Escaping the family's past?

I don't care who replies on this forum. I just was explaining I have more in common with Americans whose families have been here more than two generations. That's because, in my opinion, even when a child is born in the U.S., and his/her parents came from elsewhere, the home life may still reflect a "world" that doesn't have the same American mores that another more "assimilated" family has.

It's almost as though there is the belief that there is no real/true American culture that Americans assimilate into?

I see such an attitude with some immigrants, where the U.S. is just a good job opportunity, and they hope to live in some immigrant enclave their entire lives. This can be done with satellite tv, a thriving immigrant newspaper industry, and immigrant supermarkets. More assimilated Americans may look upon it as a slow learning curve, that only the children will have a chance to learn.

Far be it for me to care who is on this forum.

No, I can't agree. At least in the U.S., we have a civil right to choose our friends. Please don't stand in judgement of my exercising my civil rights.

Right to life, liberty, security of a person
Right to privacy, right to private property, right to a fair trial,
Freedom from slavery, torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest
Freedom of movement, speech, opinion, religion, freedom of assembly
Right to free election, right to be elected, right to participate on political life

I am condemning the German people to not having me as a friend.

[
The real question that was never asked in this thread (surprisingly) was, "What would it take for you, Foofie, to feel warmer feelings towards Germany today?"

The answer is simple, the same thing a Jew has to do to make others feel totally comfortable with himself/herself - assimilate. What am I saying? Silly as it sounds: Give a deadline where English becomes the official language of Germany. Drink ale, not beer. Start to enjoy bland British food. Protestants join the Anglican church.

Get it? That's right. Anglicize the country. Shed the old Teutonic culture. In effect, vaccinate the country against a relapse to gloryifying the old Teutonic Heros (at the expense of other groups) in some future economic inflation (like in the Weimar Republic).

Sounds silly, right? Sure it's silly, since Germany is not about to give up its language and culture. Why should they. It is loved by its people. And, in the same way, I can't give up my distaste for the Teutonic culture.

By the way, not wanting to be an ingrate, I do thank my grandparents for coming to the U.S. around 120 years ago. That was the smartest thing they ever did. And I do appreciate being an American. And I do thank America for giving my family a country like the U.S. to live in. And I do support the Administration in its goals in Iraq. And I do believe (even as an atheist) that if there is a god, the U.S. has a covenant with Him. And, if Jesus ever comes back, He'll come to the U.S. first. I believe Jesus is a Republican! God Bless America!

Foofie wrote:

I don't care who replies on this forum. I just was explaining I have more in common with Americans whose families have been here more than two generations. That's because, in my opinion, even when a child is born in the U.S., and his/her parents came from elsewhere, the home life may still reflect a "world" that doesn't have the same American mores that another more "assimilated" family has.

It's almost as though there is the belief that there is no real/true American culture that Americans assimilate into?

I see such an attitude with some immigrants, where the U.S. is just a good job opportunity, and they hope to live in some immigrant enclave their entire lives. This can be done with satellite tv, a thriving immigrant newspaper industry, and immigrant supermarkets. More assimilated Americans may look upon it as a slow learning curve, that only the children will have a chance to learn.

Far be it for me to care who is on this forum.

Setting aside your nationality and religion, what' left is an utter
ignoramus, foofie. In your own way you are a terrible racist.
I actually feel sorry for you and the ones alike.

Foofie wrote:

No, I can't agree. At least in the U.S., we have a civil right to choose our friends. Please don't stand in judgement of my exercising my civil rights.

civil right, really? i thought those were well defined. here's a list of internationally recognized civil and political rights:

Quote:

Right to life, liberty, security of a person
Right to privacy, right to private property, right to a fair trial,
Freedom from slavery, torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest
Freedom of movement, speech, opinion, religion, freedom of assembly
Right to free election, right to be elected, right to participate on political life

you do have a right to choose friends. but it's not a "civil right". don't throw around big words that you don't know the contents of.

Foofie wrote:

I am condemning the German people to not having me as a friend.

I'm of German extraction. Is that a problem?

Can it please, please, be a problem?

The phrase is based on the writings of John Locke, who expressed a similar concept of "life, liberty, and estate (or property)". While Locke said that "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions", Adam Smith coined the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of property". The expression "pursuit of happiness" was coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson in his 1759 novel Rasselas.

