Piotr writes:
Dear Gerry,
Please forgive me the mood of my last posting. I'm sorry I put words in
your mouth. Personally, I have no stake in the future of Catalonia, and
I should have left it to Miquel to defend it.
Gerry: Yes, Piotr, you should have. That's the reason why I wanted to
discuss it with Miguel.
Piotr: My concern is not political, and its cause is probably a cultural
difference. In some places asking a "dumb CA question" without checking
the basic information first may be considered "potentially offensive",
as pointed out by Gene Kalutskiy the other day.
Gerry: Actually Piotr I thought your CA jokes were very funny and very
appropriate. They found the true soul of CA people.
Piotr: Regionalism is a delicate issue in Spain and (IMO at least)
anyone who wants to discuss it should, out of respect to other people's
sensitivities, tread with care and consult the most obvious sources
before asking any questions; otherwise you run the risk of being
regarded as a bull in a china shop. And you know what they do to bulls
in Spain ;-).
Gerry: Thanks for the advice, Piotr. And I, with all good intentions,
had tried to make sure my questions were sensitively phrased. I try to
do this on all occasions, not just to overly sensitive Catalans.
Piotr: As for supporting the "uderdog team", I wouldn't do that in a
fair competition. I'm not a zealous enthusiast of political correctness
either. But I do tend to sympathise with people who have a justified
claim to as much freedom and autonomy as is guaranteed by civilised
norms.
Gerry: Excuse me for interrupting. Do you have the correct concept
when you say "uderdog" or is it simply a mistype? The terms is
"underdog" and it means the team who has the least change to win.
Piotr:That's the consequence of my historical experience as a Pole; and
I'd feel exactly the same about any ethnic minority in Poland if it were
threatened by enforced assimilation or any other form of unfair
treatment, let alone blatant persecution. I'm against bullying in
general. I'm glad that in modern Spain the Catalans are infinitely
better off than they were under Franco.
Gerry: Yes, Piotr, you are correct. Any "forced" assimilation is always
wrong whether it be historically in Poland or elsewhere in the world.
And blatant persecution by fiendish leaders is also very horrible. But
just because the Catalans fared badly under Franco doesn't mean that in
itself is a reason you must to support them today.
Piotr: As a linguist, I am always sorry to watch a language die and
delighted to see it saved. I believe linguistic diversity is worth
protecting.
Gerry: Preserving linguistic diversity is a noble cause. So is
environmental diversity. But there IS a basic evolutionary function
here: ALL species ever brought into existance CANNOT be saved. It goes
against natural/biological law. QUESTION: would you like to live
forever? Would you like to discover that fountain of youth? And if so,
at whose expense?
Back to linguistic diversity. I'm sure you're multilingual; even I am
to a lesser degree. But you write English very well and can convey your
ideas exactly (so well that most of the time I forget English is not
your first language). However, without your knowledge of English, you
and I would not be communicating. And without English you would not
have found a need for the internet. Rather than being a sole proponent
of preserving linguistic diversity, I, on the otherhand, feel that yes
it is important to preserve the diversity but it also is important to
establish a language that everyone can feel comfortable with on the
internet. Only through communication, and on an individual basis, will
our world begin to congeal rather than separate. Ian Hodder so very well
states this in what he calls a Critical Hermeneutics: a simultaneous
fusion and separation. And this is how I would like to see the languges
(and folks) of the world -- having BOTH a personal language(s) and a
common language.
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>Gerry: Who told YOU I didn't feel comfortable in CA?
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Piotr: Let me quote your own confession to that effect (Cybalist #772,
just yesterday):
Gerry [to Miquel]: I know exactly how you feel. I live in California
now but I have absolutely nothing in common with these folks. We are
different socially, politically, economically, religiously,
educationally etc. However, I do relate to the United States and to
Massachusetts in particular. And I'd much rather be living back east.
I took the liberty to infer from the above that you "don't feel quite at
home in California".
Gerry: But Piotr!!! That post was directed to Miguel. A "gentleman"
would know that a post containing "personal" information is meant to be
commented on only by the person indicated as its recipient! What you
did was "eavesdrop" and then pass along the "gossip". That is NOT a
gentlemanly thing to do. But since you did inquire, no, I do NOT like
living in California because I have nothing in common with these people.
Piotr: Far be it from me to deny that CA is a very comfortable place to
live in.A for pinyatas in Poland, if I see one of them around I'll zap
it right between the ears with a baseball bat.
Piotr
Gerry: Even most Californians cannot deny that CA is very comfortable.
Why the weather always remains the same and the sun always shines. And
for folks who have never been anywhere, stories of storms and snow keep
them out of Washington State and the East Coast. Do you know the
"allegory" about throwing a frog in boiling water? And what about the
one where you place the frog in comfortable water and slowly bring it to
a boil. It's the latter where the frog gently cooks. And this is my
greatest fear about continuing to live in CA -- I'm on a slow boil!
And about those pinatas -- not all of them are depicting creatures with
ears. Some are of machines, vegetables, toys, etc. And if you don't
have a baseball bat, you can use the handle to a broom!
Cheers,
Gerry
Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com