Text 25451, 119 rader
Skriven 2012-02-19 18:21:12 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 25423 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: question after reading conf for several days
====================================================
Hello Michiel,

 LL>> Had it not been for the USA, you'd all be speaking German today.

 MvdV> Lee, I DO speak German.

And my native tongue is French.

 MvdV> But I had to learn it the hard way; in school. And if you think that the
US
 MvdV> did us a favour by not letting me learn German the way the Germans
learned
 MvdV> it, than you are wrong.

Hitler did have a program to force everyone in Europe to speak German.
The Nazis used Ogden's Basic English in order to develop Basic German.
George Orwell satirized the concept in his book, "1984".  But Hitler
was deadly serious, and it was not a joke.

A people define themselves by their language.  Being forced to use
a language other than their own would be a case of genocide, because
that people's culture would no longer be around.  Cajuns have been
through this, and know this from firsthand experience.  Only rather
than German, Cajuns were forced to learn English.  Not only were we
forced to learn English, but we were forbidden from using French.
We were forced to not speak French.  We were forced to not write
in French.  We were forced to view French as being something evil.

 MvdV> I am not at all happy with being saddled with a native language that is
 MvdV> understood by at best 0.5% of the human population. Now I had to learn
 MvdV> German the hard way and with all those cases and inflections it was pure
 MvdV> torture. And even after half a century of watching German television, I
 MvdV> still don't master the cases and inflections. I think I would have been
 MvdV> much better off if German had been my native language.

Your culture is dying because your people have failed to immerse
themselves in their own native tongue.  Cajuns made that mistake years
ago, and are still paying the price today.

 MvdV> Having said that: Lee, I would apriciate it if you stopped bringing up
WWII
 MvdV> in this forum. I am really sick and tired of having to go through that
over
 MvdV> and over again.

We both know the real history of WWII.  Americans like to take credit
for everything, from winning WWI, WWII, the Korean conflict, and every
other conflict/war in the history of mankind.  You know this.  I know
this.  Everybody else knows this.  We also know that Americans are all
full of themselves.

 MvdV> I am sick and tired of having to hear "we saved your arses from Hitler".

But it's true!  We did save your sorry arses!  More than once,
I must add.  And we'd do it again.  And again.  And again.  And
rub it in your face forever and a day.  You also know we are all
full of shit, as always.  That's why Americans came up with the
laser technology to make our brown eyes blue.

 MvdV> Even if it were true - which it isn't - I would not want to hear it any
 MvdV> more. What happened, happened before I was born. 99% of the people that
 MvdV> were actively involved are dead or in old people's homes. They are no
 MvdV> longer in a position to harm anyone. It is history. The Germans are no
 MvdV> longer our enemy, they are now our friends and neighbours. We don't want
to
 MvdV> keep digging in the past, we want to move on. It is history, leave it to
 MvdV> the historians.

The events of WWII are still not fully understood, even today, by
the best historians.  I am convinced the German people thought that
Germany was fighting a defensive war.  I am convinced the Germans
thought their leader was a good guy, acting in their best interests.
I am convinced the Germans hated Americans, both during and after
WWII.

Americans are not the sweethearts we like to think the rest of
the world looks upon us as being.  But if I tell you what I really
think, the far-right extremists of my countrymen will call me
anti-American.  The same as they call you and others anti-American.

 MvdV> No, we should not forget. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of tha
past.
 MvdV> So once a year, on the 4th of May, we remember. We raise the flags half
 MvdV> mast and at 19:00 we observe two minutes of silence. Then the queen lays
 MvdV> flowers at the national monument and the town major gives a speech. Lest
we
 MvdV> not forget. Then there is some more ceremony and some more speeches.
Lest
 MvdV> we not forget. Then some kid reads a poem, someone else holds a speech
and
 MvdV> deposits some flowers at the national monument. Then there is some more
 MvdV> ceremony and speeches. Lest we not forget.

The world mourned their dead after WWII.  Some folks in that world
are still mourning the loss of their loved ones.

It took over a century following the civil war before a Southerner
was able to win election for president in my country.  And even today
some animosity remains against Southerners.  And also against Yankees.
The war ended in 1865, and it is now 2012.  Jimmy Carter, a born-again
Christian from the Southern state of Georgia, was elected in 1976, and
lost his bid for re-election in 1980.  Of course, twelve years later
we found god (Bill Clinton, a Southerner from Arkansas).  And all was
well, until that mad Texan came along...

 MvdV> And then when the ceremonies are over, we go home and move on with our
 MvdV> lives. So Lee, please drop it.

You know as well as I do that many Europeans resisted Hitler and
the Nazis, and even fought valiantly in defence of their own country.
Americans have never had to fight on their own soil, at least not
since the War of 1812.  As such, Americans do not know what it is like
to be invaded by a foreign power.  So please forgive them, for they
know not what they do.

--Lee

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