Hello there, Ladies and Gentlemen of this wondrous thread. frank theriault wrote: > On 1/9/07, Kenneth Waller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> I don't hate foreigners, but I detest their efforts to bring their country >> with them. > > Don't think "country", think culture. > > Everyone who's come to North America has imported their culture with > them, from the first Asians who came across the Bering Strait to white > Europeans in the 17th Century to African slaves (who really didn't > have much choice in coming over) to more recent immigrants. > > The vast majority of immigrants to the US (and Canada, for that > matter) are proud of their heritage, proud of their culture, but have > no desire to return to their homelands or "bring their countries" > here. > > cheers, > frank
Frank, Ken, I am surprised. Not to your advantage I should say in advance. Especially so by Ken. I shall explain myself immediately. Let us make a firm distinction between inner and outer self of a person. Consider the following. Take me for example. I was born and brought up to age of 20 in very old *Soviet* culture and state. Then I migrated to Israel. Israel is extremely different from my "pre-historic" mother land. Assume for a moment that I were to migrate to US. Ken, do you really expect me to willingly abandon huge wealth of Soviet, Russian, and Jewish (Israeli) culture and values that I have obtained through the years of my life??? I bet you don't. You do expect me to behave like an American, speak proper English language, though I bet you would tolerate reasonable degree of spoken accent. You would expect me to respect the American way of life. In return, I would expect from to fully tolerate the fact that I wasn't born in America and that I lived great number of years in other countries. I do apologize profoundly, but I am both Jewish and Russian, and neither of which I am going to be willing to abandon in any foreseeable future. For some reason, I am certain that I have much to offer to any country in the world should a potential eventuality of migration arise. I am also certain that in any country of the world I will have much to learn and much space to develop myself. Again, don't ask me to speak English at home, it just won't happen. But then again, should I have to go to a funeral and see a person wrapped in American flag, I am most certain it would bring a tear to my eye, very sincere tear I must say. Do I make myself clear here? I should also say that I am very surprised to see how much mutual intolerance there is among the members of this very friendly community should it touch the national symbols and citizenship. Folks, the world is diverse. It is so for the reason. So let us not try to force the same suit on everyone. Thanks. Boris -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
