Question of the Day: Identity Edition

AG

Government is the Entertainment Division of the Military-Industrial Complex.-Frank Zappa

I remember reading in Nietzsche years ago that he called himself "the first good European."  the first to identify himself as a Eupropean.  But this didn't obliterate his identity as a German.  In fact, he tried to make a case, due to his distaste for what was happening in Germany, for his really having Polish roots.

At the time I read this, the EU was a dream.  But i was struck by the notion, and advanced to "we should not have national identities, but be 'good worlders.'"

My German correspondent and i have discussed this at length.  He is half Arab, but a German citizen, and feels the tug of two identities.  His position is that national pride is destructive and divisive, and responsible for most of the evils of the world.  National pride, you might say, is a cardinal sin in the international world.

And yet, one night, when we were talking about the problems that Turks are having in Germany, where some have been for three generations, some no longer speak much Turkic, and they are not wanted in Turkey, where unemployment affects Turks and other aliens first, i asked him how it is that these Turks have not become citizens.  He advised me that he thought the American practice of granting citizneship to anyone born in America was foiolsih, and that in Germany, they thought that national identity was important.  Odd, says I, for someone whose national identity is on the edge.

To me, Noam Chomsky is instructive.  He notes that it occurred to him at a young age that rooing for the home team was not necessarily rational.  He quite explicitly applies this to national pride, national identity.  And he has spent the rest of his life trying to show that he is not rooting for the home team.  Proving it.  Taking every opportunity to show that he is not rooting for America.

To me, this is not much different from being a blind loyalist.  It is just a different blindness.  Adherence to another blind faith.  It is just as much being bound by national identity as blind patriotism.  It is beholden to national identity in another way.

It is similar to what sees when one leaves a religion, and then sees everything in that religion as evil.  Normally with time, we get more perspective.

One sees, in the religions and philosophies around the world, that the steps to the goal, enlightment, authenticity, whatever, is a three step goal.  As the Buddhists say:

First I was a child, and I saw things as a child.  Then i undertook the study of Buddhism, and I no longer saw things as a child.  But now that i have gained enlightenment, I once again see things as a child.

The second step is like leaving a religion, throwing over our ingrained say of thinking and being.  But it absolutely necessary to overthrow that second step.  It is the step i don't think that Chomsky has made, at least not publically.  he has stalled in the identity of "not your normal American patriot."

One of the faillings of those stuck in the second step is that they can't distinguish between those who are childishly patriotic and those who have taken the third step, and are maturely patriotic, seeing the reality, praising what deserves praise, and working on what does not.

So, for me, i am proudly American.  On that basis, I am also a citizen of the world.  i can stand next to a Canadian and sing his anthem, partaking in his own pride of nation.  I am also Irish enough that when i hear those fiddles and pipes, the basis of that country music everyone loves to hate, my feet, which never, ever dance, start to move.  I am also proud of that.

I am a third step patriot.  I own it all, good and bad.  I own the jazz, the free citizenship, the cities and the hills.  I also own the problems that i have tried to fight, and those I haven't.  I don't "hate" any american simply because i find his ideas repulsive, or merely different from mine.  In fact, I own that we can have different ideas and neither of us need fear ending up in some Kafka story.

I own that our founding fathers wrought on this continent a nation for tinkerers, which is what we are.  What they wrought was meant to be amended, to be tuned and retuned, by all of us, by the people.  They were actually glad that it would never please anyone, that all of us could think that, like we do about the manager of the Tigers, we could run the team better if we were in charge.  I am proud that among the first things we did as a nation was to reject a law which would have made it illegal to criticize the government.  I am proud that "pillorying the president" is an American practice, non-partisan, and applies even to the president that you voted for. I am proud that our president is referred to politely as "Mr. President," the same title with which an ordinary man is adressed politely.

I also own that as a nation of tinkerers, we will always be asked the salient question, "will Amrerica ever have a culture?"  As long as we are American, we won't.  But i own the fact that we have fine museums, great orchestras, our own strains of fine arts:  in amercia no incdividual need avoid being cultured because we as a people generally are not.  I even own those "refined" advanced (to themselves) people who have thought, and still do, that they are better than the average American because they have been to Paris, have studied painting abroad, understand French peotry, and the like, or are proud that they "can't stand Bluegrass."

I own the fact that we are not European.  A friend of mine wrote his dissertaition on the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel.  Marcel made a living as a music critic, but he also wrote some plays, which have never become popular in America.  They strike us as ridiculous.  In his plays, a couple checking into a hotel may be disussing some arcane subject of existential philosophy.  As they enter their room, the maid may join in, "But, please excuse me, doesn't the Cartesian cogito argue against the possiblilty of a full society of authenticity, given the explanation of DesCartes' meaning by Sartre?  My friend spent a summer in France to do research, and reports that his maid asked him, as he was checking in, why he had come to France.  He told her he was researching Marcel.  She immediately began discussing marcel and clearly placed him int he development of French philosophy since DesCartes.  My friend expressed some shock about this, but the maid told him that the French are proud of their intellectual heritage, and that every schoolchild is taught about the ideas of DesCartes and other French philosophers.  My friend told me that his experience in France backed that up.

