But, no other place is so filled with anti-authority, improvising, laid-back and UN-socially conscious, mind your own business (and, yet, note those in need, and bring help without being asked), and just DIFFERENT people.
It's not genetics, although, certainly, several groups have added their own delightfully piquant idiosyncrasies to the mix - German, Polish, & Dutch stubbornness, Irish & Korean hot-headedness and willingness to get into the fight - any fight, easy-going Scandinavian temperament, Mediterranean passion - all have brought their heritage into the culture. And, yet, despite the differences, they always held to the same basic principles:
- Even if they don't look or act just like you, they're Americans. Besides, foreigners have great food.
- No person is 'better' than you by birth. Nor, are YOU better. Not even politicians are an exception to this rule, as they will prove if you elect them.
- There is nothing disgraceful about working with your own hands. There is nothing noble about forcing others to work for you.
- Education, while useful, cannot replace experience.
- Everyone deserves a chance - sometimes, several chances.
- Don't carry a grudge. Forgive and move on.
- Marry/have children using exogamy - outside your familial genetic pool.
- If opportunity arises, even if it requires moving to unknown territory, get goin'. Don't let family obligations tie you to the ancestral region.
- Don't start wars over religion. Just take comfort in the fact those disbelievers will go to Hell. And, don't gloat about it openly.
- Everyone gets a vote. No one can tell you how to vote. Chicago is an exception to this rule.
- It's nobody's business what you do, unless you're breaking the law. On the other hand, don't expect their help if you refuse to conform to the norm.
- When asked, lend a hand. Volunteer to help, if you can.
Not in this world - and, I think, never in the universe.
Sarah A. Hoyt brings back a post from long ago, that is sorely needed today. We need to be reminded of just how special we are, and take heart in the fact that this difference will lead us out of this time of trouble.
My first experience with other nationalities was in grade school. At that time, Cleveland, OH, was Immigrant Central for post-WWII refugees. There was hardly a country on the planet that hadn't a child representing it at my school.
In college, I attended the local community college for the first two years (it actually took a little longer, as I started part-time). There, I met students of every nationality, culminating in a Comparative Religions class.
Foreign students would ask: What do Christians believe about X?
They just couldn't understand that the true answer was, It Depends. They were used to religions that TOLD their adherents what to believe, about every facet of life. The idea that most of life's decisions, among believers as well as the UnGodly, were up to the individual, was incomprehensible to them.
I got to know several of the students, and found it fascinating that so many expected to marry the person their family chose. The idea - the concept - of making your own choice was NOT an option.
And, yet, although they often were unhappy about their family's choice, they did not rebel. I later found that this was related to the intertwined nature of family - your mother-in-law might also be your cousin's sister, and your aunt, as well. Many family trees in other countries don't fork much. It causes some of the hereditary illnesses and genetic defects that hobble their populations.
But, it's more than the family obligations. It's also the idea that rebelling against a ruler is very serious (he'll likely toss not only you, but most of your family, in jail - and, those jails are NOT as nice as though pictured on Orange is the New Black). To act alone is suicidal. Even those banding together are risking everything, and only done when they think the ruler is weak, and can safely be overthrown.
So, when they come to America, and see us taking to the streets to protest, shooting off our mouths in public, and disparaging those who've been elected to TEMPORARILY be in charge, well, they think we're ripe for revolution.
Nah. We're just being ourselves. Ornery. Difficult/Impossible to rule. Not inclined to give respect to A$$holes, even if they are governor or mayor.
And, yet, America works. In times of crisis, we band together, and feed the hungry, care for the helpless, and go about our business. We don't wait until we have permission to do so. We decide. We take charge of our own lives.
And, it drives the Leftists CRAZY.
Yes, I agree with almost everything,
ReplyDeleteMy parents were immigrants from eastern Europe, but their families came to this country specifically to become Americans and to shed the ways and culture of their original countries; this is no longer true for most of the recent immigrants, who prefer to perpetuate the ills they "escaped from."
THIF Linda, Francis and all.
ReplyDeleteWe are INCREDIBLY unique.
I've mentioned that my wife was born in the Republic of Kazakhstan, back when it was part of the USSR. She's Asian. She looks Chinese (at least, if I passed her on the street that's what I'd guess).
When she was massively pregnant with our first child her aunt came to visit (long story about why it wasn't her mother omitted). That aunt, too, is ethnically Kazakh.
During the time she was here, she saw blacks and whites and everyone else working together. She saw that Christians and Jews were on speaking terms. There was no open racism shown towards them - unlike "back home" where the ethnic white Russians are staggeringly biased towards their former countrymen. The same for when my sister-in-law visited.
We here in the US, despite all the cries of raaaaaacism, have no idea. Two anecdotes.
1. When my sister-in-law visited we did a lot of exploring; I worked but on the weekends we'd take trips. On one trip we visited a local NH natural site that was a feature / staple of my youth. They, being a lot younger than I (and far thinner) were ahead of me when they went by two women going the other way (towards me). Those two women were speaking Russian - I don't speak/understand, but I can recognize the language. Anyway, as they passed me they were clearly talking about my wife and her sister, and one of them spat out the word KAZAKH! like a stereotypical redneck would spit out the N word. The venom and disdain was clearly evident in the tone.
2. That aunt was on a train ride back home to southern Russia. Sitting in a cabin with several (white) Russians there were talking. Where are you coming from? And so on. My wife's aunt said "Oh, I was in America. My niece is married to an American", and - this is my wife's description of what her aunt told me - one of the Russians said, with no embarrassment, "How low does an American have to go to marry a Kazakh"?
The SJWs have NO IDEA AT ALL what the rest of the world is like. None.
Yeah, I've seen it - too often to be cowed by the "Europeans and other non-Americans are SO much more nuanced and cultured than we are" cr@p.
ReplyDeleteTell it to the Marines. I've heard well-educated French who, eager to tell me what is wrong with the world, lean in, and spit out, "It's the Jews!" - fully expecting me to nod in approval and understanding.
Not gonna happen.
If a Jew is an a$$hole, that doesn't mean all Jews are a$$holes. Same with Blacks, Asians, and Latinos. Nobody is hogtied to a particular ideology or bears a Mark of Cain.
Except Leftists. I hate Leftists.
But, everyone else, I give them a chance - sometimes, TWO chances. If they still suck, well, then, the back of my hand to 'em.