And I have now found that thread and am reading all of the kind and loving things you are saying about me there. I'm not going to continue the discussion of Amerindian assimilation, so I'm not going to respond to those parts of your comments here. I wish to have a future on this forum.
Yet you went on to discuss them in later posts. Repeatedly.
BTW, the term "Amerindian" isn't used in Canada these days, at least not in the news. They prefer the term "indigenous."
So you checked out the other forum. Cool. You realize that everything you say here is being kindly and lovingly stored and made searchable by Google, right? I guess I could have mentioned this in the hidden, opt-in forum there that's unsearchable and only visible to logged-in, opted-in members, and the opinions expressed would have been normal for there, but infractible here. They don't have a lot of patience for racist, sexist, and LGBT-phobic views there (but I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that one of the admins and a long-time mod hate my guts because I don't like the same variety of Star Trek they do, and have made that clear at length over the past 12 years).
Sexist? LOL, I didn't say a thing about your gender, I am just as sassy towards males I disagree with as I am towards females I disagree with.
I'm not as quick to jump on sexism as another member here, so you may be sure that if I picked it up, she would have done even faster.
I have received some PMs in support of my comments here, but I will keep them anonymous because I respect people's privacy. I am also going to refrain from discussing certain aspects of my views here from now on.
Uh-huh.
Of course you should keep PMs private, because they're
private. I'm fully aware that there are people in OT who don't agree with some or all of my views. We don't engage much as a result, as things can get tense.
Then you don't get to presume that you understand me, and thus, you don't get to presume that I am "so full of [myself]."
Just making an honest observation.
You're not the Queen, so I won't be calling you "Ma'am", but you can feel free to call me "Baas".
Since the Queen is dead and buried, I doubt anyone is calling her anything these days.
I looked up "Baas" and had to specify your language in the search terms. Otherwise I got results that varied from the plural of the sounds that sheep and goats make to some technical stuff I didn't bother trying to understand.
According to
this website:
Now offensive to many. Especially in the past, used of or to a white male, indicating the speaker’s perception or acknowledgement of the other’s superior social status. Sometimes used reluctantly or ironically.
Since I don't acknowledge that your social status is superior to mine and I really don't care what color your skin is - white, black, purple, paisley, polka-dotted, plaid (I could go on all day) - I won't be addressing you this way.
The point made before is that you addressed me by my last name. That's rude. Everyone here calls me "Valka." That is what I prefer, though there was one gentleman who used to call me "Mrs. D'Ur". When I asked him why, he said it was to show respect. So I accepted that he preferred to use the nickname he gave me. However, I would prefer that you not use this form. Borachio is one of my friendly acquaintances here. You are not. So if you can't bring yourself to address me as I ask, you may substitute "Ma'am." After all, that's an acceptable form of address for any woman.
Seeing as I am more than 3 decades younger than you, I will probably still be posting here once you are no longer with us, unless you plan to live past 110 years old. Do you?
I really don't think you'll be here that long, or at least not in OT. Some people leave because they get bored, or because their friends leave. Some leave due to offline life keeping them too busy to post. You're young enough that any number of things could crop up and take you from us... job, education if you decide to get more, or even if you find the doormat you want.
I far prefer their age group to my own.
Well, that's something.
My age begins with a 2, and contains two digits.
As I said, most people measure in years, not months.
See above. I'm not responding to the rest of your comment because I'm staying away from the topic of Amerindians and assimilation. You already know how I feel about them and their cultures, and I don't want to get in any more trouble, so I'm done with that topic.
Going by some other posts, you're not as done as you claim.
You could at least ask for something in return, i.e. more English language in Maori communities, for them to dress in a more Western way, for them to go to Christian church, etc...Essentially trade them money for Westernization.
More fluency in languages is useful, but not if they're expected to give up their original language. It is possible to be fluent in more than one language at the same time.
