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But what is the 'social fabric and character' of this country? What are our exclusive 'customs and traditions' that they are disregarding? The OP said he didn't like that they flaunted their wealth. Too many nice cars, too many McMansions. Lol, newsflash: that's about as American as it gets!
And here is the problem with a lot of people. They think that America has no distinctive characteristics.
But then, why would they? They know little about our history, literature, music, art, regional customs and manners, etc. It's all just commercialism and money as far as they are concerned.
While it is overly simplistic to say that America is all about baseball and apple pie, they are certainly important parts of our history and culture, just as baguettes and boules are important parts of French history and culture.
We have always been a diverse country with many distinct regions, but that is not the same thing as having no overall character worth considering.
Mark Twain certainly captured aspects of the American character and spirit that are still alive today. But then you have such contrasting authors as Poe and Melville. Or Hemingway and Bierce, London and Steinbeck...all represent parts of the rich tapestry that is the United States of America.
I don't accept the notion that America is merely an empty slate to be written on by immigrants, erased, written on again, erased, etc., with the only durable thing being that we are a nation of immigrants and constant change.
Hint: The founders of this country were of European heritage (mostly English) drawing on European customs and ideas.
Instead of asking what is the social fabric and character of this country, why don't you ask yourself why you even have to ask that question? I don't sense any curiosity here...
As I said in my original post, it's no longer "politically correct" to discuss IQs, but studies do show that Asians - on average - score about 10 points higher than European Caucasians.
Studies aren't stereotypes.
Even when you don't agree with them.
Just did a little googling. 3 to 6 points higher is more like it.
Of course, we could compare other groups besides Asians to whites, but I don't think I want to go there right now...
So far, the vast majority of people crying and complaining are specifically right-wing old white guys or rural young, economically disadvantaged white males. Historically, these two groups have had the most to fear from any kind of newcomers coming into the US. The first group yearns for the "good old days", while the second have an entitlement attitude and thinks anyone (who isn't of northern European stock, of course) who gets ahead of them are cheating their way in, or affirmative action.
Thinly veiled excuses abound, but the smart among us know that the basis of these negative feelings are garden variety xenophobia and racism, whether intentional or not. You also have the few minorities and immigrants who suffer from, what I guess can be called, Stockholm Syndrome....
Quote:
Originally Posted by qworldorder
This. Good luck getting a direct response, though. Apparently, posts like these are too intelligent for them to draft an appropriate argument (because there isn't one).
An intelligent reply to condescension, unwarranted assumptions, smug superiority and blatant anti-white racism and stereotyping?
Weren't you the one who made the first charge of racism?
Just did a little googling. 3 to 6 points higher is more like it.
Of course, we could compare other groups besides Asians to whites, but I don't think I want to go there right now...
It also depends in the "white" sub ethnic group too. The "hillbillies" from Kentucky and West Virginia usually ain't as smart as a Jewish person of German or Russian family. OTOH: Black people who came here from Africa as free people are probably smarter than an Asian chosen by chance to be tested, Hell; "fullblood" American Indians are mostly Asian going by their DNA and they DON'T have the rep of Japanese Americans here where science and math are being talked about.
In areas where wealthy Russians have moved in, many express similar discomforts with their behavior and attitudes. Where rich Persians have moved in, you find the same. It's not simply an issue with the Chinese. It's a normal reaction for people to feel aversion or resentment when they feel outsiders are displacing them or in this case, dominating them. It doesn't even have to be foreigners from another country. Where I live, I see this same attitude from Southerners towards the waves of Northerners moving to the South. Instead of dismissal, you should recognize these reactions for what they are: normal.
And why is it that only those on one side have to do the accommodating? Shouldn't there be attempts at mutual understanding? Shouldn't the Chinese moderate their behavior if it causes them to seen in a bad light? The Chinese themselves agree that they need to tone down their behavior so why are you so quick to object to that idea?
And learning and speaking English in a country that is predominantly an English speaking country is just common sense. It's arrogant behavior to not do so. It shows a lack of concern about the very people that you have chosen to live among.
They may be "normal" but that does not make these reactions acceptable.
As for learning and speaking English, how many foreign languages do you speak well enough to converse in 24/7 for all kinds of interactions? For some people, learning another language is easy and for others, not so much. Consequently, many immigrants struggle with learning the language of their new country and prefer to speak their native language, especially privately among other native speakers of their language.
The call to make English the official national language is a symptom of a deeper issue, actually deeper than the thinly veiled racism that some -- not all -- have within.
The issue is about unity, not language. A common language is the vehicle of which ideas are transported from person to person and from generation to generation, from food recipes to notions that are unique to the culture. Anyone who speaks more than one language, and I am one of them, know that ideas can be lost in translation.
If I remember correctly: 'If culture is the heart of a people, then language is the soul.'