We learn about Eli Whitney, and our American hero, Thomas A. Edison, who succeeded even touht he was deaf, deaf because of mistreatment as a child, instead.  We Americans ALL come from people who faced grave adversity.  Even Amerinds and Na-Dene came across the Bering Strait to settle new and unknown lands.
Our children probably can't name even one America philosophers, and even most of our intellectuals will probably mispronounce the name of perhaps the greatest.  And I own that!

We Americans embrace risk, at least we have in the past.  In the balance between control and risk, we prefer to move the pointer more towards risk.  We are indiviualists, even tose who argue against individualism.  We are not asocial, stupid.  We are not the charcter of Christmas Future in Rod Serlings Carol for Another Christmas, who stands among post-apocalypse wredage and preaches "the Imperial Me."  (The bit was aimed at Goldwater.)  We simply place the balance differently.

I am proud that America has stayed out of other peoples' business, at least until the last century, and i wish that we could return to that.  But I am pround, at least, that those who have taken us to 1917 Europe, who refused to steer us clear of WWII, who took us to Korea, Vietnam, to Iraq, to Afghanistan, had good intentions.  We are a nation whichloves good intentions, and we never learn that good intentions line the road to hell.

We are the nation of "youse pays your money, and youse takes your choice."  We are a nation that allows choice even when there is risk. We are a nation of hosetraders. And we are a nation where individuals can take pity on those who make the wrong choice, even if repeatedly.  We are the nation which embraced the British Salvation Army, just as when the Flat Earth Spociety sought to move from England, it moved to America.  We are a nation of Union Gospel Missions.

We are a nation of muddlers.  We are bare-shouldered, hard working, we are confident that we will work it out in the end, ready to take up new problems.  Where Europeans revel in their longr vacations and shorter hours, tgiven the choice, Americans shoose overtime. Until recently, we didn't whine, we solved.  We.  My great Aunt Winifred brouht meals every few days to the old widow a few streets away.  For years.  In a town where everything was known about everybody, she made sure that the widow never found out where the food came from.

So, i am proud to be, to say that i am, an American.  i want everyone to be proud of their national identity, to be proud of that and so much more.  We should be patriotic as adults, not children, and we should not be stuck in the adolescence of being ashamed of what we did as children.

And, as Americans, we should be proud that we are tinkerers, and that we have so much to tinker with.

A scientist once said that heaven for a scientist is finding an interesting problem that will take more than a lifetime of research to solve.  He must have been American.  In fact, he was.

On this board, we discuss problems that have been discussed for lifetimes in America.  Our mutual interest is in seeing that they continue to be discussed for many more lifetimes.

So, this board is one of the things that makes me proud to be an American.

"Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is an absurd one." -Voltaire
Ah, my dear Voltaire, doubt is an acquired and cultivated taste, like Laphroaig Whisky or fine truffles, and quite as exquisite.

  Your ancestors, perhaps,

  But my ancestors found certain exceptions to their usual habits of live-and-let-live, stay-out-of-other-people's-business--- one or more of these are listed below:

