I have read somewhere that there is a theory that the United States is a kind of utopia. The immigrants who came over here to make a living where willing to give up their language, their culture, their social network of friends and family in order to live in a new world. The kind of person who became an immigrant would be an optimist, one who believed in a better tomorrow, that the promised land was just over the horizon. This person was probably overly optimistic and over-confident. These are the kinds of traits you would need to survive in a totally new and different land. The people who stayed at home decided to tough out whatever crap they were dealing with in their everyday life.
As a descendant of immigrants (great-grandmother, grandfather, and another set of great-grandparents), I call bullshit. Some people came over to America looking for some kind of utopia, but many more simply needed to leave Europe. Have you ever heard of the English Puritans, Irish potato famine, or the Russian pogroms against Jews? The people who saw what was happening at home for what it really was left for America. The people who stayed behind took their chances with a too liberal religion, blighted harvest, or even Cossacks and Nazis, depending on their particular ethnic identity and country of origin.
Likewise, men have something women want. It's usually in their pocket, and it contains many small, rectangular pieces and plastic and rectangular, green pieces of paper. Men who have a very thick and well-filled one can sometimes get women to put up with *anything*.
It works both ways. Each gender will put up with the other's vices for a sexually desirable individual.
I do have to say that as "other faiths not of my own" go, judaism seems very compatible with me in a mixed secular society and I could coexist with followers peacefully. You've obviously never been to M'dinat Yisrael, where they've twisted perfectly ordinary Jewish ethnocentricity into militant Zionism.
I know why I want to leave. Why do you and the other RPI students want to leave?
For me it's the cold climate, the suburban sprawl, the general lack of anything to do, the cliquey social environment, and the godawful school districts.
But... out of all the world, I guess the only valid faith *is* judaism and everyone else is goin straight to hell while the jews go to Olam Haba or Gan Eden. Which Wiki page did you get this from? They missed a bit: "The righteous of all nations have a place in the World to Come [Olam Haba]." That's standard Jewish doctrine, and anyone without a crazy fundamentalist rabbi will tell you that. We're one of the extreme few religions that let outsiders into our "heaven".
Speaking as a Jew, you're both full of it and will both discover that no afterlife at all awaits you, unless you've managed to be a righteous person despite Christianity. For that case, the Catholic sounds like he's got a head start.
Do you wake up in the morning and blame the Evil Jews when you can't find your slippers? How about when you bang your toe? The Evil Zionist Conspiracy must have been lying in wait for just the right moment to smack you on your toe.
And we would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling Slashdotters.
The average American speaks about as much Spanish as you say Israelis speak of Arabic. Most people could recognize it, about half had exposure to it in high school and/or college, and a growing minority receive Spanish instruction from elementary school onwards (What do you think "Dora the Explorer" is for?).
The American school system lets you take one foreign language in high school. Your district usually offers Spanish or French (not sure if that's Canadian or French French), some offer Latin, and if you're lucky you might find German or Russian.
However, Semitic tongues like Hebrew or Arabic don't get taught in the USA outside of ethnic (read: Jewish or Arabic-speaking immigrant) day schools.
If Israel was poor like India or the shekel took a huge dive versus the dollar and Euro, people would have the right to complain. Until then, Israel has its own labor problems, such as needing Palestinians to do the manual labor because many Jews are too proud.
Funny, 'cause I haven't read the thing in a couple years. I was thinking of how the modern American economy was created in the 1920s, when business leaders worried that overproduction would ruin everything. Their solution? Sell American consumers shit they didn't really need.
America: either embrace globalization, or you will soon be falling behind the rest of the world. I honestly don't see why anyone should have to "keep up with" the rest of the world, as if life were some kind of race.
Wait, what's that? Overproduction created an economy that can only be kept alive by artificially stimulated demand? The only way to keep the economy going is to make useless crap we don't need, and do it in America?
Globalization is only a small piece of the puzzle.
Slashdot Mirror
What if I have a sarcophagus, live in Sealand, and always succeed in making car analogies?
Then you're evil, due to the effects of the sarcophagus.
No medication exists for treating Asperger's Syndrome.
I have read somewhere that there is a theory that the United States is a kind of utopia. The immigrants who came over here to make a living where willing to give up their language, their culture, their social network of friends and family in order to live in a new world. The kind of person who became an immigrant would be an optimist, one who believed in a better tomorrow, that the promised land was just over the horizon. This person was probably overly optimistic and over-confident. These are the kinds of traits you would need to survive in a totally new and different land. The people who stayed at home decided to tough out whatever crap they were dealing with in their everyday life.
