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[theinevitable]

Probably because you have a society built upon people.

I have read this so many times, and I am so confused about what it could possibly mean. It's funny, though, because I am writing an essay about the legitimacy of government coming from the consent of the governed?

I really want to end my essay with "I'm glad that John Locke figured all this "legitimate government" stuff out a few hundred years ago so we don't have to try it out now in a middle eastern country," but that would probably ruin the intellectual tone of the paper.

[Doc]

I think Keith means that people are flawed and that's why any society built on/by people will be flawed.

[theinevitable]

oh.

for some reason I was reading it as some kind of mean comment about your society being built upon the backs of oppressed people or something? maybe there was some historical issue I wasn't aware of?

[Doc]

Oh, well yeah come to that we did that too.
Australian Aborigines haven't had the best deal under the heel of the European oppressors.

Actually yeah now that I think about it that probably is what he meant. Dang.

[theinevitable]

I mean, that's pretty much how things are under the heel of the European oppressors. It is a pretty standard deal, I think.

What I'm saying is, there aren't any people around who are like "man, we totally lucked out, being under this heel. this heel, oppressing us? this is prime. this is our golden age."

linnea, don't look for a guy who wants a mail order bride.

now I am imagining the dichotomy of... the guy who would want an American mail order bride, vs. the guy who would want, say, a Russian or Thai one. There are so many ways a person can be creepy, is what I am getting across.

however, when you show up on the scene in this country which you end up going to, the guys with accents which are attractive to you will be all "hey, who is that girl, her name is Somebody nice and her looks are great/ I would really like to take her on a date/ man, no, seriously, she is rad."
I am saying this because you are pretty and full of desire for adventure, both Alaska-based and non-Alaska based.

[Doc]

Actually the trend around here, at least with older dudes, is to see a guy in say his fifties with a chick in her say 30s from the phillipines or somewhere similar. These ladies tend to be really quiet and this just amkes the whole thing even creepier.

[linnea]

the mail order bride thing was just a lame joke on my part. I knew several dudes in Alaska who had Eastern European or Filipina mail order brides. The dudes were hell of creepy. Usually the mail order bride thing is a front for human trafficking, and we all know how strongly I feel about that.

[littlefallsmets]

Perhaps I am too much a Sensitive New Age Guy here but... why would anyone want a lover who can barely speak the language? I mean, sex is awesome but... good Lord, even if it's frequent and zesty, you're only talking about four or five hours of the week.

My big problem with dating in high school and early college was that I was always attracted to interesting smart talented women who wrote and did art and played music and stuff and... those girls all wanted tortured drunks with washboard abs and leather jackets.

They didn't WANT guys who'd actually be good to them and care for them and so on, they wanted big dramatic paintings that could be mysterious and that could provide them with drama and tulmult and inspiration and so on.

Why would anyone want a lover who is emotionally and psychologically disengaged from them?

Doesn't it get boring/frustrating right quick?

[theinevitable]

lfm, you know my opinion on that whole thing. Girls are ridiculous sometimes. boys are ridiculous, but in different ways, of course. I am starting to wonder if the reason that I am tending towards Judgemental Asshole in my social interactions lately is as some sort of correctional mechanism for lacking the abs and leather jacket. or maybe it's just that a lot of my friends here are... kind of judgemental and jerky.

the good news is, the girls who aren't looking to date dicks are always pretty happy when they realize you aren't a dick.

"so. daniel. are you a good egg?"
"um... what?"
"are you a good guy. you know. if you aren't, just... I'm not about to put up with that shit."
"oh. I mean. I'd like to think I am."
"ok. good."

on the other hand, when you fuck it up, you get the "you used to be such a nice guy, what happened?" and it feels pretty shitty.

the only situation in which I could see being With someone who didn't speak english would be if it were a thing where, you know... I am like a wounded paratrooper, and she only speaks french, and she hides me from the nazis and we slowly learn each other's languages and then... etc.

[Doc]

the only situation in which I could see being With someone who didn't speak english would be if it were a thing where, you know... I am like a wounded paratrooper, and she only speaks french, and she hides me from the nazis and we slowly learn each other's languages and then... etc.

Inev has hell of WW2 fantasies.

[KeithHernandez]

That's some nice romanticizin' Inev.

[Golfhaus]

Inev's gonna be cuttin' in on Cornelius's business 'fore too long.

[Drygioni]

Also, over here, most people think that "foreign accents" like Aussie, Kiwi, British, Scottish, Irish, etc. are fun and intriguing. What do folks in other lands think of the American accent? Is it pretty boring?

In short: yes. American is kind of the Western world's generic accent, simply due to it's over-exposure everywhere. Somewhat unfortunately, the 'mis-pronunciation' of (different way of saying) 'English' words is normally regarded as annoying rather than endearing/interesting, unlike in Scots for example. Also, most accents have associated slang which is interesting, can't think of much American.

However, this is Britain, I'm sure in non-English speaking countries the American accent is far more unique due to the fact it wouldn't be heard as much.

Crap, look at the British guy get all up himself. To mitigate things a bit, I'm pretty certain when we were a dominant cultural force our accent was considered a bit shite too, and in fact I'm pretty certain everyone except you guys HATE TO HELL the English accent.

Also: England alone has about a billion regional accents, but I notice very little variation in American dialects. Is this just a perspective thing, ie. do you notice English regional differences and am I missing the American ones?

[Golfhaus]

Also: England alone has about a billion regional accents, but I notice very little variation in American dialects. Is this just a perspective thing, ie. do you notice English regional differences and am I missing the American ones?

I notice the difference between regional accents in both American and British English. The Boston, New York, and Southern accents are the most obvious, but there's also the Wisconsin/Minnesota accent, the difference between Southern and Deep Southern, and the dialect differences between East and West (things like "the I-5" on the west vs. "I-95" on the east). Then there's Pittsburgese. I also surprised the hell out of a Briton by saying, "Where in England are you from? I know it's not London." He was from Liverpool. I recognized it quickly in the twang of Lennon. If I wasn't able to understand what he was saying, I'd have said Manchester.

[linnea]

Also: England alone has about a billion regional accents, but I notice very little variation in American dialects. Is this just a perspective thing, ie. do you notice English regional differences and am I missing the American ones?

The "generic American" accent is pretty prevalent all over our country, which is the "Midwestern" accent. It is what you most often hear newscasters speaking. Many people adopt it instead of their regional accents in order to sound more "educated". Other regional accents and dialects seem to be associated with the lower classes, which is a pity because they're so interesting. That is why newscasters struggle to master the bland Midwestern accent - because it is so generic and free of "low class/stupid" stereotypes (well...at least when compared to other American dialects). There are a multitude of Southern accents, such as Appalachian, Cajun, Texan drawl...I tend to categorize Southern accents by state, like Alabama, Georgia, etc. The Minnesotan/Wisconsin accents and speech patterns are undoubtedly influenced by the Nordic and Germanic people who settled there en masse during the emigration waves. I love hearing Bostonians and New Yorkers speak, and there are a multitude of varied shades of all of these regional accents.

It's a lot of fun. I enjoy listening to regional differences in speech.