6 ms·

My pieces usually get flagged. Presumably I have annoyed some of the wrong people.

by timbray 4mo ago

defrost 4mo ago
Good line to save for the epitaph shortlist.
piloto_ciego 4mo ago
I'd like to say that as an American to your north, I think you're right to not come? Things are weird here presently, so I suspect you probably made the right call for a wide variety of reasons. But also, I tire of the nationalist rhetoric wherever I see it. I'm tired of this idea that countries are anything more than a shared historical hallucination, and that we're all somehow different from one another. Or as my father often put it, "we all bleed red and we all shit brown." I never chose to be born here, and because I am sick (through no fault of my own) so called tolerant countries wouldn't have me. So I am stuck here. Regardless, I get why you didn't come, I can't say I blame you, but I also am sick of these damn countries ruining things. Perhaps we should abandon the idea entirely and replace it with the spirit of brotherhood and respect for one's fellow human.
- prewett 4mo ago
  Have you spent any serious time with other cultures? Yes, we all have the same colored blood and excrement, and we have a lot of similarities. Yet at the same time, we are very different. England's traditional dignity culture (the virtuous man can overlook slights) is very different than Africa's honor culture (honor is zero-sum, and you must fight to maintain it), for instance. Japanese values and American values are frequently opposite (Japan values group membership, America values individuality; Japan honors someone by setting them apart, America honors someone by engaging with them.) In an ideal world we could celebrate each other's differences. But trying to get rid of conflict by getting rid of national borders is naive. Why are the borders where they are? Generally because those are ethno-cultural boundaries. Nations that encompass multiple ethno-cultural groups tend to be somewhat unstable: for instance, Yugoslavia broke up violently, and Iraq has conflict between the Kurds and the rest. This is not a support of nationalism (although I encourage patriotism, which is different), but "countries are [nothing] more than a shared historical hallucination" is just incorrect.
  - piloto_ciego 4mo ago
    I have spent a lot of time in other cultures, I’ve lived overseas as ann exchange student and speak 3 languages. Countries are bullshit and the belief that people are that intrinsically different is silly. Go back to 1940 with that noise.
    - vuurmot 4mo ago
      he literally says people are intrinsically the same, but extrinsically different (due to culture) why are you misrepresenting what he says?
    - blub 4mo ago
      In a student or IT worker bubble, countries are very similar. When one steps out, they’re going to get a rude awakening. Culture shock is a real phenomenon.
      - piloto_ciego 4mo ago
        I'd bet money I have more experience in this than you. Culture shock is very real (I've lived it), but culture's ain't countries and hell, I get culture shock when I go to the south here in America. It's just some old timey 1940s "we gotta keep these different cultures separated" nonsense. It's nationalism and racism (though it purports to be otherwise). Things don't have to be this way, we choose them to and I'm getting awful tired of people keeping making the same choices over and over again because they think an imaginary line is somehow sacrosanct. It's all made up. Even culture.
        bigbadfeline 4mo ago
        > I get culture shock when I go to the south here in America. Or even from urban to rural areas. > It's just some old timey 1940s "we gotta keep these different cultures separated" nonsense. That's a huge mistake right there. Those who want to keep their culture should be free to do so, as long as they don't try to force theirs on others - that's a common and traditional American value which is now being attacked by both extremist segregationists and extremist pot-melters. > It's nationalism and racism (though it purports to be otherwise). You should learn what these words mean and stop purporting they mean something else. > It's all made up. Even culture. Bro, not only culture, the entire human civilization is made up. The issue is to make it good, not bad, but you seem to be all confused about it.
- gbell12 4mo ago
  Naive. Countries are collections of different values. I don't, for example, want to enslave non-believers, nor do I want to own my wife, or have a government take everything I own. I don't want to live in a "theocracy" because those people are crazy. I select where I live based on those values. Thinking, because we all "bleed red" that we're all the same is a recipe for loss.
  - piloto_ciego 4mo ago
    Nobody selected where they were born. We are all the same.
insane_dreamer 4mo ago
Keep at it.
jay_kyburz 4mo ago
I think its funny that the top comment on the blog from ConcernedCitizen is a half troll, half serious, in exactly the same way Trump approaches everything. Do you think they are trying to do a Trump voice as a joke? I can't even tell anymore.
- throw-the-towel 4mo ago
  On the Internet, you never know who's just joking and who is in fact an idiot.
vogelke 4mo ago
Probably. As an American, I have to agree with you -- it's been the case for many years (WAY before Trump) that within 50 miles of our border, your rights go to wherever last year's snow went. It's too bad so few people can say "My country, if right to be supported, if wrong to be corrected."