As a descendant of immigrants (great-grandmother, grandfather, and another set of great-grandparents), I call bullshit. Some people came over to America looking for some kind of utopia, but many more simply needed to leave Europe. Have you ever heard of the English Puritans, Irish potato famine, or the Russian pogroms against Jews? The people who saw what was happening at home for what it really was left for America. The people who stayed behind took their chances with a too liberal religion, blighted harvest, or even Cossacks and Nazis, depending on their particular ethnic identity and country of origin.
Likewise, men have something women want. It's usually in their pocket, and it contains many small, rectangular pieces and plastic and rectangular, green pieces of paper. Men who have a very thick and well-filled one can sometimes get women to put up with *anything*.
It works both ways. Each gender will put up with the other's vices for a sexually desirable individual.
I affirm your conclusion from my own knowledge. Every smart or geekish woman I know goes into Chemistry.
I do have to say that as "other faiths not of my own" go, judaism seems very compatible with me in a mixed secular society and I could coexist with followers peacefully.
You've obviously never been to M'dinat Yisrael, where they've twisted perfectly ordinary Jewish ethnocentricity into militant Zionism.
I know why I want to leave. Why do you and the other RPI students want to leave?
For me it's the cold climate, the suburban sprawl, the general lack of anything to do, the cliquey social environment, and the godawful school districts.
But... out of all the world, I guess the only valid faith *is* judaism and everyone else is goin straight to hell while the jews go to Olam Haba or Gan Eden.
Which Wiki page did you get this from? They missed a bit: "The righteous of all nations have a place in the World to Come [Olam Haba]." That's standard Jewish doctrine, and anyone without a crazy fundamentalist rabbi will tell you that. We're one of the extreme few religions that let outsiders into our "heaven".
1) Genetics - my wife has a PhD in physics and I read slashdot, need I say more.
Perhaps Autism comes from inbreeding of geeks?
Add Albany, Schenectady and Troy to that list. This entire area remain underpopulated due to a lack of real industries.
Speaking as a Jew, you're both full of it and will both discover that no afterlife at all awaits you, unless you've managed to be a righteous person despite Christianity. For that case, the Catholic sounds like he's got a head start.
Gey in dr'erd.
Except that it really is a blatant plug for what amounts to a proprietary Tor.
"Platitudes end when someone has something original to say." - Eli Gottlieb
Can anyone name a fad that remained popular with teenagers for over a year?
Getting wasted.
Do you wake up in the morning and blame the Evil Jews when you can't find your slippers? How about when you bang your toe? The Evil Zionist Conspiracy must have been lying in wait for just the right moment to smack you on your toe.
And we would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling Slashdotters.
Yeah, like Faux News is worth the electrons spent in carrying it to my computer.
Your infidel computer appears to speak Hebrew (language of the Zionist dogs!) and has confused the Glorious One Allah with a common mouse.
Actually, yes, "Allah hu akhbar" is perfect Hebrew for "Allah *is* a mouse." Multilingual punning == fun.
The average American speaks about as much Spanish as you say Israelis speak of Arabic. Most people could recognize it, about half had exposure to it in high school and/or college, and a growing minority receive Spanish instruction from elementary school onwards (What do you think "Dora the Explorer" is for?).
The American school system lets you take one foreign language in high school. Your district usually offers Spanish or French (not sure if that's Canadian or French French), some offer Latin, and if you're lucky you might find German or Russian.
However, Semitic tongues like Hebrew or Arabic don't get taught in the USA outside of ethnic (read: Jewish or Arabic-speaking immigrant) day schools.
You felt responsible to do whatever the fuck you were told? Responsiblity only exists in the presence of choice.
Anyway, did you know kids can drop out at 16?
Have you ever thought about turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids and hitting them?
Would somebody mod this good man up?
If Israel was poor like India or the shekel took a huge dive versus the dollar and Euro, people would have the right to complain. Until then, Israel has its own labor problems, such as needing Palestinians to do the manual labor because many Jews are too proud.
Funny, 'cause I haven't read the thing in a couple years. I was thinking of how the modern American economy was created in the 1920s, when business leaders worried that overproduction would ruin everything. Their solution? Sell American consumers shit they didn't really need.
I paraphrased the Communist Manifesto?
My take is that a more effective way for the developed world in the long term is to increase the value and decrease the cost of developed world labor.
For English speakers, that's pay workers less money for more work, and remove many of the protections afforded them by government.
America: either embrace globalization, or you will soon be falling behind the rest of the world.
I honestly don't see why anyone should have to "keep up with" the rest of the world, as if life were some kind of race.
Wait, what's that? Overproduction created an economy that can only be kept alive by artificially stimulated demand? The only way to keep the economy going is to make useless crap we don't need, and do it in America?
Globalization is only a small piece of the puzzle.