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By the way, that â59 DeSoto didnât have any German parts OR @#$%^ metric threads!! And Iâve NEVER seen a Chrysler product manifold of that era give a bit of trouble.
But the point is, that DeSoto doesnât have German parts - only the mechanicâs working vocabulary does. And itâs a safe bet that Perfessor Fishbeak could own any car of any era and have problems with it (First Law of Cartoon Physics: âOnly When Itâs Funnyâ).
Actually, a German car is one of the leading cars in the U.S. and most of us are watching TV on Japanese made sets. A lot of good WW II did so far as commerce is concerned. And so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country. Now we know how the native Americans felt when we moved in.
with the way you spell bc, it looks like thatâs not the only thing thatâs greek to you.
jrbj, yeah but theyâre not pushing us off our land or killing our women and childern. I donât think you have a grip on what really happened to the native americans. theyâre still gettinâ screwed, but i digress.
âAnd so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country.â
Language? Most immigrants from non-English speaking countries generally DO learn English, at least by the second generation. There are pockets where more day-to-day business in conducted in Spanish or Cantonese than in English, but weâre hardly in danger of English language being the exception rather than the rule.
Culture? American culture has always responded to immigrant influences; thatâs partially why âAmericanâ culture is so different from âEnglishâ culture. And the largest contributor to our heritage after the English were the Germans. But is pizza a threat to American culture? Burritos? Pad Thai? Do you party on St. Patrickâs Day? Why not Cinco de Mayo, as well? Heck, why not Eid?
And as far as âAmericansâ being a minority in âour ownâ country, immigrants are Americans too. This country is âtheir ownâ country as much as yours or mine. The English, Dutch, and Germans who were here in the 1700âs resented the Irish, Italians, and Slavs who came in waves in the 1800âs. Then the recently-assimilated joined in the resentment against the Jews, Mexicans, and Asians who came after them. Now they all resent the Africans and Arabs coming after. America in 100 years wil have a different look, sound, and taste than America now, but itâll still be America. âTwas ever thus.
America and American culture are now and always have been âassembled in the USA from foreign components.â
How do you define OUR culture, Norman? Is YOUR culture the same as MY culture? Are the cultural waters in which you swim identical to those of the Founding Fathers? And which set of Founding Fathers? The puritanical Roundheadsâ descendants in New England, or the free-wheeling Cavaliersâ descendants in Virginia? Jamestown predates Plymouth Colony, after all.
The idea that âAmericanâ culture is in any way homogenous or monolithic is a fabrication of fairly recent origin anyway. Not that long ago, regional cultural norms were widely disparate within the United States. A Bostoner visiting someone in Montgomery Alabama might just as well have been in another country, and vice versa. It was only through mass-media such as movies and television (radio having retained more of its regional flavor) that we came to have an image of who âAmericansâ really are. (These images, by the way, largely having been formulated by Russian Jews).
Nobody is obliged to assimilate before becoming a citizen, and once theyâre citizens they have as much claim as an âAmericanâ as anyone else. And yet, assimilation generally takes place anyway. But it works both ways. âAmericanâ culture is the aggregate culture of all those who have a right to call themselves âAmericansâ; as the population changes with influxes from outside, so will the aggregate culture.
The cultural diversity that you seem to abhor so much is inevitable, particularly as global travel and communication become faster, easier and cheaper. If you canât bring yourself to celebrate diversity, youâd better at least learn to tolerate it.
and does the âmelting potâ of US culture work any better than the Canadian âcultural mosaic?â
people are people, no matter where they come from and no matter where they go. some will adapt to their surroundings, and some will adapt their surroundings to themselves. the important part is that they get along without any great conflict. thatâs what society is all about, isnât it?
yyyguy, I certainly admit that the âmosaicâ thing has bugs to work out, but itâs still the wave of the future.
Yes, the important thing is to get along regardless of cultural differences. The best way to do that, I think, is to think of all boundaries as permeable membranes rather than rigid walls.
