Whether we like it or not, 'acres' etc. are a part of many people's heritage(s). Duncan
-----Original Message----- From: Ma Be <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: January 6, 2002 16:41 Subject: [USMA:17291] Re: Italian minister quits in euro row >On Sun, 6 Jan 2002 11:46:05 > kilopascal wrote: >>2002-01-06 >>... >>When some of the recent immigrants to my area start complaining about how a >>unified Europe will destroy their culture, I tell them they are full of >>shit. I ask them what type of music and food is popular in their homeland >>now and lo and behold, it is western (American) rock and pizzas and >>hamburgers. How many people in the "old" country still wear traditional >>costumes? None, except maybe for festivals. They all wear the same >>fashions everyone else does in the west... > >There is indeed some truth to what John is saying here. However, I will part with him concerning his next point below though. I'll explain why right after that. > >>And to top it off, their culture could not have meant much to them, if they >>left their homeland to come to the US to live. They have no trouble >>adapting because they have the same culture in their homeland as we do here. >>So who is anyone kidding? >> >>So, all this talk about preserving some ancient culture is pure crap. >>Eventually, the national languages will be replaced by English. Let's just >>hope that the world is able to kill FFU first so that it won't follow the >>national languages in to use in metric countries. >> >>John >>... >Let's tackle this in parts. Moving to the US is evidently an extremly minor event very unlikely to happen in the lives of Europeans. The same would occur for Americans moving to Europe. People usually would adapt to whatever environment they'd be functioning in. > >Now, culture is an underlying characteristic of a society and should NEVER be tempered with. Actually, the sense of identity that people have is already safeguard enough against any potential assault to that aspect of people. Therefore, *fortunately* there is no chance AT ALL for a replacement of languages to occur in people's lives exactly due to that. Culture is much stronger than anything else. If ANY attempt would be made at that by ANY organization you will find a WAR setting brewing! Trust me! > >For instance, if you tried to take my Brazilian heritage away which is intrinsically tied to my speaking Portuguese... Don't go there! You'd be in for a LOOOOT of trouble! And I'm the type of individual who is very... "pro-English" as an international language of communication, don't take me wrong. But if you or any other one EVER hint at destroying my heritage... Oh, boy!... > >Besides, there is beauty in every country's culture and heritage. Different peoples and different societies bring a lot of wealth to the table. It's even against our own interests to homogenize people like that. So, forget it, man! > >Marcus > > >Is your boss reading your email? ....Probably >Keep your messages private by using Lycos Mail. >Sign up today at http://mail.lycos.com >