How people dress depends on the situation. Some people in Canada show up in a kilt at formal events. An indigenous person may turn up in ceremonial regalia. Others will wear a suit and tie. The point is that all of them are honoring whatever event is going on by wearing their formal clothing.
Why should they convert to Christianity, especially for money? If someone converts, money is a really hypocritical, selfish, and insincere reason that defeats the whole purpose. Are you really suggesting that your Jesus would want followers who didn't come of their own sincere wish, and only did it for money?
Imagine if some US politician, say Donald Trump, had said "whites are better immigrants than a good chunk of Syrian refugees."
He made it perfectly clear that Muslims from some countries weren't wanted. That's why Canada was the recipient of thousands of asylum-seekers who trusted our government more than the American government. Sure, they didn't all get to stay. Some did, though. Sadly, some died because they tried to cross in the middle of winter and were unprepared for such cold weather. Two men lost fingers and toes from frostbite, and a farmer found a corpse in his field - a woman froze to death. There were other incidents of severe injury that were weather-related. To help minimize this, the RCMP set up an intake place near the most-used crossing place, all the while warning everyone that they were entering illegally and would be arrested as soon as they crossed - if they wanted to turn back, they still could before getting all the way across. I didn't read that anyone turned back.
All the horrible things the communist government was doing in China, yet we got far more sanctions than they did in the 1980s.
Funny you should mention China. According to Wikipedia, that's where much of your town's pecan crop goes for export.
Not sure why anyone would want to learn a language that is pretty much useless in terms of employment prospects.
Oh, maybe because learning other languages is interesting and fun? There's a discussion going on at the Roman history forum I belong to, on the merits of learning Latin. I think it's a bit weird to belong to a forum like that and be dead set against learning Latin, but whatever. It's something I'd like to learn, as it was never offered in any of the schools or college I attended.
Why would you want to learn Maori instead of a more useful language such as Afrikaans, French, German, Spanish, etc?
Hm. There's no point in my learning the first on that list. I've already taken many years of French. I don't really see the point in German, though it's still offered as a second language in some school districts here. Other schools are offering Spanish, Mandarin, or Japanese.
Apparently it's some kind of pagan temple, according to Google. I wouldn't go to one, since I am Christian and I do not wish to be involved in the worship of false gods.
Nobody expects you to worship a god you don't believe in. It would be great if you'd extend that courtesy to other people. Their gods are not false to them.
Wasn't NZ's goal to assimilate them, though? Just like North America and its Amerindians? Whereas, in South Africa, trying to assimilate the black population wouldn't have worked since they outnumbered us 3:1. (They now outnumber us 10:1, because their birth rate is higher than ours and many of us have fled the country, our future looks pretty bleak.)
Well, there goes your statement that you don't intend to discuss assimilation of indigenous North Americans. Oops.
I've never read the book, I only know the musical. Javert killed himself because Valjean, in sparing his life, put Javert in an untenable position. Either he could act immorally in turning in a man who saved his life, or he could act immorally in shirking his duty to the law and letting a escaped convict go. He chose an honourable third path. Javert had a huge amount of honour and a noble character.
Musicals are reinterpretations of whatever people or events they're based on. I love
Fiddler on the Roof, but I don't delude myself into thinking that after watching it that I now understand everything there is to know about about the anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia.
Why? Getting a government job in Australia doesn't require speaking Aboriginese. Getting a government job in Canada doesn't require speaking Eskimo/Inuit. Getting a government job in the US doesn't require speaking Cherokee. Why does New Zealand, uniquely among the Anglosphere countries, require government workers to learn a precolonial language? Are there really that many Maoris who are unable to speak English?
If you're going to include Canada in your pontifications, at least make sure you're using the terms correctly. A quick Google search tells me that "Eskimo" is still used by some in Alaska, but it isn't in Canada. It's considered derogatory and offensive.