In San Francisco, Grant Street connects Chinatown and North Beach (the Italian quarter), and I walk though both neighborhoods to get to my favorite Irish pub. :-)
I seem to recollect that thereâs a Nietzsche aphorism thatâs appropriate, but I canât bring it to mind. The closest I can come is âYou got chocolate in my peanut butter!â/âYou got peanut butter in my chocolate!â, and that works, tooâŠ
Oh the Vikings and the Mongols should be friends,The Vikings and the Mongols should be friends.The Viking sails the seven seas,The Mongol rides a horse with ease,But thatâs no reason why they canât be friends!
I didnât write that, but I have no idea who didâŠ
And if you havenât read A Peopleâs History Of The United States go get a copy (even at the library - remember libraries?). Now that Howard Zinnâs left us, there wonât be any more.
Yukoner about 15 years ago
They need tpo be made right.
BigChiefDesoto about 15 years ago
Itâs sure a good thing we won WWII. Otherwise weâd be driving German cars and looking at Japanese television sets now!!!
vlechtja about 15 years ago
Wo ist das Typo?
BigChiefDesoto about 15 years ago
By the way, that â59 DeSoto didnât have any German parts OR @#$%^ metric threads!! And Iâve NEVER seen a Chrysler product manifold of that era give a bit of trouble.
COWBOY7 about 15 years ago
As a mechanic itâs best to stick to English around these parts when describing needed repairs. I know from experience!
Rakkav about 15 years ago
But the point is, that DeSoto doesnât have German parts - only the mechanicâs working vocabulary does. And itâs a safe bet that Perfessor Fishbeak could own any car of any era and have problems with it (First Law of Cartoon Physics: âOnly When Itâs Funnyâ).
poppy1313 about 15 years ago
No German parts just a German mechanic
He meant to say kaputt auf wiedersehen
broken and gone (goodbye)
Pacejv about 15 years ago
Takes two ViagraâŠone to get the arm up.
GROG Premium Member about 15 years ago
I agree with Lonewolf: Find a mechanic who speaks englsih - particularly when describing ypur car problems. Sometimes itâs all Greek to me.
ArtyG about 15 years ago
Chrysler was eventually bought by Daimler-Benz but I donât believe there were any retroactive parts swaps.
jrbj about 15 years ago
Actually, a German car is one of the leading cars in the U.S. and most of us are watching TV on Japanese made sets. A lot of good WW II did so far as commerce is concerned. And so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country. Now we know how the native Americans felt when we moved in.
pearlandpeach about 15 years ago
i love it when Click and Clack ask a caller to describe the ânoiseâ by making the sound.
mechanics are true linguists.
ronaldmundy about 15 years ago
with the way you spell bc, it looks like thatâs not the only thing thatâs greek to you. jrbj, yeah but theyâre not pushing us off our land or killing our women and childern. I donât think you have a grip on what really happened to the native americans. theyâre still gettinâ screwed, but i digress.
jkebxjunke about 15 years ago
probably because he cant speak chineese⊠thats where the replacement will come fromâŠ
ellisaana Premium Member about 15 years ago
Most of the German car makes have had big problems, too. They just have not been up-front about telling you.
fritzoid Premium Member about 15 years ago
âAnd so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country.â
Language? Most immigrants from non-English speaking countries generally DO learn English, at least by the second generation. There are pockets where more day-to-day business in conducted in Spanish or Cantonese than in English, but weâre hardly in danger of English language being the exception rather than the rule.
Culture? American culture has always responded to immigrant influences; thatâs partially why âAmericanâ culture is so different from âEnglishâ culture. And the largest contributor to our heritage after the English were the Germans. But is pizza a threat to American culture? Burritos? Pad Thai? Do you party on St. Patrickâs Day? Why not Cinco de Mayo, as well? Heck, why not Eid?
And as far as âAmericansâ being a minority in âour ownâ country, immigrants are Americans too. This country is âtheir ownâ country as much as yours or mine. The English, Dutch, and Germans who were here in the 1700âs resented the Irish, Italians, and Slavs who came in waves in the 1800âs. Then the recently-assimilated joined in the resentment against the Jews, Mexicans, and Asians who came after them. Now they all resent the Africans and Arabs coming after. America in 100 years wil have a different look, sound, and taste than America now, but itâll still be America. âTwas ever thus.