  the

  [*] A'ane , Abenaki , Achumawi , Acjachemen  , Acoma, Agua Caliente, Ahahnelin, Ahe, Ahtna, Ajachemem , Akainawa, Akimel O'odham, Akwa'ala, Alabama-Coushatta, Algonquians, Algonquin , Alkansea, Alnobak , Alsea, Amalecite, Anishinaabe, Aniyunwiya, Antoniaño, Apache, Apalachee, Applegate, Apsaaloke, Apwaruge, Arapaho, Arikara, Arkansas, Asakiwaki, Assiniboine, Atakapa, Atfalati, Atikamekw, Atsina, Atsugewi, Araucano, Atzinca, Ayisiyiniwok, Babine, Bahwika, Bannock, Barbareño, Bear River, Beaver, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Beothuks, Bettol, Biloxi, Black Carib, Blackfoot, Blood Indians, Bode'wadmi, Cabanapo, Caddo, Cahita, Cahto, Cahuilla, Calapooya, Carolina Algonquian, Carquin, Carrier, Caska, Catawba, Cathlamet, Catlotlq, Cayuga, Cayuse, Celilo, Central Pomo, Chahta, Chalaque, Chappaquiddick, Chawchila, Chehalis, Chelan, Chemehuevi, Cheraw, Cheroenhaka, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickamaugan, Chickasaw, Chilcotin, Chilula-Wilkut, Chimariko, Chinook, Chinook Jargon, Chipewyan, Chippewa, Chitimacha, Chocheno, Choctaw, Cholon, Chontal de Oaxaca, Chontal de Tabasco, Choynimni, Chukchansi, Chumash, Clackamas, Clallam, Clatskanie, Clatsop, Cmique, Coastal Cree, Cochimi, Cochiti, Cocopa, Coeur d'Alene, Cofan, Columbia, Colville, Comanche, Comcaac, Comox, Conestoga, Coos, Copper River Athabaskan, Coquille, Cora, Coso, Costanoan, Coushatta, Cowichan, Cowlitz, Cree, Creek, Croatan, Crow, Cruzeño, Cucupa, Cupeno, Dakelh, Dakota, Dakubetede, Dawson, Degexit'an, Delaware, Dena'ing, Dene, Dene Tha, Diegueno, Dine, Djimaliko, Dogrib, Dohema , Duhlelap, Dumna, Dunne-za, Eastern Inland Cree, Eastern Pomo, Ecclemachs, Eel River Athabascan, Eenou, Eskimo, Esselen, Etchemin, Etnemitane, Euchee, Eudeve, Excelen, Eyak, Fernandeno, Flathead Salish, Fox, French Cree, Gabrielino, Gaigwu, Galice, Garifuna, Gashowu, Gitxsan (Gitksan, Gitsken, Goltsan, Gosiute, Gros Ventre, Guarijio, Gulf, Gwich'in, Haida, Haisla, Halkomelem, Han, Hanesak, Hanis, Hare, Hatteras, Haudenosaunee, Havasupai, Hawaiian, Heiltsuk, Heve, Hiaki, Hichiti, Hidatsa, Hinonoeino, Hitchiti, Hocak, Hochelagan, Holikachuk, Holkomelem, Homalco, Hoopa, Hopi, Hopland Pomo, Hualapai, Huarijio, Huelel, Huichol, Huichun, Hupa, Huron, Hutyeyu, Hwech'in, Illini, Inca, Ineseño, Ingalik, Innoko, Innu, Inuktitut, Inuna-Ina, Iowa-Oto, Iroquois Confederacy, Ishak, Isleño, Isleta, Itza Maya, Iviatim, Iynu, James Bay Cree, Jemez, Juaneno, Juichun, Kabinapek, Kahwan, Kainan, Kalapuya, Kanenavish, Kanien'kehaka, Kalispel, Kansa, Karkin, Karok, Kashaya, Kaska, Kaskaskia, Kathlamet, Kato, Kaw, Kawaiisu, Kechan, Kenaitze, Keres,Kichai, Kickapoo, Kikima, Kiksht, Kiliwa, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Kitanemuk, Kitsai, Klahoose, Klallam, Klamath-Modoc, Klatskanie, Klatsop, Klickitat, Koasati, Kolchan, Konkow, Konomihu, Kootenai, Koso, Koyukon, Kuitsh, Kulanapo, Kumeyaay/Kumiai, Kupa (Kupangaxwichem), Kusan, Kuskokwim, Kutchin, Kwaiailk, Kw'al, Kwakiutl, Kwalhioqua, Kwantlen, Kwapa, Kwedech, Kweedishchaaht, Kwikipa, Kwinault, Laguna, Lakhota, Lakmiak, Lassik, Latkawa, Laurentian, Lecesem, Lenape, Lillooet, Lipan Apache, Listiguj , Llaamen, Lnuk, Loucheux, Loup, Lower Chehalis, Lower Coquille, Lower Cowlitz, Lower Tanana, Lower Umpqua, Luckiamute, Luiseno, Lumbee, Lummi, Lushootseed, Lutuamian, Mahican, Maidu, Makah, Maliseet,Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Mamaceqtaw, Mandan, Mangoac, Mapuche, Maricopa, Massachusett, Massasoit, Mattabesic Mattole, Maumee, Matlatzinca, Mayan, Mayo, Mengwe, Menominee, Mescalero-Chiricahua, Meskwaki, Metis Creole, Mewoc, Miami-Illinois, Miccosukee, Michif, Micmac, Migueleño, Mikasuki, Mi'kmaq, Miluk, Mingo, Minsi, Minto, Miskito, Missouria, Mitchif, Miwok, Mixe, Mobilian Trade