The term for the language and its dialects spoken by the Inuit is Inuktitut. That is one of the official languages in the territory of Nunavut, and it's also spoken in the other two territories. Our Governor-General, Mary Simon, is bilingual Inuktitut/English and was (possibly still is) taking French lessons because it's a requirement that the Governor-General be fluent in both English and French.
It would make sense for those working in the territorial governments to be fluent in Inuktitut, as that's the language that some people there are most fluent in, and more comfortable using.
But why is NZ society emphasizing it? Why not just have it so that if Maoris really want to learn it, they can learn it from their parents/grandparents, but it's not so prominent in your society?
As time goes by, "use it or lose it" is a sad part of life. I don't remember as much French as I did years ago because there's nobody around here to speak French with (I did stay in contact with my high school French teacher for quite a few years, but it's been a long while since our last conversation). I do have some French books, but have no inclination to re-read them. They were depressing enough the first time (my French instructor in college chose some horribly depressing books and plays for us to read).
It's also an unfortunate fact that not everyone is suited to be a language teacher, even if they have just one or two students. So no, not everyone can learn it from parents or grandparents.
The "they can just learn English and screw other languages" notion just create a country-wide equivalent of the bland soulless cookie-cutter 1950s neighborhood. Boring.
Yep. One of the reasons I enjoy those Wuauquikuna livestream concerts every weekend is because the musicians (from Ecuador) are fluent in several languages. I've picked up words and phrases in Quechua (they taught the viewers how to say some after some people asked in the comments), and also in Polish, Russian, and Spanish.
Why? Why not just have the Amerindians learn the mainstream languages?
Why? There is no reason at all why they shouldn't have the opportunity to learn both.
I'm reminded of one of my clients from about 30 years ago, when I had my home typing business (most of the clients were college and university students). She was taking the same anthropology class I'd taken a few years before, and getting frustrated. Her problem was that she's Cree, and Cree is her first language. She told me that there were times when writing papers was difficult because there are concepts and ideas that exist in Cree but there's no English equivalent. She could work around it, but could never express the exact nuance in English because the words simply don't exist.
Better than a multicultural Frankenstein of a nation.
At this point I have to wonder how you manage to tolerate being here. CFC is a forum with a multicultural membership, with numerous languages represented. I bet you would be surprised to learn just who among the people here do not have English as their first language.
When you spout out Alt-right white supremacst talking points. Again, I’m going to repeat myself since you didn't grasp what I said when I last brought it up. When you
spout out alt-right white supremacst
talking points. Don’t be surprised when your infamy gets spread into other communities. You’re very
very lucky that your infamy is only in the other forum. Your posts here that you made, would go viral if your screeds were posted on Reddit and Twitter.
I know you’re going to cry “I’m not a white supremicist”. That only signals to me that you are in denial (and failed reading comprehension). As the saying goes “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…”.
It does not matter if Valka is Queen or not. It’s a sign of politeness when you refer to someone Sir or Ma’am, especially if you’re addressing or getting the attention of someone you don’t know their name. But I guess you rather toss aside any notion of politeness for a quick win at “pwning the libs”
I’m sure other people would call you, less pleasurable names here with the talking points you espoused on this board. As you’ve already seen when you peaked into another board Valka hangs out at.
Interracial marriages shouldn’t raise any questions on weather or not their being assimilated in a group.
You do know that the Great Replacement Theory is an anti-semetic conspiracy theory, right?
….yet.
Says that he does not want to discuss further about the American Tribes and their assimilation, then proceeds to discuss American Tribes and their assimilation.
To me it seems you
want to annihilate other cultures. Forcing American Natives to learn English and punishing them for using their native language leads to language death. It’s only recently that other tribes across America have taken the effort to reconstruct and resurrect Native American languages that are dead or on the verge of becoming extinct.
Given that you won’t like living in Canada
and New Zealand (I suspect you won’t like living in the US eather cause, multiculturalism). We get it, anything that expouses any sense of multiculturalism is a degenerate abomination in your eyes.
