Like all good children of the Celtic Tiger my life comtains many vices and temptations. From my penchant for international travel, to my desire to posess material objects. But some vices are more harmful then others.

Due to a level of financial comfort, I have collected degrees like confetti. And like confetti, they are worthless without an occasion. Sure, I can hold my own in conversations about politics, history, law, current affairs, but I do all this safe in the knowledge that I remain, as of yet, unchallenged by the BIG BAD WORLD. I am fast approaching a time where I can’t go on much longer in college, and need to jetison the lifestyle I have become accustomed to. So thats harmful vice one, being an eternal student.

Like wise, Ireland is now rivaled only by Rome in terms of its hedonism (exaggeration for blogerific effect). So for me, going out three, four nights a week is acceptable. This kind of social life feeds into the perpetual studenthood, and its a weird cycle. The pernicious influence of many varied social gatherings, which multiply the more circles I can gain access to, feeding my late starts, and later finishes to the day. The physical toll is also pretty considerable, with the collected influence of too many pints and chipper dinners building up. Vice two, party all night.

Thirdly, well to be honest, this society has had the same effect on me as many of its other products. I have been filled with a sense that I can solve the worlds problems, in tandem with an abject removal of my moral compass. Gone are the ideas of my parents and grandparents, about self reliance, which feeds a minor debt problem, or about simple moral truths, which mean I sometimes can justify lies in order to improve the situation of myself and others. So thats number three, an inflated sense of self worth, but with no moral compass.

I’m sure theres more, but thats enough self deprecation for now.