I believe in a culturally pure America.

[Polymath257]

I'm mainly angry at my federal government. It seems as older white males and especially Vets get the shaft. My federal government hands things out to foreign humanitarian services worldwide instead of taking care of needy American people first. I would rather my federal government send tax money my way to fix the roads in Oklahoma and the broken streets in Lawton, OK than hand out food to Africa so I can have a nice smooth surface to ride my bicycle on. Where's my automatic housing voucher as a low-income veteran of seven years honorable service to country?

If the stupid Africans, Chinese and Indians would stop making so many babies, there would be no famine in their parts.

It seems to me that a lot of your posts are saying what *you* want from the government or others and not very much what *you* can do for yourself.

Well, the point of the *American* style of government is that one person doesn't get to make decisions for everyone: we vote, have representatives, and work (when the system works) via consensus. That means that some people don't get all of their 'wants' met.

You are about the same age as I am and from a 'cultural background' that is similar. Where I grew up, everybody had white skin and talked the same way. It was only later that I realized that my hometown was a small, parochial, backwards place that should not be emulated by *anyone*.

Diversity is a good thing. Having people that speak other languages, that have different cultural traditions, that have different standards of art, clothing, speech, and dance are all *good* things. These differences *enrich* the American experience *and always have*.


This is one of the many lessons it seems you need to learn. And getting over your anger that other succeeded where you have failed is a first step. Success is NOT guaranteed, even with hard work. Some people will be lucky and succeed where you have failed and through no good reason. Learn to live with that fact.

One of the biggest problems in the US is, in my mind, that we are too xenophobic. Our country is so big that we feel we can ignore the rest of the world. Sorry, but economics simply doesn't work that way any longer.

There is an old joke: someone who speaks two languages is bilingual, someone who speaks several is multilingual. What do you call someone who only speaks one language? American. That this is largely true points to a failure in our educational system. EVERYONE should have to travel to a country where they don't speak the language natively. Exposure to other cultures is part of a good education.

Famine in Africa and China is actually less common now than it was not so long ago. The reasons for much the poverty go back to European domination and exploitation (and yes, that includes America). To blame them because others have denuded their lands is, at best, heartless.

 

[Polymath257]

I'm mainly angry at my federal government. It seems as older white males and especially Vets get the shaft. My federal government hands things out to foreign humanitarian services worldwide instead of taking care of needy American people first. .

I'd also point out that the amount of money going to such foreign humanitarian aid is a very, very small part of our budget. And it is usually a very good thing since it provides, relatively cheaply, the 'good will' that our other actions tend to destroy.

Perhaps you should be more concerned about the amount of money going into the Defense Department. Or, perhaps you want your social security checks to be reduced to *really* help our finances.

Some how I suspect not.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Doch! Ich hasse Kuchen. Aber, Ich mag heiße käsige Kartoffeln.

Det lyder lækkert

 

[Polymath257]

Det lyder lækkert

Wo xihuan dangao.

 

[Vidensia]

Strong opinions, Johnathan. Bigoted? Perhaps. Can't say I care. Do I agree? No. However, I commend your pasion and that you’re daring enough to express your views in an age of perpetual offence.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Look like johnathan is a military vet. He feels mistreated. Maybe that where the Extreme patriotism come from.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

True. I grew up in central Kansas. The word 'wash' always had an 'r' sound in it, like 'warsh'. I also found out much later that most people don't make the 'which-witch' distinction. I learned *in school* to pronounce the 'wh' as close to a 'hw' sound.

Hoosiers will say "Warshington," but not "cool hwip."

 

[Polymath257]

Look like johnathan is a military vet. He feels mistreated. Maybe that where the Extreme patriotism come from.

I'd describe it as jingoism, not patriotism.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I'm afraid the Left will try to hang me for even having a Mark Twain book in my home. The terms colored and Injun is in some of them. Will I get the death penalty for possessing a copy of Mein Kampf?

The Left in general doesn't get upset by Mark Twain or someone having Mein Kampf. Illiberal Liberals who hate the first and are really no different than Conservative Evangelicals when it comes to invasive obtrusions into people's lives and attaching guilt to be human just for being, they will mind. But they make up a small portion of the Left, and from the studies I've seen the majority of people by age, political affiliation, gender, ethnicity, no body likes them.

I think I will someday settle in Bakersfield, California

In all reality it's probably not white enough for you, English enough for you, and you'll get to hear accents from all over America and various parts of the world. And socially they say it's Conservative but I'll just let them keep pretending that.

 

[Jonathan Bailey]

It seems to me that a lot of your posts are saying what *you* want from the government or others and not very much what *you* can do for yourself.

Well, the point of the *American* style of government is that one person doesn't get to make decisions for everyone: we vote, have representatives, and work (when the system works) via consensus. That means that some people don't get all of their 'wants' met.

You are about the same age as I am and from a 'cultural background' that is similar. Where I grew up, everybody had white skin and talked the same way. It was only later that I realized that my hometown was a small, parochial, backwards place that should not be emulated by *anyone*.

Diversity is a good thing. Having people that speak other languages, that have different cultural traditions, that have different standards of art, clothing, speech, and dance are all *good* things. These differences *enrich* the American experience *and always have*.


This is one of the many lessons it seems you need to learn. And getting over your anger that other succeeded where you have failed is a first step. Success is NOT guaranteed, even with hard work. Some people will be lucky and succeed where you have failed and through no good reason. Learn to live with that fact.

One of the biggest problems in the US is, in my mind, that we are too xenophobic. Our country is so big that we feel we can ignore the rest of the world. Sorry, but economics simply doesn't work that way any longer.