The demand for immigrants to speak 'only' English maybe unreasonable and even absurd, but it masks a very real fear of losing national identity and the people's soul. No matter what, Americans are a distinct people with a culture that is as unique as any in history. The US is a great country but even if we are to discard the hyperbole 'great', it is still a country that have a soul and heritage that was preserved by a common language.
Immigrants abandoned what they believed to be inadequate and settled in the US in the hope of partaking the bounties of what they perceived to be superior. Asking immigrants to contribute to the preservation of the common vehicle -- English -- that helped made this country superior to what they abandoned is not unreasonable.
This is poppycock. It's absolutely NOT about "unity", but about xenophobia. The idea that immigrants speaking their native languages -- Gaelic, German, Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Spanish, Chinese, etc -- somehow threatens English has never been true but it's been raised every single time that there's been a surge in immigration that's brought a new group of immigrants to the US.
In every single case of every single immigrant group, the original immigrants generally retained their native languages and struggled with English while their children have been fluent in both. By the third generation, the grandchildren know English and some of the original native language, but nearly enough to speak it. Depending upon whether individual immigrant families settled in large ethnic enclaves or spread out among the general population, all that may be left of the immigrants' native culture by the third or fourth generation is the family name, a religious affiliation, and some ethnic foods and holiday traditions. This pattern has been repeated over and over again from the Irish and Germans who arrived in the mid-19th century through to the various groups who have been coming more recently.
BTW, just about every single non-English speaking immigrant group has been accused of refusing to learn English by xenophobic Americans who are too bigoted and ignorant to realize that when there's a constant stream of new immigrants over a 20 or 40 period, there's always going to be people who can't speak English very well.
This is poppycock. It's absolutely NOT about "unity", but about xenophobia. The idea that immigrants speaking their native languages -- Gaelic, German, Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Spanish, Chinese, etc -- somehow threatens English has never been true but it's been raised every single time that there's been a surge in immigration that's brought a new group of immigrants to the US.
In every single case of every single immigrant group, the original immigrants generally retained their native languages and struggled with English while their children have been fluent in both. By the third generation, the grandchildren know English and some of the original native language, but nearly enough to speak it. Depending upon whether individual immigrant families settled in large ethnic enclaves or spread out among the general population, all that may be left of the immigrants' native culture by the third or fourth generation is the family name, a religious affiliation, and some ethnic foods and holiday traditions. This pattern has been repeated over and over again from the Irish and Germans who arrived in the mid-19th century through to the various groups who have been coming more recently.
BTW, just about every single non-English speaking immigrant group has been accused of refusing to learn English by xenophobic Americans who are too bigoted and ignorant to realize that when there's a constant stream of new immigrants over a 20 or 40 period, there's always going to be people who can't speak English very well.
It's not about not learning English (although some do not) it's about the refusal to speak it unless one has to.
Belgium and Canada have had serious problems because of linguistic diversity.
I admire people who are fluent in many languages. But any society must have one language that everyone understands in order for people to communicate with each other. That seems like a pretty simple concept to me. The only people I know who hate accents are liberal/leftists who mock southern accents and use terms like "Murica" and "librul." No, it's an accurate term. The Chinese have babies here, then take them back to China. But those babies have U.S. citizenship and can get freebies here, having paid no taxes. When I travel abroad, I do everything I can not to offend my gracious hosts. What is wrong with expecting the same consideration from people who visit or immigrate to this country?
And, not speaking English, how would they understand what he was saying? Not true. The founders were descended from settlers, not immigrants. Then there were the indigenous people and slaves who also wouldn't qualify as immigrants. I would guess at least 75 million Americans are descended from the original English settlers. And we had long periods of no immigration at all. Wrong.
An immigrant is a newbie. Common sense and morality both require that he or she adjust to the new country, not the other way around.
Only liberals could come up with such nonsense as telling native-born Americans -- whose families have been here for ten generations or more -- that they have no more right to this country than new immigrants do.
Absurd!If this country is boring, it's because it is increasingly full of people who have nothing in common with each other and little to say to each other outside of liberal "kumbaya" celebrations.
Europe, on the other hand, is a fascinating patchwork quilt of different cultures that preserve their cultural differences instead of diluting them into the mush we have here.
That is a poem, not a law or anything people voted for. A nice, feel-good sentiment, but the reality is that virtually all countries want immigrants who assimilate and who can benefit them.
Just try immigrating to Europe without a huge bank account. Try immigrating to India without being Indian. Or Japan without being Japanese...
The Germans love American immigrants because we know how to work and share many of their values.
I read an article about a young Spanish immigrant in Germany who is crying because his employer is actually making him pay back the loans they gave him to immigrate and get established in Germany.
Of all the countries in Europe, Germany and the US share the same values the closest, that is why they are taking the entire thing over without firing a shot and I support them 100%.
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