Jargon, Modoc, Mohave, Mohawk, Mohegan, Mohican, Mojave, Molale, Monache, Montagnais, Montauk, Moosehide, Multnomah, Munsee, Muskogee, Musqueam, Mutsun, Nabesna, Nabiltse, Nadot'en, Nahane, Nahuat, Nahuatl, Naklallam, Nakoda, Nambe, Nanticoke, Nantucket, Narragansett, Naskapi, Nass-Gitxsan, Natchez, Natick, Naugutuck, Navajo, Nawat, Nayhiyuwayin, Nde, Nee-me-poo, Nehiyaw, Netela, Nevome, New Blackfoot, Newe, Nez Perce, Niantic, Nicola, Niitsipussin, Nimipu (Nimiipuu, Nimi'ipuu, Nimi'ipu), Nipmuc, Nisenan, Nisga'a, Nlaka'pamux, Nomlaki, Nooksack, Nootka, Nootsack, Northeastern Pomo, Northern Carrier, Northern Cheyenne, Nottoway, Nsilxin, Nuooah, Nutunutu, Nuxalk, Nuxwstlayamutsen, Nxak'amxcin, Oaxaca Chontal, Obispeño, Ocuiltec, Odawa, Ofo, Ogahpah, Ohlone, Ojibwa, Okanagan, Okwanuchu, Old Blackfoot, Omaha-Ponca, Oneida, Onondaga, O'ob No'ok, O'odham, Opata, Osage, Otchipwe, Otoe, Ottawa, Pai, Paipai, Paiute, Palaihnihan, Palewyami, Palouse, Pamlico, Panamint, Panoan, Pantlatch, Papago-Pima, Pascua Yaqui, Passamaquoddy, Patuxet, Patwin, Paugussett, Paviotso, Pawnee, Peigan, Pend D'Oreille, Penobscot, Pentlatch, Peoria, Pequot, Peskotomuhkati, Picuris, Piegan, Pima, Pima Bajo, Pipil, Pit River, Plains Indian Sign Language, Pojoaque, Pomo, Ponca, Poospatuck, Popoluca, Porcupine Indians, Potawatomi  , Powhatan , Pueblo, Puget Sound Salish, Puntlatch, Purisimeño, Putún, Quapaw, Quechan, Quechua, Quilcene, Quileute, Quinault, Quinnipiac, Quiripi, Raramuri, Red Indians, Restigouche, Rumsen, Runasimi, Saanich, Sac, Sahaptin, Salhulhtxw, Salinan, Salish, Samish, Sandia, Sanish, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Sanpoil, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santiam, Santo Domingo, Saponi , Sarcee , Sastean , Satsop, Savannah, Sauk, Saulteaux, Schaghticoke  , Sechelt, Secwepemc , Sekani, Selkirk, Seminoles, Seneca, Seri, Serrano, Seshelt, Severn Ojibwe, Sextapay, Shanel, Shashishalhem, Shasta  , Shawnee  , Shinnecock, Shoshone  , Shuar, Shuswap, Sierra Chontal, Siksika  , Similkameen, Sinkiuse  , Sinkyone, Sioux, Siuslaw, Skagit, Skicin, S'Klallam, Skokomish, Skraeling, Skwamish, Slavey , Sliammon  , Sm'algyax, Snichim, Snohomish, Songish, Sooke, Souriquois , Southeastern Pomo, Southern Paiute, Spokane , Squamish, Sqwxwu7mish  , Stadaconan, St'at'imcets (St'at'imc, St'at'imx, Stl'atl'imc, Stl'atl'imx, Stlatlimc), Stl'pulimuhkl  , Stockbridge, Sto:lo, Stoney, Straits Salish, Suquamish, Sulateluk, Susquehannock, Suwal, Swampy Cree, Swinomish,Tabasco Chontal, Tachi  , Tahltan, Tagish, Tahcully, Taino, Takelma  , Takla, Taltushtuntede  , Tamyen, Tanacross, Tanaina, Tanana, Tano, Taos, Tarahumara, Tataviam, Tauira  , Teguima  , Tehachapi, Ten'a, Tenino, Tepehuan , Tequistlateco , Tesuque, Tetawken, Tete-de-Boule  , Tewa, Thompson, Tigua, Tillamook, Timbisha  , Timucua, Tinde, Tinneh, Tiwa, Tjekan, Tlahuica  , Tlatskanie  , Tlatsop, Tlicho  , Tlingit  , Tohono O'odham, Tolowa, Tongva , Tonkawa, Towa, Tsalagi , Tsattine  , Tsekani , Tsetsehestahese, Tsetsaut  , Tsilhqot'in  , Tsinuk, Tsinuk Wawa, Tsitsistas, Tsooke, Tsoyaha, Tsuu T'ina  , Tualatin, Tubar  , Tubatulabal, Tukudh  , Tulalip, Tümpisa , Tunica, Tupi, Tuscarora, Tutchone, Tutelo, Tututni, Tuwa'duxqucid, Tuwa'duqutsid, Twana, Twatwa ,
Uchi  , Ukiah , Ukomnom, Umatilla, Unami, Unkechaug  , Upper Chehalis, Upper Chinook, Upper Cowlitz, Upper Kuskokwim, Upper Tanana, Upper Umpqua, Ute, Vaniuki  , Varijio , Ventureño, Virginian Algonkin, Wabanaki, Wailaki  , Wailatpu  , Walapai, Walla Walla, Waluulapam, Wampano,  , Warm Springs, Wasco-Wishram, Washo  , Watiru, Wazhazhe, Wea, Wenatchi  , Wendat, Weott,  , Wikchamni, Wilewakiute, Willapa  , Winnebago, Wintu , Wishram, Witsuwit'en , Wiyot  , Wobanaki, Wolastoqewi , Wyandot , Wynoochie  Yakama, Yakima, Yaquina (Yakwina, Yakona, Yakonan, Yakon), Yavapai, Yawelmani, Yaqui, Yinka Dene, Yneseño  , Yocot'an, Yokaya  , Yokuts  , Yoncalla  , Yowlumni, Ysleño, Ysleta del Sur, Yucatec Maya  , Yuchi , Yuhaviatam, Yukaliwa, Yuki , Yuma, Yurok,  Zapotec  , Zia, Zimshian, Zoque, Zuni