America and American culture are now and always have been âassembled in the USA from foreign components.â
lewisbower about 15 years ago
Does that mean I shouldnât resent having two sets of wrenches for an âAmericanâ car?
canpot about 15 years ago
Susan001 â Good one, but donât think anyone is paying attention âŠ
JohnHerbison about 15 years ago
What with metric wrenches, bolts with metric threads and so forth, did you hear about the metric screwdriver?
Mix 40 cc vodka and 120 cc orange juice
freeholder1 about 15 years ago
Frizie: True Americanâs ARE a minority in their own country. They have to have reservations to stay here. :)
JP Steve Premium Member about 15 years ago
Nice one JohnHerbison! How about the phillips screwdriver â one oz vodka to 3oz milk of magnesia?
fritzoid Premium Member about 15 years ago
How do you define OUR culture, Norman? Is YOUR culture the same as MY culture? Are the cultural waters in which you swim identical to those of the Founding Fathers? And which set of Founding Fathers? The puritanical Roundheadsâ descendants in New England, or the free-wheeling Cavaliersâ descendants in Virginia? Jamestown predates Plymouth Colony, after all.
The idea that âAmericanâ culture is in any way homogenous or monolithic is a fabrication of fairly recent origin anyway. Not that long ago, regional cultural norms were widely disparate within the United States. A Bostoner visiting someone in Montgomery Alabama might just as well have been in another country, and vice versa. It was only through mass-media such as movies and television (radio having retained more of its regional flavor) that we came to have an image of who âAmericansâ really are. (These images, by the way, largely having been formulated by Russian Jews).
Nobody is obliged to assimilate before becoming a citizen, and once theyâre citizens they have as much claim as an âAmericanâ as anyone else. And yet, assimilation generally takes place anyway. But it works both ways. âAmericanâ culture is the aggregate culture of all those who have a right to call themselves âAmericansâ; as the population changes with influxes from outside, so will the aggregate culture.
The cultural diversity that you seem to abhor so much is inevitable, particularly as global travel and communication become faster, easier and cheaper. If you canât bring yourself to celebrate diversity, youâd better at least learn to tolerate it.
yyyguy about 15 years ago
and does the âmelting potâ of US culture work any better than the Canadian âcultural mosaic?â people are people, no matter where they come from and no matter where they go. some will adapt to their surroundings, and some will adapt their surroundings to themselves. the important part is that they get along without any great conflict. thatâs what society is all about, isnât it?
fritzoid Premium Member about 15 years ago
yyyguy, I certainly admit that the âmosaicâ thing has bugs to work out, but itâs still the wave of the future.
Yes, the important thing is to get along regardless of cultural differences. The best way to do that, I think, is to think of all boundaries as permeable membranes rather than rigid walls.
In San Francisco, Grant Street connects Chinatown and North Beach (the Italian quarter), and I walk though both neighborhoods to get to my favorite Irish pub. :-)
Ushindi about 15 years ago
Susan001: I WAS paying attention - GREAT wordplay!
fritzoid: Spot on as usual, old chapâŠSi, tienes razĂłn.
fritzoid Premium Member about 15 years ago
I seem to recollect that thereâs a Nietzsche aphorism thatâs appropriate, but I canât bring it to mind. The closest I can come is âYou got chocolate in my peanut butter!â/âYou got peanut butter in my chocolate!â, and that works, tooâŠ
fritzoid Premium Member about 15 years ago
Oh the Vikings and the Mongols should be friends, The Vikings and the Mongols should be friends. The Viking sails the seven seas, The Mongol rides a horse with ease, But thatâs no reason why they canât be friends!
I didnât write that, but I have no idea who didâŠ
3hourtour Premium Member about 15 years ago
..the same reason my japanese car is assembled in America..
pbarnrob about 15 years ago
And if you havenât read A Peopleâs History Of The United States go get a copy (even at the library - remember libraries?). Now that Howard Zinnâs left us, there wonât be any more.