I watched that show -- Notes from Zarahemla Political Forum

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 07:14:40 04/01/06 Sat
Author: Chuck in ND
Subject: I watched that show
In reply to: Deborah 's message, "Yes, abiding by their own values" on 03:08:04 04/01/06 Sat

It was fascinating.

I stand by my statement:
...they are part of a critical mass that can ignore the values and expectations of the community and abide by their own.

Not that they DO ignore or WILL ignore, but that when there is a critical mass, i.e. a large influx of one culture, it becomes the predominant culture rather than blending in with the established culture. And the operative word here is CAN. It doesn't necessarily mean that they WILL or that ALL will, just that that is the tendancy and being that large of a group, it's easier to not assimilate.

And there's nothing racist at all in that statement. It's an observation of human nature. We all hold on to that which is most familiar and only change in extreme need. That is not unique to any single race. In ND/eastern MN there was a huge influx of Norwegian/Swedish immigrants in the late 1800's. In some counties 90% of the population is Scandanavian. And the Scandanavian influence is unmistakeable. The people are socially conservative but politically liberal. The people carried with them the communist philosophies that were all the rage in at the end of the 19th century among lower and working class in Europe of the time. As a result, the ND constitution is rife with communist principles. e.g. ND is the only state in the union to have a state-owned bank. Also a state owned grain mill. There are distinct attitudes and practices here that are totally alien to my Anglo Saxon-influenced mindset, a culture that is pure Scandanavian that I sometimes find perplexing.

Now if, when they immigrated, the Scandanavians had encountered more English, German, Italian, etc, dominated culture, a culture that was more blended, the Scandanavian influence would not have been so great.

Yep, Italian mafias thrive because of critical mass. All gangs do. If the predominant culture will not abide gangs, and has the numbers to stop them, gangs cannot thrive.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Mexicans, Scandinavians, Italians... -- Deborah, 00:43:46 04/02/06 Sun