Written by Thomas Jefferson, the words in the Declaration were a departure from the orthodoxy of Locke and Smith. Locke's phrase was a list of property rights a government should guarantee its people; Jefferson's list, on the other hand, covers a much broader spectrum of rights, possibly including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights such as free speech and a fair trial. The change was not explained during Jefferson's life, so beyond this, one can only speculate about its meaning. This tripartite motto is comparable to "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity) in France or "peace, order and good government" in Canada.

The phrase can also be found in Chapter III, Article 13 of the 1947 Constitution of Japan.

An alternative phrase "life, liberty and property", is found in the Declaration of Colonial Rights, a resolution of the First Continental Congress.

Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal power given to all citizens by law. Civil rights are distinguished from "human rights" or "natural rights", also called "our God-given rights". Civil rights are rights that are bestowed by nations on those within their territorial boundaries, while natural or human rights are rights that many scholars claim that individuals have by nature of being born. For example, the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the sovereign state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued that people acquire rights as an inalienable gift from a deity (such as God) or at a time of nature before governments were formed.

Foofie wrote:

[
The real question that was never asked in this thread (surprisingly) was, "What would it take for you, Foofie, to feel warmer feelings towards Germany today?"

The answer is simple, the same thing a Jew has to do to make others feel totally comfortable with himself/herself - assimilate. What am I saying? Silly as it sounds: Give a deadline where English becomes the official language of Germany. Drink ale, not beer. Start to enjoy bland British food. Protestants join the Anglican church.

Get it? That's right. Anglicize the country. Shed the old Teutonic culture. In effect, vaccinate the country against a relapse to gloryifying the old Teutonic Heros (at the expense of other groups) in some future economic inflation (like in the Weimar Republic).

Sounds silly, right? Sure it's silly, since Germany is not about to give up its language and culture. Why should they. It is loved by its people. And, in the same way, I can't give up my distaste for the Teutonic culture.

By the way, not wanting to be an ingrate, I do thank my grandparents for coming to the U.S. around 120 years ago. That was the smartest thing they ever did. And I do appreciate being an American. And I do thank America for giving my family a country like the U.S. to live in. And I do support the Administration in its goals in Iraq. And I do believe (even as an atheist) that if there is a god, the U.S. has a covenant with Him. And, if Jesus ever comes back, He'll come to the U.S. first. I believe Jesus is a Republican! God Bless America!

Would you consider applying these ideas to the state of Israel? From the perspective of the Palestinians who formerly inhabited the land, and, in particular, the residents of the West Bank who have lived for forty years under military occupation, it may well be that what they want from israel is acceptance and a relaxation of the Zionist culture that will forever treat them as outsiders. Clearly the failed policy of 'Land for peace' has not worked (in part because Israel covets much of the land, but without its people). It may well be that the key to peace in Israel is the abandonment of the Zionism that promises to forever make tribal & cultural distinctions matters of politics and individual rights.

If you are not comfortable with these ideas, perhaps you should question your expressed attitudes towards Germany.

BTW, here is an interesting article on whether Jews are a race, nation, ethnic group or just a religion:

http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm

Foofie, that is also not true. The zionist movement started far earlier. Jews started to settle in what today is Israel from 1880s. In 1930s there was a commission in Great Britain deliberating on establishing the state of Israel, PRIOR to WWII and to Holocaust.

dagmaraka wrote:

BTW, here is an interesting article on whether Jews are a race, nation, ethnic group or just a religion:

http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm

No Jews are not a race in a scientific sense. At one time they were a gene pool, due to almost 100% marrying only other Jews. That's not the case today outside of Israel.

I don't believe everything I read on the internet, or books, since everyone has a viewpoint to espouse.

No, I can't be a racist, since Germans are not a race, nor are Europeans, nor are the French. They are the same race as I am.

By the way, if there wasn't a Holocaust, there'd be no Israel to have these specific problems there. Why don't you explore the root of the problem (what caused European Jews to be living in that neck of the woods). Could it be the expression, "What goes around, comes around" have some truth here?

Sorry, only German citizens count, since my preferences only have to do with the political entity of Germany, since it includes in its history the two world wars. I really am not interested about the people in Germany. In my opinion, they have become very Jewish in their successful efforts to make money and even in their oftentimes speaking two languages (that was a negative stereotype of the International Jew - able to speak more than one language).

You were talking about immigrants to the US, foofie, and not all immigrants are Europeans. In fact, most of them are of Hispanic or Asian origin,
as well as the black caribbeans.

If you don't want to be called a racist, then you should have generalized
"attitude of immigrants".