There is an old joke: someone who speaks two languages is bilingual, someone who speaks several is multilingual. What do you call someone who only speaks one language? American. That this is largely true points to a failure in our educational system. EVERYONE should have to travel to a country where they don't speak the language natively. Exposure to other cultures is part of a good education.

Famine in Africa and China is actually less common now than it was not so long ago. The reasons for much the poverty go back to European domination and exploitation (and yes, that includes America). To blame them because others have denuded their lands is, at best, heartless.

In America, I'm guaranteed the Constitutional right to say what I don't like about my government without fear of being executed for that. Needy American Veterans who served honorably in uniform should be at the top of the list for affordable housing and social services benefits. American Vets are a truly entitled class.

Why don't all the foreign handouts from Washington, DC anger people here?

I'm not your enemy. Your hostility should not be directed toward me
but rather Washington, DC. Demand MORE from DC. Much more.
And please drain the swamp this coming November.


Listen to Ray Charles to see what I mean:

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Det lyder lækkert

Ja! Es ist ser gut! Sie wirt meine über alles lieben.

 

[Jonathan Bailey]

Ja! Es ist ser gut! Sie wirt meine über alles lieben.

I don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Ja! Es ist ser gut! Sie wirt meine über alles lieben.

Ich mag deins schon.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't know what you are talking about.

That's kind of the point. English has never been the exclusive language of America. America does owe a great deal of gratitude towards the French, but I don't know French, and I never took up Gaelic due to a lack of speakers in the area. And I haven't had much time to learn Spanish. Also, Ich schreibe am Duetsches.

 

[Polymath257]

In America, I'm guaranteed the Constitutional right to say what I don't like about my government without fear of being executed for that. Needy American Veterans who served honorably in uniform should be at the top of the list for affordable housing and social services benefits. American Vets are a truly entitled class.

And I would agree that we do far less for our vets than we should.

Why don't all the foreign handouts from Washington, DC anger people here?

Because helping others is the American way.

I'm not your enemy. Your hostility should not be directed toward me
but rather Washington, DC. Demand MORE from DC. Much more.
And please drain the swamp this coming November.

While a nice general goal, the specifics are less clear. Who represents the 'swamp'? From my perspective, it is the conservatives that run for the money while going against the tolerance and diversity that makes America great. They are, from my perspective, the ones standing in the way of true progress by catering to anti-science, anti-immigrant and anti-fact constituencies.

 

[Shad]

That's kind of the point. English has never been the exclusive language of America. America does owe a great deal of gratitude towards the French, but I don't know French, and I never took up Gaelic due to a lack of speakers in the area. And I haven't had much time to learn Spanish. Also, Ich schreibe am Duetsches.

English is currently the mainstream language for trade, communications and knowledge exchange. In a few centuries it could be Mandarin. Knowing it in general is an advantage regardless of nation-state.

French here is an official language. No one uses it outside Quebec and east Ontario.

 

[Polymath257]

English is currently the mainstream language for trade, communications and knowledge exchange. In a few centuries it could be Mandarin. Knowing it in general is an advantage regardless of nation-state.

French here is an official language. No one uses it outside Quebec and east Ontario.

After my recent trip to China, I would change 'centuries' to 'decades'.

 

[Shad]

After my recent trip to China, I would change 'centuries' to 'decades'.

Perhaps for commerce. However I think it would take time for translations to Mandarin of our knowledge base to become dominate. The number of Chinese in China is not relevant. It is how widespread the language use becomes. 1 billion speaking Mandarin globally is different than 1 billion nationally.

 

[sooda]

It seems to me that a lot of your posts are saying what *you* want from the government or others and not very much what *you* can do for yourself.

Well, the point of the *American* style of government is that one person doesn't get to make decisions for everyone: we vote, have representatives, and work (when the system works) via consensus. That means that some people don't get all of their 'wants' met.

You are about the same age as I am and from a 'cultural background' that is similar. Where I grew up, everybody had white skin and talked the same way. It was only later that I realized that my hometown was a small, parochial, backwards place that should not be emulated by *anyone*.

Diversity is a good thing. Having people that speak other languages, that have different cultural traditions, that have different standards of art, clothing, speech, and dance are all *good* things. These differences *enrich* the American experience *and always have*.


This is one of the many lessons it seems you need to learn. And getting over your anger that other succeeded where you have failed is a first step. Success is NOT guaranteed, even with hard work. Some people will be lucky and succeed where you have failed and through no good reason. Learn to live with that fact.

One of the biggest problems in the US is, in my mind, that we are too xenophobic. Our country is so big that we feel we can ignore the rest of the world. Sorry, but economics simply doesn't work that way any longer.

There is an old joke: someone who speaks two languages is bilingual, someone who speaks several is multilingual. What do you call someone who only speaks one language? American. That this is largely true points to a failure in our educational system. EVERYONE should have to travel to a country where they don't speak the language natively. Exposure to other cultures is part of a good education.

Famine in Africa and China is actually less common now than it was not so long ago. The reasons for much the poverty go back to European domination and exploitation (and yes, that includes America). To blame them because others have denuded their lands is, at best, heartless.

I think America would be very boring if everyone sounded like Ted Coppell (no offense to Ted)

I like the Minnesota lilt, the sultry tones of Mississippi, the soft Scotslike brogue of Charleston. I even like Gullah and Geechy. .. and the food? Where would we be without Creole and Cajun food or Carolina Barbeque or NY pizza or Tex-Mex? I could go on and on, but you get my drift.

 

[Polymath257]

Perhaps for commerce. However I think it would take time for translations to Mandarin of our knowledge base to become dominate. The number of Chinese in China is not relevant. It is how widespread the language use becomes. 1 billion speaking Mandarin globally is different than 1 billion nationally.

I did find a lot of Chinese who were learning English to be able to participate in commerce. But let's face it, neither English nor Chinese is the easiest language to learn.