I say, Viva multiculturalism and diversity of language. These are ways we get to know and appreciate each other better.
Er, tell the Swiss about that multilingual thing.
Er, you can find examples of it working and not working. It all depends on one's attitude.
Didn't realize there were more posts after the first page when I piped in. I fear I may have been redundant.
...yep...
Joe Nation wrote:First, I would like to salute Merry Andrew for his reasoned response to an intentionally overwrought initial post. Well done.
Then:
there is this:
Quote:The US is losing its culture and multiculturalism is taking over.
Hey.
Our ((the USA USA! USA USA !!) culture is, and always has been, multiculturalism. Different cultural groups have floated past each other, merged with each other, bounced off each other like the globs of stuff in a lava lamp throughout the history of this nation. We are a nation of nations. We always have been. We always shall be.
The idea that the United States of America was, at any point in it's history, a unified, monolithic culture is a
fiction foisted about by the odd oddfellows group (no connection to the real Oddfellows) and occasionally lifted up by some, usually rock-ribbed, conservative politician on the Fourth of July or Labor Day to illustrate to his dim-witted listeners that was a Camelot of a different sort. The sort where everyone was white and spoke good English and behaved like they never heard of rock and roll.
Joe(god, what is that smell?)Nation
Our nation has always been refered to as the great melting pot and that isn't what we are now. People used to come to the US to become Americans but now they just come for the jobs. I have a neighbor who was from Germany and has lived here for almost 30 years. She stopped getting her Visa or Green Card just over 10 years ago and hasn't applied. She has no intention of becoming a US citizen. That didn't happen 50 or 60 years ago.
one more factor to weigh in the equation,
the US has the highest prison population in the world, with 2,085,620 in 2003. India, by contrast, was fifth, with 313,635. per 100,000 population, the US has 714 inmates, India 29. i reiterate, India seems to be doing OK, despite 16 official languages.
click here for world incarceration data
Do they have 16 languages or is that 16 dialects? The US has at least 3 or 4 differect dialects.
Southern
Midwestern
Northern (Fargo/Wisconsin/Minnasota)
West coast (surfer/vally girl)
think they're distinct languages, here's some of them:
Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati , Hindi , Kannada , Kashmiri , Konkani , Malayalam
Manipuri , Marathi , Nepali , Oriya , Punjabi , Sanskrit , Sindhi , Tamil , Telugu
Urdu
which is eighteen, and since English is one of the official languages, i guess 3 of those listed are unofficial.
GDP per capita:
2) United States $ 40,100
19) United Kingdom $ 29,600
89) World $ 8,800
121) China $ 5,600
155) India $ 3,100
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
I forget why we were arguing that India is not doing well. Abundance of languages? Probably not. But SOMETHING we are doing is right.
After all, India had a head start of about 4800 years.
(Joking of course)
India has low gdp per capita. you bet. but it has higher annual gdp growth than US. and remember, US has about 170 years head start on India in gaining independence from Britain.
yitwail wrote:India has low gdp per capita. you bet. but it has higher annual gdp growth than US. and remember, US has about 170 years head start on India in gaining independence from Britain.
If they hadn't used the peace route they might have been earlier.
Darn those slow poke pacifists! Yeah, it was a lot better when people started shooting each other, the whole thing was resolved quickly with opposing parties simply forming two nations and all has been wonderful between them ever since.....except for that nuclear arms race thing and the little matter of Kashmir. but hey>>
Joe(once Ghandi was dead they could make progress)Nation
Two nations, mmm...
That's not a bad idea at all: East America, West America, and the Bible Belt.
The ideologies and agendas are so very different, it could really smooth things out.
I would definitely vote for secession, and get some healthy balance and competition back into the world.
That would SAVE America and what it stands for, rather than constantly tearing it back and forth, and blasting our neighbors so much. This absolute power has gotten out of hand.
mysteryman wrote:Merry Andrew wrote:Baldimo wrote: People are allowed to get off of murder charges because it was ok to kill their wives in their old country and that is accepted even though the US is not their old country.
Huh? You have any links or references to back that up, Baldy? Anyone resident (or even just visiting) this country is subject to the same laws as are the citizens here. And it doesn't matter whether they entered legally or illegally; the law is the same for everybody,
viz. the 14th Amendment.
WRONG!!!
Any person in this country on a diplomatic passport is EXEMPT from our laws.They cannot even be given a traffic ticket.
There have been many examples of diplomats committing serious crimes in this country and not being charged with a crime,because of their passport.
There you go again, Mystery, totally muddying the waters. Diplomatic passports? What's that got to do with the price of fish? Any person in any country (including American diplomatic workers overseas) with a diplomatic passport has automatic immunity from prosecution. Anyone known (not convicted, mind you, just
known to have broken a law) is expelled from the country. That has nothing at all to do with what Baldimo was claiming. This thread was about immigration, not diplomatic visitors.
Merry,
YOU said..."Anyone resident (or even just visiting) this country is subject to the same laws as are the citizens here"
That is what I was responding to.
mysteryman wrote:Merry,
YOU said..."Anyone resident (or even just visiting) this country is subject to the same laws as are the citizens here"
I agree that is not true and when I can find the time to research it, I'll post something that you won't believe.
Joe Nation wrote: Our culture is, and always has been, multiculturalism. Different cultural groups have floated past each other, merged with each other, bounced off each other like the globs of stuff in a lava lamp throughout the history of this nation. We are a nation of nations. We always have been. We always shall be.
Joe(god, what is that smell?)Nation
I am always suspicious when I agree with something Joe Nation has written. I always feel like I need to visit Coulters site afterwards.
Ok, I didn't get to it today, but you might enjoy the same thread posted on a more conservative
site.
Don't look at me, I didn't copy it over there.
It would seem to me that the most dangerous turn of events has to do with the reasons that people ......mostly from Mexico, are streaming into this country. There was a time when other nationalities wanted to come here because they wanted to be Americans and to become citizens. Now they come here to take advantage of health care we cannot deny them and to send money back to Mexico. The money is the biggest reason Fox won't make any attempt to stop the flow. If they want to become Americans......we welcome them......if not take your pregnant wives and get the hell out. The medical care is bankrupting many border state hospitals and forcing them to close which in turn hurts our citizens.
On the other hand if any American went across the border and needed medical care, they would be laughed at and probably spat upon.
I haven't read Dr. Hanson's book.....Mexifornia, but he is a brilliant thinker and when he starts to write, you can put it in the bank because it is most likely correct.