  most of the rest of white, non-slave, European stock my ancestors treated passably well with notable exceptions from time to time.

  They were like brothers--sort of.

 

Read - think - speak - doubt; create - explore - give - love.

The issue you bring up here has to do with who those people (they weren't my ancestors either, bub) thought were humans.  After all, this was a time where people could look west and say that the land was empty.  As in, "empty of people."

This was a time when noblesse oblige and "White Man's Burden" were progressive notions.

It is always dangerous to faault people for not adopting values that we embrace now.

And, by the way, the

[*] A'ane , Abenaki , Achumawi , Acjachemen  , Acoma, Agua Caliente, Ahahnelin, Ahe, Ahtna, Ajachemem , Akainawa, Akimel O'odham, Akwa'ala, Alabama-Coushatta, Algonquians, Algonquin , Alkansea, Alnobak , Alsea, Amalecite, Anishinaabe, Aniyunwiya, Antoniaño, Apache, Apalachee, Applegate, Apsaaloke, Apwaruge, Arapaho, Arikara, Arkansas, Asakiwaki, Assiniboine, Atakapa, Atfalati, Atikamekw, Atsina, Atsugewi, Araucano, Atzinca, Ayisiyiniwok, Babine, Bahwika, Bannock, Barbareño, Bear River, Beaver, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Beothuks, Bettol, Biloxi, Black Carib, Blackfoot, Blood Indians, Bode'wadmi, Cabanapo, Caddo, Cahita, Cahto, Cahuilla, Calapooya, Carolina Algonquian, Carquin, Carrier, Caska, Catawba, Cathlamet, Catlotlq, Cayuga, Cayuse, Celilo, Central Pomo, Chahta, Chalaque, Chappaquiddick, Chawchila, Chehalis, Chelan, Chemehuevi, Cheraw, Cheroenhaka, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickamaugan, Chickasaw, Chilcotin, Chilula-Wilkut, Chimariko, Chinook, Chinook Jargon, Chipewyan, Chippewa, Chitimacha, Chocheno, Choctaw, Cholon, Chontal de Oaxaca, Chontal de Tabasco, Choynimni, Chukchansi, Chumash, Clackamas, Clallam, Clatskanie, Clatsop, Cmique, Coastal Cree, Cochimi, Cochiti, Cocopa, Coeur d'Alene, Cofan, Columbia, Colville, Comanche, Comcaac, Comox, Conestoga, Coos, Copper River Athabaskan, Coquille, Cora, Coso, Costanoan, Coushatta, Cowichan, Cowlitz, Cree, Creek, Croatan, Crow, Cruzeño, Cucupa, Cupeno, Dakelh, Dakota, Dakubetede, Dawson, Degexit'an, Delaware, Dena'ing, Dene, Dene Tha, Diegueno, Dine, Djimaliko, Dogrib, Dohema , Duhlelap, Dumna, Dunne-za, Eastern Inland Cree, Eastern Pomo, Ecclemachs, Eel River Athabascan, Eenou, Eskimo, Esselen, Etchemin, Etnemitane, Euchee, Eudeve, Excelen, Eyak, Fernandeno, Flathead Salish, Fox, French Cree, Gabrielino, Gaigwu, Galice, Garifuna, Gashowu, Gitxsan (Gitksan, Gitsken, Goltsan, Gosiute, Gros Ventre, Guarijio, Gulf, Gwich'in, Haida, Haisla, Halkomelem, Han, Hanesak, Hanis, Hare, Hatteras, Haudenosaunee, Havasupai, Hawaiian, Heiltsuk, Heve, Hiaki, Hichiti, Hidatsa, Hinonoeino, Hitchiti, Hocak, Hochelagan, Holikachuk, Holkomelem, Homalco, Hoopa, Hopi, Hopland