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Author Topic: America & illegal immigrants
Adelda
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Personally i have no love for illegal immigrants at all. I wish there where a way to just get rid of them, and never have them come back, but there is one thing above all others that pisses me off about illegal immigration, and here's a story on it.

I was in a car accident a few years ago, and of course as we all know american health care that's affordable is often times pretty crappy, so i ended up having to pay quite a bit of money for the hospital services. At the same time that i was there in the hospital, there was an illegal immigrant on the same floor. And I wish i was surprised by this, but they had to pay NOTHING for their treatment. Our tax dollars paid it instead. How crappy is that? I pay taxes here and can't get free healthcare, but someone who has never done a damn thing for this country can.

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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
I completely agree with teaching all our students English, but I also agree we need to be pushing another language on them, because that will open doors for them, and can further cement their place in the community they belong to down the road.

If I lived in Chinatown San Francisco, I would expect to learn some Mandarin or Cantonese in my business affairs. Anybody who has learned another language figures out pretty quick that there are concepts and words English just doesn't cover, and being able to say them also fascilitates communication. Make the investment, it pays off. [/QB]

I have to say that i agreed with everything you had to say on this until this part right here. I don't believe anyone should be forced to learn another language unless they are going to move to that country. If i had a desire to move to or visit another country where english was not the primary language I would learn it before i went, but i have no intention of ever going to a country where english isn't the first language. The two i do want to visit speak predominantly english, so i have no reason to learn another language. I also do no know anyone that lives in a non english speaking country, and don't feel i should have to learn another language to live here.
To a point i agree. If you plan to travel, live in another country, or work for a company that has international business dealings, you should learn the language. Otherwise, you shouldn't be pushed to it.

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Mucus
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
i have no intention of ever going to a country where english isn't the first language.

O_O

quote:
I also do no know anyone that lives in a non english speaking country
O_O

Where the heck do you live and how old are you?

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Adelda
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I live in Kansas and i'm 28 years old. Why?
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Lyrhawn
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
I live in Kansas and i'm 28 years old. Why?

We're neighbors! [Wave]

quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
Personally i have no love for illegal immigrants at all. I wish there where a way to just get rid of them, and never have them come back, but there is one thing above all others that pisses me off about illegal immigration, and here's a story on it.

I was in a car accident a few years ago, and of course as we all know american health care that's affordable is often times pretty crappy, so i ended up having to pay quite a bit of money for the hospital services. At the same time that i was there in the hospital, there was an illegal immigrant on the same floor. And I wish i was surprised by this, but they had to pay NOTHING for their treatment. Our tax dollars paid it instead. How crappy is that? I pay taxes here and can't get free healthcare, but someone who has never done a damn thing for this country can.

My sense from your language there is that you're made at the illegal immigrant, but I can't really figure out why. Obviously that immigrant has a job here, so it's not like he or she does NOTHING for this country. He/she probably does some crappy menial labor tasks that makes all our lives easier but gets paid below minimum wage to do it. And it's not like he doesn't WANT health insurance. I'm sure he'd rather be a legalized citizen with access to affordable care.
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Misha McBride
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
Personally i have no love for illegal immigrants at all. I wish there where a way to just get rid of them, and never have them come back, but there is one thing above all others that pisses me off about illegal immigration, and here's a story on it.

I was in a car accident a few years ago, and of course as we all know american health care that's affordable is often times pretty crappy, so i ended up having to pay quite a bit of money for the hospital services. At the same time that i was there in the hospital, there was an illegal immigrant on the same floor. And I wish i was surprised by this, but they had to pay NOTHING for their treatment. Our tax dollars paid it instead. How crappy is that? I pay taxes here and can't get free healthcare, but someone who has never done a damn thing for this country can.