I’d perfer a “multicultural Frankenstein of a nation” over a ethonationalist fascist state.
Thank you, GenMarshall. Well said.
In NM most of the tribe actively discourage/prevent non tribal members from learning their native languages. IIRC the 19 tribes in NM speak at least 4 different languages.
Some years ago, an indigenous person from one of the bands near Calgary opined that it should be illegal for non-indigenous Canadians to use indigenous words.
Well, that would be a problem. Some of their words are a basic part of Canadian vocabulary, and I can't begin to guess how many thousands - probably tens of thousands or more - of place names across the country that are either directly indigenous or translated from an indigenous language. My own city, Red Deer, is a mistranslation of "Waskasoo", which is a Cree word that means "red elk." We have numerous place names within the city that do bear the name "Waskasoo." To take this demand to its logical conclusion, we'd have to rename the entire country.
And then there's the flip side opinion... that every place in the country must have a corresponding indigenous name. I found that news article rather amusing, since none of the indigenous groups in the region around Calgary could agree on what they wanted to rename it.
I completely disagree. Pretty much everyone who looks at it rationally would prefer living in Orania to London.
I looked up
Orania, and... wow. What a tiny little town sitting on a flat, boring, semi-arid plain, with those round areas of greenery - are those the pecan nuts that the Wikipedia article mentioned? The ones that you send mostly to China?
And only 2500 people? That's not much. Not that I like huge crowds - I very likely wouldn't be able to tolerate London for long, but I think I'd prefer somewhere with more than 2500 people. That way I wouldn't run out of people to meet.
I'll call her Ma'am if she calls me Baas.
I have no intention of calling you that. You are neither my employer nor my master, and you are definitely not someone of a higher social status.
If you call me by my preferred name (which I've explained, so there's no excuse not to know it by this point), that will be good enough. I only mention "Ma'am" when someone is rude to me, as you were.
Lots of languages are dead, so what? No one speaks Proto-Indo-European anymore either, it's not some great loss. You can get a lot farther in the world speaking English than you can speaking Cherokee.
And human knowledge is poorer for these dead languages. Let's hope their demise doesn't turn out to be the equivalent of the whale song problem in Star Trek IV. The Enterprise could go back in time to find whales to speak to the probe so it wouldn't destroy Earth, but we don't have that ability to resurrect a language that nobody knows.
Multicultural countries are rarely stable. Think of Yugoslavia, the Ottoman Empire, and China, in addition to the aforementioned countries.
There's a difference between a country that embraces multiculturalism and one that has it forced on them with artificially-imposed borders that don't take ethnic or religious or other hostilities into consideration.
Would you say the same to American Indians? Who cares if their group shrinks down to nothing?
They would care. The people they interact with would care. Actually, anyone with a smidgen of humanity would care.
You are not in their situation. Don't play that victim card; it's not the same thing at all.
Actually, it's the modern mainstream world that is "bizarro", not me.
I'm pro-assimilation when the assimilation benefits my people, and anti-assimilation when the assimilation harms my people.
How does Jagmeet Singh giving up wearing a turban benefit your people? Keep in mind that he has no need to "assimilate" into a country he was actually born in. That's absurd like saying I need to "assimilate" into the more mainstream culture of this region of Alberta by wearing blue jeans and a plaid shirt. I might still have a plaid shirt somewhere, but I gave up blue jeans 40 years ago.
They can return to Africa just as easily as we can return to Europe in the Year of Our Lord 2022, though. If us having European descent invalidates our right to live in South Africa, then their having African descent invalidates their right to live in the Western Hemisphere.
You can't "return" to a place you've never been. A heckler once told Jagmeet Singh to go back where he came from. He came from Ontario, so that wasn't as clever a "gotcha" as the heckler imagined. Same thing if someone on the news site comment pages tells me to "go back where you came from" - guess what? I'm already where I came from.