Pomo, Hualapai, Huarijio, Huelel, Huichol, Huichun, Hupa, Huron, Hutyeyu, Hwech'in, Illini, Inca, Ineseño, Ingalik, Innoko, Innu, Inuktitut, Inuna-Ina, Iowa-Oto, Iroquois Confederacy, Ishak, Isleño, Isleta, Itza Maya, Iviatim, Iynu, James Bay Cree, Jemez, Juaneno, Juichun, Kabinapek, Kahwan, Kainan, Kalapuya, Kanenavish, Kanien'kehaka, Kalispel, Kansa, Karkin, Karok, Kashaya, Kaska, Kaskaskia, Kathlamet, Kato, Kaw, Kawaiisu, Kechan, Kenaitze, Keres,Kichai, Kickapoo, Kikima, Kiksht, Kiliwa, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Kitanemuk, Kitsai, Klahoose, Klallam, Klamath-Modoc, Klatskanie, Klatsop, Klickitat, Koasati, Kolchan, Konkow, Konomihu, Kootenai, Koso, Koyukon, Kuitsh, Kulanapo, Kumeyaay/Kumiai, Kupa (Kupangaxwichem), Kusan, Kuskokwim, Kutchin, Kwaiailk, Kw'al, Kwakiutl, Kwalhioqua, Kwantlen, Kwapa, Kwedech, Kweedishchaaht, Kwikipa, Kwinault, Laguna, Lakhota, Lakmiak, Lassik, Latkawa, Laurentian, Lecesem, Lenape, Lillooet, Lipan Apache, Listiguj , Llaamen, Lnuk, Loucheux, Loup, Lower Chehalis, Lower Coquille, Lower Cowlitz, Lower Tanana, Lower Umpqua, Luckiamute, Luiseno, Lumbee, Lummi, Lushootseed, Lutuamian, Mahican, Maidu, Makah, Maliseet,Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Mamaceqtaw, Mandan, Mangoac, Mapuche, Maricopa, Massachusett, Massasoit, Mattabesic Mattole, Maumee, Matlatzinca, Mayan, Mayo, Mengwe, Menominee, Mescalero-Chiricahua, Meskwaki, Metis Creole, Mewoc, Miami-Illinois, Miccosukee, Michif, Micmac, Migueleño, Mikasuki, Mi'kmaq, Miluk, Mingo, Minsi, Minto, Miskito, Missouria, Mitchif, Miwok, Mixe, Mobilian Trade Jargon, Modoc, Mohave, Mohawk, Mohegan, Mohican, Mojave, Molale, Monache, Montagnais, Montauk, Moosehide, Multnomah, Munsee, Muskogee, Musqueam, Mutsun, Nabesna, Nabiltse, Nadot'en, Nahane, Nahuat, Nahuatl, Naklallam, Nakoda, Nambe, Nanticoke, Nantucket, Narragansett, Naskapi, Nass-Gitxsan, Natchez, Natick, Naugutuck, Navajo, Nawat, Nayhiyuwayin, Nde, Nee-me-poo, Nehiyaw, Netela, Nevome, New Blackfoot, Newe, Nez Perce, Niantic, Nicola, Niitsipussin, Nimipu (Nimiipuu, Nimi'ipuu, Nimi'ipu), Nipmuc, Nisenan, Nisga'a, Nlaka'pamux, Nomlaki, Nooksack, Nootka, Nootsack, Northeastern Pomo, Northern Carrier, Northern Cheyenne, Nottoway, Nsilxin, Nuooah, Nutunutu, Nuxalk, Nuxwstlayamutsen, Nxak'amxcin, Oaxaca Chontal, Obispeño, Ocuiltec, Odawa, Ofo, Ogahpah, Ohlone, Ojibwa, Okanagan, Okwanuchu, Old Blackfoot, Omaha-Ponca, Oneida, Onondaga, O'ob No'ok, O'odham, Opata, Osage, Otchipwe, Otoe, Ottawa, Pai, Paipai, Paiute, Palaihnihan, Palewyami, Palouse, Pamlico, Panamint, Panoan, Pantlatch, Papago-Pima, Pascua Yaqui, Passamaquoddy, Patuxet, Patwin, Paugussett, Paviotso, Pawnee, Peigan, Pend D'Oreille, Penobscot, Pentlatch, Peoria, Pequot, Peskotomuhkati, Picuris, Piegan, Pima, Pima Bajo, Pipil, Pit River, Plains Indian