Likes Likes:  0
Page 4 of 18 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 14 ... LastLast
Results 46 to 60 of 266

Thread: Gaijin - A derogetory term?

  1. #46
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Why must one judge nations 'superior' or 'inferior' in order to define one's own nationality?
    David F. Craik

  2. #47
    T'ai Ji Monkey Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Kimpatsu
    No, that's more gradual, but it can be done. First, we need a liberal revolution in the education system.
    Go for it, time to start to initate the changes.


    And you're committing tu quoque YET AGAIN!
    So shoot me.


    Which is an unacceptable thing to say, and must be punished.
    Best lock up the world population than.

    Change has to come from within, you cannot force change.
    If we could force changes we would have solved many problems like the Israel/Palestine situation a long time ago.

  3. #48
    T'ai Ji Monkey Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Why must one judge nations 'superior' or 'inferior' in order to define one's own nationality?
    Amen, to that.

    My nationality is defined by many different aspects and not just locality or a piece of paper.

  4. #49
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Why must one judge nations 'superior' or 'inferior' in order to define one's own nationality?
    Because the very idea of nationality is exclusionary.

  5. #50
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by T'ai Ji Monkey
    Go for it, time to start to initate the changes.
    How are you getting involved?
    Originally posted by T'ai Ji Monkey
    So shoot me.
    Willingly.
    Originally posted by T'ai Ji Monkey
    Best lock up the world population than.
    What a depressing world view you have, that everyone in it must be racist.
    Originally posted by T'ai Ji Monkey
    Change has to come from within, you cannot force change.
    If we could force changes we would have solved many problems like the Israel/Palestine situation a long time ago.
    Once again, arguing a logical fallacy. Laws don't change people's hearts, but they do restrain the heartless. In Japan, it is not illegal to put up a Jim Crow sign. This must change immediately. Change CAN be forced by law; that's why laws exist.

  6. #51
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default Are those the opening bars of 'We Are the World' I hear?

    Originally posted by Kimpatsu
    becasue the very idea of nationality is exclusionary.


    If so, then so is the idea of being tall, fat, strong, white, a Shorinji Kenshi, atheist, Arab, a Cambridge alumnus, poor, asthmatic or blonde.

    Everything is 'exclusionary', because people are different, whether by chance, birth, or choice. There is a difference between being equal and being identical.
    Last edited by Soulend; 15th October 2003 at 02:48.
    David F. Craik

  7. #52
    T'ai Ji Monkey Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Kimpatsu
    How are you getting involved?
    I am not, I ain't the one complaining and screaming foul.



    What a depressing world view you have, that everyone in it must be racist.
    Call it realistic.
    Not everybody is perfect & idealistic like you.


    In Japan, it is not illegal to put up a Jim Crow sign. This must change immediately. Change CAN be forced by law; that's why laws exist.
    Laws will only change the outward method/appearance of discrimination it will never stop it.
    Like I said that are many more methods to legally restrict access to places besides the "Jim Crow" signs.

    Ahyhuh, have fun fighting your fight.

  8. #53
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default Re: Are those the opening bars of 'We Are the World' I hear?

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Everything is 'exclusionary', because people are different, whether by chance, birth, or choice. There is a difference between being equal and being identical.
    Agreed, but nationality by definition argues that "our" nation is superior to that one. Read Ernest Gellner's "Nations and Nationalism" or "The Nation in History" by Anthony D. Smith.
    Nations are explicitly intended to be divisive.

  9. #54
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Nationality: The status of belonging to a particular nation by origin, birth, or naturalization.

    My birth certificate says I was born in South Africa of South African parents; therefore I'm South African. I don't regard myself superior or inferior to anyone based upon this. It's just a simple fact, like the fact that I'm white or that I have brown hair.

    Claiming a nationality is not the same as jingoism or ultranationalism, just as claiming membership in a particular martial art does not mean you believe that all others are "inferior".
    David F. Craik

  10. #55
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Claiming a nationality is not the same as jingoism or ultranationalism.
    But often leads to it.
    BTW, David, if you're South African, how can you serve in the US military? What's the procedure on that?

