were had well before the multinationals were big