Sign Language, Pojoaque, Pomo, Ponca, Poospatuck, Popoluca, Porcupine Indians, Potawatomi  , Powhatan , Pueblo, Puget Sound Salish, Puntlatch, Purisimeño, Putún, Quapaw, Quechan, Quechua, Quilcene, Quileute, Quinault, Quinnipiac, Quiripi, Raramuri, Red Indians, Restigouche, Rumsen, Runasimi, Saanich, Sac, Sahaptin, Salhulhtxw, Salinan, Salish, Samish, Sandia, Sanish, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Sanpoil, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santiam, Santo Domingo, Saponi , Sarcee , Sastean , Satsop, Savannah, Sauk, Saulteaux, Schaghticoke  , Sechelt, Secwepemc , Sekani, Selkirk, Seminoles, Seneca, Seri, Serrano, Seshelt, Severn Ojibwe, Sextapay, Shanel, Shashishalhem, Shasta  , Shawnee  , Shinnecock, Shoshone  , Shuar, Shuswap, Sierra Chontal, Siksika  , Similkameen, Sinkiuse  , Sinkyone, Sioux, Siuslaw, Skagit, Skicin, S'Klallam, Skokomish, Skraeling, Skwamish, Slavey , Sliammon  , Sm'algyax, Snichim, Snohomish, Songish, Sooke, Souriquois , Southeastern Pomo, Southern Paiute, Spokane , Squamish, Sqwxwu7mish  , Stadaconan, St'at'imcets (St'at'imc, St'at'imx, Stl'atl'imc, Stl'atl'imx, Stlatlimc), Stl'pulimuhkl  , Stockbridge, Sto:lo, Stoney, Straits Salish, Suquamish, Sulateluk, Susquehannock, Suwal, Swampy Cree, Swinomish,Tabasco Chontal, Tachi  , Tahltan, Tagish, Tahcully, Taino, Takelma  , Takla, Taltushtuntede  , Tamyen, Tanacross, Tanaina, Tanana, Tano, Taos, Tarahumara, Tataviam, Tauira  , Teguima  , Tehachapi, Ten'a, Tenino, Tepehuan , Tequistlateco , Tesuque, Tetawken, Tete-de-Boule  , Tewa, Thompson, Tigua, Tillamook, Timbisha  , Timucua, Tinde, Tinneh, Tiwa, Tjekan, Tlahuica  , Tlatskanie  , Tlatsop, Tlicho  , Tlingit  , Tohono O'odham, Tolowa, Tongva , Tonkawa, Towa, Tsalagi , Tsattine  , Tsekani , Tsetsehestahese, Tsetsaut  , Tsilhqot'in  , Tsinuk, Tsinuk Wawa, Tsitsistas, Tsooke, Tsoyaha, Tsuu T'ina  , Tualatin, Tubar  , Tubatulabal, Tukudh  , Tulalip, Tümpisa , Tunica, Tupi, Tuscarora, Tutchone, Tutelo, Tututni, Tuwa'duxqucid, Tuwa'duqutsid, Twana, Twatwa ,
Uchi  , Ukiah , Ukomnom, Umatilla, Unami, Unkechaug  , Upper Chehalis, Upper Chinook, Upper Cowlitz, Upper Kuskokwim, Upper Tanana, Upper Umpqua, Ute, Vaniuki  , Varijio , Ventureño, Virginian Algonkin, Wabanaki, Wailaki  , Wailatpu  , Walapai, Walla Walla, Waluulapam, Wampano,  , Warm Springs, Wasco-Wishram, Washo  , Watiru, Wazhazhe, Wea, Wenatchi  , Wendat, Weott,  , Wikchamni, Wilewakiute, Willapa  , Winnebago, Wintu , Wishram, Witsuwit'en , Wiyot  , Wobanaki, Wolastoqewi , Wyandot , Wynoochie  Yakama, Yakima, Yaquina (Yakwina, Yakona, Yakonan, Yakon), Yavapai, Yawelmani, Yaqui, Yinka Dene, Yneseño  , Yocot'an, Yokaya  , Yokuts  , Yoncalla  , Yowlumni, Ysleño, Ysleta del Sur, Yucatec Maya  , Yuchi , Yuhaviatam, Yukaliwa, Yuki , Yuma, Yurok,  Zapotec  , Zia, Zimshian, Zoque, Zuni