My pieces usually get flagged. Presumably I have annoyed some of the wrong people.

by timbray 4mo ago

My pieces usually get flagged. Presumably I have annoyed some of the wrong people.

defrost 4mo ago

Good line to save for the epitaph shortlist.

piloto_ciego 4mo ago

I'd like to say that as an American to your north, I think you're right to not come? Things are weird here presently, so I suspect you probably made the right call for a wide variety of reasons. But also, I tire of the nationalist rhetoric wherever I see it. I'm tired of this idea that countries are anything more than a shared historical hallucination, and that we're all somehow different from one another. Or as my father often put it, "we all bleed red and we all shit brown." I never chose to be born here, and because I am sick (through no fault of my own) so called tolerant countries wouldn't have me. So I am stuck here. Regardless, I get why you didn't come, I can't say I blame you, but I also am sick of these damn countries ruining things. Perhaps we should abandon the idea entirely and replace it with the spirit of brotherhood and respect for one's fellow human.

prewett 4mo ago
Have you spent any serious time with other cultures? Yes, we all have the same colored blood and excrement, and we have a lot of similarities. Yet at the same time, we are very different. England's traditional dignity culture (the virtuous man can overlook slights) is very different than Africa's honor culture (honor is zero-sum, and you must fight to maintain it), for instance. Japanese values and American values are frequently opposite (Japan values group membership, America values individuality; Japan honors someone by setting them apart, America honors someone by engaging with them.) In an ideal world we could celebrate each other's differences. But trying to get rid of conflict by getting rid of national borders is naive. Why are the borders where they are? Generally because those are ethno-cultural boundaries. Nations that encompass multiple ethno-cultural groups tend to be somewhat unstable: for instance, Yugoslavia broke up violently, and Iraq has conflict between the Kurds and the rest. This is not a support of nationalism (although I encourage patriotism, which is different), but "countries are [nothing] more than a shared historical hallucination" is just incorrect.
- piloto_ciego 4mo ago
  I have spent a lot of time in other cultures, I’ve lived overseas as ann exchange student and speak 3 languages. Countries are bullshit and the belief that people are that intrinsically different is silly. Go back to 1940 with that noise.
  - vuurmot 4mo ago
    he literally says people are intrinsically the same, but extrinsically different (due to culture) why are you misrepresenting what he says?
  - blub 4mo ago
    In a student or IT worker bubble, countries are very similar. When one steps out, they’re going to get a rude awakening. Culture shock is a real phenomenon.
    - piloto_ciego 4mo ago
      I'd bet money I have more experience in this than you. Culture shock is very real (I've lived it), but culture's ain't countries and hell, I get culture shock when I go to the south here in America. It's just some old timey 1940s "we gotta keep these different cultures separated" nonsense. It's nationalism and racism (though it purports to be otherwise). Things don't have to be this way, we choose them to and I'm getting awful tired of people keeping making the same choices over and over again because they think an imaginary line is somehow sacrosanct. It's all made up. Even culture.
      - bigbadfeline 4mo ago
        > I get culture shock when I go to the south here in America. Or even from urban to rural areas. > It's just some old timey 1940s "we gotta keep these different cultures separated" nonsense. That's a huge mistake right there. Those who want to keep their culture should be free to do so, as long as they don't try to force theirs on others - that's a common and traditional American value which is now being attacked by both extremist segregationists and extremist pot-melters. > It's nationalism and racism (though it purports to be otherwise). You should learn what these words mean and stop purporting they mean something else. > It's all made up. Even culture. Bro, not only culture, the entire human civilization is made up. The issue is to make it good, not bad, but you seem to be all confused about it.
gbell12 4mo ago
Naive. Countries are collections of different values. I don't, for example, want to enslave non-believers, nor do I want to own my wife, or have a government take everything I own. I don't want to live in a "theocracy" because those people are crazy. I select where I live based on those values. Thinking, because we all "bleed red" that we're all the same is a recipe for loss.
- piloto_ciego 4mo ago
  Nobody selected where they were born. We are all the same.

insane_dreamer 4mo ago

Keep at it.

jay_kyburz 4mo ago

I think its funny that the top comment on the blog from ConcernedCitizen is a half troll, half serious, in exactly the same way Trump approaches everything. Do you think they are trying to do a Trump voice as a joke? I can't even tell anymore.

throw-the-towel 4mo ago
On the Internet, you never know who's just joking and who is in fact an idiot.

vogelke 4mo ago

Probably. As an American, I have to agree with you -- it's been the case for many years (WAY before Trump) that within 50 miles of our border, your rights go to wherever last year's snow went. It's too bad so few people can say "My country, if right to be supported, if wrong to be corrected."