  11. #56
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    But often leads to it.
    Naa, Tony, I think often's a bit of an exaggeration. People will always search for a way to define or differentate themselves from the next person. The 'empty vessels' are usually those that view their differences as marks of superiority. You're hanging around or reading the views of the wrong blokes, perhaps.

    BTW, David, if you're South African, how can you serve in the US military? What's the procedure on that?
    I'm a legal resident of the United States. I haven't changed my citizenship due to laziness, regrettably.
    David F. Craik

  12. #57
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Naa, Tony, I think often's a bit of an exaggeration. People will always search for a way to define or differentate themselves from the next person. The 'empty vessels' are usually those that view their differences as marks of superiority. You're hanging around or reading the views of the wrong blokes, perhaps.
    Yeah, today is a bad day; I've been reading David Aldwinkle's website all morning, and I find it depressing.
    Originally posted by Soulend
    I'm a legal resident of the United States. I haven't changed my citizenship due to laziness, regrettably.
    Get dual nationality, like I have (UK and Irish).
    So, do you still talk like a Sout' Effrikan?

  13. #58
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Originally posted by Kimpatsu
    Get dual nationality, like I have (UK and Irish).
    So, do you still talk like a Sout' Effrikan?
    LOL..no, I lost my accent quickly. All my people were Scottish, so luckily I never had the Afrikaaner's gutteral twang. More of a kind of suave Sean Connery thing going on.

    Can't really be bothered with dual nationality - this is my home now, and the only reason I would bother getting a piece of paper proclaiming me a U.S. citizen is because it will widen job opportunities after I retire. I already know where my loyalties lie.

    Now, the fact that you have dual nationality is interesting to me Tony. Given your dislike of nationality as a vehicle toward jingoism, why have two of them? Or is this only a step toward the day when you can legally hold all nationalities?

    This is actually some pretty interesting stuff, and I hope not too far off the original topic. Nationalism and exclusivism to some degree will be inevitable for many people. People tend to be more concerned about their own family - otherwise we would descend into the depths of dispair upon glancing at the obituary column in the local paper. By extension, they will feel somewhat of a loyalty to their neighborhood, hometown, state or province, then nation. Just the way folks are. They tend to define themselves by their associations due to a very real need to belong to something. Whether this is right, wrong, or neither I don't know; but it is quite natural - many of the other mammals on earth are the same way.

    I recall reading somewhere an idea to this effect. If you were to take the average person to see a sporting event, even if they knew nothing of the sport, the teams, or the players by the end of the game they would be quietly rooting for one team or the other based only on their prejudices - be they on the team's name, uniform colors, or preconceived notions about where they're from.

    Of course, none of this gives anyone the right to treat other human beings as second-class citizens due to race or nationality.
    David F. Craik

  14. #59
    Kimpatsu Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by Soulend
    Now, the fact that you have dual nationality is interesting to me Tony. Given your dislike of nationality as a vehicle toward jingoism, why have two of them? Or is this only a step toward the day when you can legally hold all nationalities?
    Exactly so. My objective is to hold as many passports as possible, to show up just how daft the whole notion is.
    Originally posted by Soulend
    (Snip.) Of course, none of this gives anyone the right to treat other human beings as second-class citizens due to race or nationality.
    There was an interesting experiment conducted once in which 20 people who didn't know each other were taken to a party and each assigned one of two badges--X or W--at random upon arrival, 10 of each group. Within 30 mins., each person had identified with those in their own "group" and were cold-shouldering the others--based on nothing more than an arbitrary badge.
    BTW, I do get depressed when I read the obits--and see that Bruce B isn't listed there yet!

  15. #60
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,809
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Originally posted by Kimpatsu
    Exactly so. My objective is to hold as many passports as possible, to show up just how daft the whole notion is.
    I don't really understand why it's daft, but oh well. If we don't have nationality to divide us then we will divide based on culture, language, accent, skin color, nose size, movie preference, or any of a multitude of idiotic things, as the experiment you mentioned clearly shows.
    David F. Craik

Page 4 of 18 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 14 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •