Racist/Offensive Comment?

Ptichka said:

Oh, Toni! You should say "well, the official exchange rate is 1.31 USD for each 1 Alaskan Dollar (AD), but just because I'm in a good mood I'll sell you 100 AD's for just 1.25 each" And that guy from California - you should have definitely told him you'd take his California money, but that it would be a 10% surcharge.

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I can just imagine the trouble Wildride would get into. Mayor (and Senator Elect *gag*) Begich is so anti-Sled Dogs that it isn't even funny. He would have loved to have that one excuse to nail the Seavey's and run them out of town. /rant

But don't think we haven't been tempted.

May be some people think Alaska to the US is like, say Gibraltar to UK - you can use UK dollar in Gibraltar (1:1), but you can only use Gibraltar dollar in Gibraltar.

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Probably... I don't know how we treat places like Guam and other countries like that (does Iraq count as something similar to our relationship with Guam?).


Another thing that burns me is how 'shipping' to Alaska is so much more expensive because it's "over seas" last I checked you CAN drive all the way up here... AND if I can mail a box down to my family for the same price as they can mail that same box up to me via the USPS then overseas my butt.

I love getting asked questions by online friends on message board Christmas card exchanges when they ask how much extra posting it takes to get a card to me... *smacks forehead*

Tonichelle said:

Probably... I don't know how we treat places like Guam and other countries like that (does Iraq count as something similar to our relationship with Guam?).

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I believe Guam, Puerto Rico, etc. just uses USD.

Joesitz said:

Indeed, and I believe there is writing in Mexio which refers to the norteamericanos as estadounidenses, but Mexico is also a United States. I do like the slang 'gringo'.

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I usually say, "Soy de los EEUU (I'm from the United States)."

EEUU= Estados Unidos (USA)

Ptichka said:

May be some people think Alaska to the US is like, say Gibraltar to UK - you can use UK dollar in Gibraltar (1:1), but you can only use Gibraltar dollar in Gibraltar.

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Just to correct the above - the currency in the UK and Gibraltar is the pound sterling (£) not the dollar.

Ant

Ooops...

antmanb said:

Just to correct the above - the currency in the UK and Gibraltar is the pound sterling (£) not the dollar.

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The way it's looking right now the days of the pound sterling might be numbered anyway. They can get the dollar then, because the way I got it from the people on the isle they would prefer to end up a third world country before even considering the Euro (which is on the rise again after only costing 1,2$ for a few months ). My mum and I seriously consider a trip to London in the next weeks because of the ridiculous exchange rate - you get 1 pound for 1 euro right now.

EEUU= Estados Unidos (USA)

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The French have basically the same name for the USA (les États Unis d'Amérique), so I wasn't surprised with the Spanish name for the USA. But the first time I read "estadounidense" I was totally baffled - I had no idea what it meant and was genuinely surprised that they made an adjective out of EEUU, the French didn't do that, they simply say Américain.

I always say "US-Amerikaner" in German, except for when I am mad at them because they screw something up again, then I call them "measly colonists".

oh but not all of us were colonies some of us were merely territories

Medusa said:

The way it's looking right now the days of the pound sterling might be numbered anyway. They can get the dollar then, because the way I got it from the people on the isle they would prefer to end up a third world country before even considering the Euro (which is on the rise again after only costing 1,2$ for a few months ). My mum and I seriously consider a trip to London in the next weeks because of the ridiculous exchange rate - you get 1 pound for 1 euro right now.

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Worse than that - reports yesterday in the newspapers said that at an airport (i think in Scotland) someone changed £100 into Euros and received €96 Maybe it is a big ploy to get the UK to finally agree to sign up to the Euro - especially now they're more or less equal!

Ant

ant - what's your stance on the Euro?

Tonichelle said:

ant - what's your stance on the Euro?

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I don't even want to know...

Everyone hates it. They still hate it here in Germany. They hate it in France. Everyone says that the Euro was introduced so that everything could become more expensive. And when it was introduced there were incredible predictions of doom: it will have half the value of the dollar in just a few years time (1€ = 1,4420$ right now), it will result in the collaps of the economy.

And people just can't say anything positive about it. Even if they can travel through several European countries without exchanging money, without paying for exchanging money - I have never ever heard anyone of the sceptics say that they think it's convenient.

And the British? I think if you did a referendum in Britain about the question "EU or not EU" about 90% would vote for leaving the European Union. Some time ago I really tried to argue with my British acquaintances about Europe and the European idea - not any more. I think that Brussel should just let them go. They can take their isle and attach it to Long Island, I always had the feeling that they would enjoy that much more then to even talk to us barbarians from the continent.

Right now I am absolutely against them adapting the Euro. Now that would be bad for the economy and the Euro.

But I am not just mad at the British for being so stuffy and ancient, right now Chancellor Merkel is bothering me incredibly with her sudden egoistical approach to the economic crisis. The question is, who is more hypocritical - Merkel and Germany who have always championed the European idea till the crisis came and it became clear that Germany would have to pay for the likes of Spain and Portugal - or Brown and Britain who always opposed the European idea till the crisis came and it became clear that Britain could get some money from the continent in order to survive that crisis?

I am a sucker for the European idea - and not because I think that the European Union in it's current state is the second coming, or the Euro, or the massive bureaucracy. I am all for it because it's in my opinion the only possible way. If we look back we see centuries of horrific wars among the European countries - when those Eurosceptics open their mouths I never understand what they want. I sometimes understand what they criticise and can sometimes agree that this or that could be different, but I never understand what they want to do differently. What is their alternative to the European idea? Everything that came before?

But everytime I am discouraged about the fact that in my opinion people just don't get it, or when some country starts a new solo dance, or when I read British newspapers - I just remind myself of a story I heard / saw sometime ago. It was about Italy. Italy was founded as the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, that was the first time since the Roman Empire that the entire area was united under one flag again. A few years, or I think even a few decades later, they conducted polls all over Italy and asked the inhabitants: "What is Italy?" And only a few knew what Italy was, the rest has never heard of it. And now, more than 100 years later, it's a proud united country (though with an abysmal taste in politcal leaders - but who am I to judge - and one of the most mercurial political scenes in Europe). This story gives me hope.

Medusa - that surprises me greatly. I have a friend in Europe who swears we American's have it backwards when it comes to the Euro (I've never really studied it, but I also don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread either). That it's the best thing that happened to Europe and blah blah blah... I just assumed this was the general consensus....

rack it up on the unedumacated western Amarykan collage stoodint

Tonichelle said:

ant - what's your stance on the Euro?

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Honestly speaking - i have not really given it the thought it deserves. Since people in the UK seem to have a phobia of it and anything else European it does not stand a snowball in hell's chance of ever getting in - either through the politicians or if a referendum was ever conducted. For the record I am not typical in my views of being very pro Europe. I just don't really have an opinion on the introduction of the Euro.

Personally my experience of it is having family in Spain and them finding that the cost of living practically doubled overnight when the Euro was introduced. Spain has always struggled with high unemployment, a generally well educated base of people with no jobs to go to who just continue to educate themselves for lack of anything better to do. The unemployment exacerbates the problem in Spain.

As to the introduction of the Euro I can see all the positives of having one currency throughout Europe, however, i do not think it's as simple as let's introduce it so that we can travel around without having to change curency or pay for that exchange. Firstly, that isn't a particular issue if you live in the UK as opposed to mainland europe because travelling anywhere else in Europe is more complicated and expensive as it would require a flight or a boat for most people (possibly the train if you live in London or Kent). The reality is that people in the UK do not travel around Europe in the same way that someone in e.g. Belgium or Holland might.

The thing that i don't claim to understand at all are the economic implications of switching over from the pound to the Euro. When that happened to the rest of Europe i was pretty young and paid no attention (especially as it didn't affect me) to the mechanics of how that worked. I would expect that there would be a lot of fear in people - imagine having your life savings in a bank knowing what they are worth and having someone say - now it is called something else and we will have to wait and see how it fares against the other strong currencies of the world. I expect that Germans in particular must have been very apprehensive having a very renowned currency. Obviously this wouldn't be an issue if the UK joined since we now have great visiblity of how the Euro has performed. I would expect (well prior to the current economic crisis) that England joining the Euro would have been an excellent boost for the Euro especially having the London Stock Exchange and the other alternative investment markets in London changing from Pounds to Euros.

I would need to actually read about the economic implications of joining before i committed one way or the other so for now i'm fairly neutral to it.

Wow - what a great example of sitting on the fence!!!

Medusa said:

I don't even want to know...

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Hahahaha! Believe it or not I actually did not read your post before my response to Toni!! But I think our experiences of people's opinion's on the Euro are very similar.

Medusa said:

Everyone hates it... And when it was introduced there were incredible predictions of doom... it will result in the collaps of the economy.

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To be honest, Spain has not had an easy time of it. Not least taking a Country which was in very recent history still politically a little unstable and then change it's currency. Many, many people have been greatly affected nagitively by it in Spain.

Medusa said:

And people just can't say anything positive about it. Even if they can travel through several European countries without exchanging money, without paying for exchanging money - I have never ever heard anyone of the sceptics say that they think it's convenient.

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While i do think it is a benefit (though not such a huge benefit when you don't live in mainland Europe) I don't think it's a fundamnetal reason to adopt it - there have to be other economic reasons that have to be positive surely?

Medusa said:

And the British? I think if you did a referendum in Britain about the question "EU or not EU" about 90% would vote for leaving the European Union. Some time ago I really tried to argue with my British acquaintances about Europe and the European idea - not any more. I think that Brussel should just let them go. They can take their isle and attach it to Long Island, I always had the feeling that they would enjoy that much more then to even talk to us barbarians from the continent.

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I agree with you that there are many people who feel the way that you say, however, there a number of younger more liberal people in the UK who have no problem at all with the idea of joining Europe. Certainly far more inclined to side with Europe than the US especially in the last 8 years.

Medusa said:

But I am not just mad at the British for being so stuffy and ancient, right now Chancellor Merkel is bothering me incredibly with her sudden egoistical approach to the economic crisis. The question is, who is more hypocritical - Merkel and Germany who have always championed the European idea till the crisis came and it became clear that Germany would have to pay for the likes of Spain and Portugal - or Brown and Britain who always opposed the European idea till the crisis came and it became clear that Britain could get some money from the continent in order to survive that crisis?

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Hey! Way to tar us all with the same brush and make sweeping generalisations! To my knowledge the British people have never had a referendum on joining Europe. Dictator Thatcher (who i detest) was extremely anti Europe and was not going to let anyone have in say in that and her puppet John Major was just the same. So far the British public have yet to vote on it. But regardless i think the majority would be against the idea of joining - but don't forget the minority that would not be against it!

And while Britain certainly is benefitting from European help in this crisis, Europe has, in the best benefitted greatly from Britain too - the beauty is that it has been give and take. Britian is always one of the main contributors into European funds.

Medusa said:

I am a sucker for the European idea - and not because I think that the European Union in it's current state is the second coming, or the Euro, or the massive bureaucracy. I am all for it because it's in my opinion the only possible way. If we look back we see centuries of horrific wars among the European countries - when those Eurosceptics open their mouths I never understand what they want. I sometimes understand what they criticise and can sometimes agree that this or that could be different, but I never understand what they want to do differently. What is their alternative to the European idea? Everything that came before?

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I think my European Law lecturer summed it up very well in a comical way by opining that the unification of Europe came about after the second world war because people never wanted that kind of war in Europe ever again. The idea being if you unify Europe you are less likely to have the wars that had previously occurred. His comical slant on it was "Everyone was all like 'hey man' *hippy 'v' sign* lets be all peace and love and not have wars" His opinion was - the aftermath of the second world war is the only time that people would have been up for something as big as trying to unify Europe. His thoughts were that if someoen tried to do that now it would never get the approval of the various countries.

To my mind, if it does stop a war like the second world war, then that is reason enough to have it and i can't complain! But then history has shown us that civil wars happen all the time, and the countries in Europe are still separate enough (and always will be - can you imagine any local government signing up to get rid of itself in favour of an all encompassing european government?) that it would not really be like civil war.

Medusa said:

But everytime I am discouraged about the fact that in my opinion people just don't get it, or when some country starts a new solo dance, or when I read British newspapers - I just remind myself of a story I heard / saw sometime ago. It was about Italy. Italy was founded as the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, that was the first time since the Roman Empire that the entire area was united under one flag again. A few years, or I think even a few decades later, they conducted polls all over Italy and asked the inhabitants: "What is Italy?" And only a few knew what Italy was, the rest has never heard of it. And now, more than 100 years later, it's a proud united country (though with an abysmal taste in politcal leaders - but who am I to judge - and one of the most mercurial political scenes in Europe). This story gives me hope.

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But that is the point isn't it? How do you strike the balance of power? Like you say - Italy has as you perfectly put it an abysmal taste in political leaders. Italy also rarely bothers to enact european legislation within the time scales required. It's citizens often have to sue it's own government for failure to implement european legislation. How do you hadnle countries like that?

I think the main reason the British don't want to sign up is relinquishing any power they may have. Their sovereignty. Personally i think it could work, fairly easily. Right now we do have to enact European legislation - it hasn't taken anything away frmo government or the judiciary. I just think there are enough raving Euro-phobes in positions of power that easily influence the growing number of ignorant peopl ni this country, and that's all you need to get a majority!

Ant

My French language teacher explained that the idea behind the Euro was to compete against the USA economically.

It worked well enough, I guess, to convince the leaders on this side of the pond to agree to a North American Union. (and NO, the American public has not had a chance to vote on this, not even in the Senate...stopping before she gets on her soap box about Bush).

I think a one world or one continent currency is a bad idea... it gets us one step closer to a one world goverment... not into that at all

Tonichelle said:

I think a one world or one continent currency is a bad idea... it gets us one step closer to a one world goverment... not into that at all

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With USA military bases, some with nuclear weapons, in so many countries, I think the US is striving to be a one world government, and be the leader of it.

antmanb said:

So I was wondering if there is some history or something else that has meant the term has become offensive.

All help greatly received!

Ant

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Every person I have know from the previously defined "Orient" doesn't care one bit. I say this as I just asked the love of my life who is from China. Her question is "why so many people so sensitive. Why does it matter? Understand than is good." The tone seems to be the defining factor regardless. For example I called a coworker a cracker the other day. So what if it is not meant derogatory. I think at one time I was far more sensitive to the comment more so than the persons the comment was made toward.

Sometime it is as simple as "don't sweat the small stuff."

I totally agree that the tone would make a great difference. After all, whether or not the insult is intended is most important. People would usually see and understand if you have no negative intention at all.

Yet, to prevent misunderstandings, I think it oftentimes safer to avoid the labels that are considered offensive especially in the Internet communications and public spaces such as work, school, and civil services. Showing sensitivity may mean that you care about the history and political situations of the individuals in the given group. In contrast, ignorance could be based on indifference.

I am not suggesting that we have to be hyper sensitive because the political correctness of the word could change very quickly and the rationales are often unclear to the general public. But the uses of labels that are getting outdated may sound at least bizarre/strange. It would sound a lot different when a new international student from England to the US uses the word "Oriental", in contrast to a native Californian from Torrance using it. While the former may sound neutral whereas the latter may suggest at least some level of ignorance, indifference about, or a lack of contacts with that group.
It also may not be very surprising if the other person takes it as an insult because they may think that there should exist a common understanding between the two parties about the offensiveness of the word.

Bennett said:

It also may not be very surprising if the other person takes it as an insult because they may think that there should exist a common understanding between the two parties about the offensiveness of the word.

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:thumbsup:

People want to sweat the small stuff for it makes them feel like they are a bigger part of the picture. However one can make many sound as thought they are superior in any way is the two edge sword that will divide us forever.

Beef Cookie or Hamburger patty? Poop or Sh**? As long as it matters it will show we are not above our own selves, we'll stay beneath our abilities. JMO.

Will cultural acceptance ever include cultural semantics?

Late to the debate.... Well, I am adopted and "basically" a mystery. But, I have olive skin, dark thick curly hair and I have been mistaken for any nationality that people think might look like that. I have been approached by people from the middle east quite a few times and I have been asked if I was Jewish more than once. My mom thinks the agency told her that my background was Italian-American which would work I guess. But, I am a living breathing melting pot because I just don't know!

( I have never been mistaken for a Scandinavian though!)

My great grandmother lived in a very small rural town in Georgia and my sister and I were objects of great curiosity. One lady said , " Your Daddy must be really dark." and I told her his hair was dark! ( And it is....)

A friend of mine in high school was also adopted and had the same dilema (sp). Someone thought she looked Peruvian, and she thought that sounded cool so that's what she tells people now (her parents are albino white like most white Alaskans lol... beluga tan ).