had practices that we wouldn't approve of either.  I remember as a yongster being fascinated with the various clever methods used by some of these peoples to torture one another.


"Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is an absurd one." -Voltaire
Ah, my dear Voltaire, doubt is an acquired and cultivated taste, like Laphroaig Whisky or fine truffles, and quite as exquisite.

  The interviews go really well--up to a point.

  Speak English?

  Fluently.

  Excellent.

  And you've had some room-cleaning experience?

  Oh, of course, I've cleaned a lot of rooms.

  Okay, fine.  Now, how about Gabriel Marcel?

  Gab-- uh, Gab-gab-gab-riel uh---

  Marcel--

  Oh, of course, well, uh, Gabriel Marcel, I, well, that is, you see, he's an, uh, very important in room cleaning theory and --

  What?

  That is, I mean,--

  Marcel is not to do with room-cleaning theory!

  Oh!  OF COURSE! I knew that!
  I just got a little confu--

  So, your views on Marcel?

  Well, , I'm, uh,-- you know?  the thing about that guy?  I've always thought that :
  Pour lui, Descartes enferme le moi dans sa propre coquille : le « je pense » est un carcan dont nous ne saurions nous défaire.

The guy glared at me a moment, and then he says:

  Ha! You stole that right off the Wikipedia site, didn't you!?  You're the second maid applicant I have this month to try that answer!  Do you really think that in this job our guests won't see right through that?  Really--I think you must go back to maid room-cleaning school and brush up on your Marcel; otherwise, I really see no future for you in the hotel maid industry.  All of our maids have done at least some original work on Marcel.  And, you, I don't see even one preparatory paper. 

  I'm sorry for wasting your--

  Yes, you should be!  Now, go on!

  -----------------------------

  Once back at my motel room, I went and found some of the maids on a work break.  They were all gathered around a table smoking cigarettes and discussing Marcel. 

  I wonder if you'd mind if I just sat in and listened--I promise not to say anything.

  Sure!  Be our guest, they answered.

  But, as soon as I sat down, they changed the topic to a tax measure being discussed in the Assemblée Nationale and I never heard another word from them about Marcel.

  Though one day, in the hall, I did overhear one say to another, "Watch out for that one.  He'll try and get you to explain Marcel to him and the next thing you know, the maids coming up will have extra comptetition to overcome."

  The other maid nodded knowingly.

  I was never going to make it as a maid, with my scanty appreciation of Marcel.

Read - think - speak - doubt; create - explore - give - love.

he also said that in his stay in france, he discovered that there was a general level of knowledhge about the ideas of French philosophers, as if the maid was right that it was  a part of the normal school curriculuum, much as we learn about Eli Whitney and Thomas Edoispn.

Geesh!

Here in America,; almost all schoiol kids know there was an American civil war, most know that during that war, Lincoln freed the slaves, and many know that Grant was the winning general and Lee surrendered, and that Loncoln was assasinated.  That is not to say that an applicant for a maid job would be required to show such knowledge to obtain the job.

Did you have a point?

"Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is an absurd one." -Voltaire
Ah, my dear Voltaire, doubt is an acquired and cultivated taste, like Laphroaig Whisky or fine truffles, and quite as exquisite.

  Yes.

  Living outside the U.S. wonderfully impresses that fact on me.

  Within some eight weeks of arriving here, I'd found a room to rent.  The place was an apartment and the woman who held the lease was one of the most colorful characters I've met since coming here.  Those stories are, perhaps, for another day.

  Another guy, an Argentinian, younger than I, had occupied the room I moved into and, as he had no job and practically no money left--being, like myself, in search of work and living on a "shoe-string"-- he was allowed to stay, sleeping on the sofa in the living room.

  One day as he and I were riding the Métro, sitting among the variety of foreign nationals around us, he turned to me and asked (in English) whether Black Americans were regarded by White Americans as fully American--as in, do Whites regard Blacks as genuinely American in the fullest sense that they consider themselves to be?

  That was his question.  It surprised me.  My answer was unequivocal: not only did I not question Blacks being Americans no less than any others, but I reported that, in my opinion, not even the most die-hard bigot could any longer deny that fact.  I said that this was now so accepted as not even to be a seriously posed question.

  Then he explained that this was not the case in France, where, to some French people--particularly the most traditional and conservative nationalists-- being French is not at all a mere matter of being born in France.  By this view, no Black person could ever "be French" no matter how long his family might reside in France.  The same, of course, would be true of anyone else, whatever his "race"--the descendants of Spanish immigrants, would forever be something other than genuinely French.

  This little discussion was a real "eye-opener" for me and he expressed his admiration for the face that, in the U.S., one is and could be, by common consent, completely American no matter the circumstances of his birth.

Read - think - speak - doubt; create - explore - give - love.

A work in progress.

The first truly multi-ethnic country.

It ain't over yet.

Not by a LONG shot.

AG

Government is the Entertainment Division of the Military-Industrial Complex.-Frank Zappa

But now I am an American, and enough of one to understand that Geo. Bush and his ilk are not. Not just his ilk - anyone who can even begin to agree with their crimes. With the engorgement, the rape, the thievery, the muggings, the vandalism.

Not exclusionary like a club, just on sheer principle. As an American our history preceded me and I was welcome anywhere in the world. Even SEAsia. Now all that has changed. 25 years of traveling, and all the good will blown out of the water in, especially, the last two years. One thing is kind of interesting, and that is that people still hope that one is all right, that when an American arrives in their place that that American is not a piece of shit. And when you turn out to be a regular person, there is a huge sense of relief. I suppose that means something.

But one thing is sure: I am not a nationalist. There is nothing in me that says that being an American is somehow better than being a Bangladeshi or Belgian or Argentinian or Australian. No nationalism in the idea.

I guess being an American for me means having some idea of how good America is capable of being, and of how evil it in so many ways is right now.