How do you know that person had to pay nothing? Were they billed? Back when I was super poor and had no health insurance I had to go to the ER for services and I never paid any of those bills either. People with NO MONEY IN GENERAL go to the ER and then "don't have to pay", illegal immigrants are just a subset of poor folk.
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Samprimary
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quote:
Originally posted by Rawrain:
Shoot and kill border patrol, this is America when we say don't trespass DON'T TRESPASS. Simple simple, and maybe before we deport them back to Mexico for strolling across the border we can educate them on how to do it legally ,_,

Rawrain, I'm getting the sense across the threads you participate in that you're kinda cute and real naive, like a budding libertarian in the pupal stage or something.
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Samprimary
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quote:
And I wish i was surprised by this, but they had to pay NOTHING for their treatment. Our tax dollars paid it instead. How crappy is that? I pay taxes here and can't get free healthcare, but someone who has never done a damn thing for this country can.
Everyone who can't afford emergency treatment in this country can (and usually will) get the care for free. This doesn't exclude you, or people who (nominally) pay or have paid taxes. The hospitals can't deny it to anyone, and have to eat the costs associated with the growing number of americans who can't pay, either being written off as indigent with no way to bill, or due to the cost for care unrecoverable due to medical bankruptcy.

There's also some expository psychology you're giving us about you; I doubt you were given a dossier about the life and productivity of this particular illegal immigrant, but we get an automatic assessment in your mind that they've 'never done a damn thing for this country.'

This is more deservedly telling than I think you would expect ..

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rivka
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Actually, I wonder how she knows they were illegal. The whole scarlet I on the forehead having gone out of style and all.
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MattP
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quote:
Rawrain, I'm getting the sense across the threads you participate in that you're kinda cute and real naive, like a budding libertarian in the pupal stage or something.
Shouldn't a principled libertarian favor open borders? The market will sort out who's work is worth paying for and how much. If you can't compete with cheap Mexican labor, too bad.
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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
I completely agree with teaching all our students English, but I also agree we need to be pushing another language on them, because that will open doors for them, and can further cement their place in the community they belong to down the road.

If I lived in Chinatown San Francisco, I would expect to learn some Mandarin or Cantonese in my business affairs. Anybody who has learned another language figures out pretty quick that there are concepts and words English just doesn't cover, and being able to say them also fascilitates communication. Make the investment, it pays off.

I have to say that i agreed with everything you had to say on this until this part right here. I don't believe anyone should be forced to learn another language unless they are going to move to that country. If i had a desire to move to or visit another country where english was not the primary language I would learn it before i went, but i have no intention of ever going to a country where english isn't the first language. The two i do want to visit speak predominantly english, so i have no reason to learn another language. I also do no know anyone that lives in a non english speaking country, and don't feel i should have to learn another language to live here.
To a point i agree. If you plan to travel, live in another country, or work for a company that has international business dealings, you should learn the language. Otherwise, you shouldn't be pushed to it. [/QB]

By the time you are old enough to know you are working for an international company it is often too late to learn a language with enough competency to do the job, at least, not without at least 1-2 years of training. Meanwhile, those who were raised bilingual from birth jump right into those jobs.
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Mucus
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
I live in Kansas and i'm 28 years old. Why?

Well, the combination of traits is kind of interesting and unusual for me.

There's the "nation of immigrants" angle, many people know someone in their family from either the old country or who immigrated somewhere else for the same reasons. There is the angle of intercultural and interracial marriages, many people should know of relatives that live in non English speaking countries. Toss in globalization and you get the potential for family friends that move overseas to work.

Then you have the angle that many people who graduate from university find temporary or permanent work overseas.

Missing all of these opportunities and then being incurious to the extent that you have no desire to even visit (I can understand no desire to move, but no desire to visit) a very wide range of countries is kind of interesting.

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Adelda
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You may be right. I started out pretty much from 14 on knowing what i wanted to do after college, and knowing that i wouldn't need another language for it. Im not arguing that it can be an asset, i just don't agree with forcing someone to learn one.
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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
Personally i have no love for illegal immigrants at all. I wish there where a way to just get rid of them, and never have them come back, but there is one thing above all others that pisses me off about illegal immigration, and here's a story on it.

I was in a car accident a few years ago, and of course as we all know american health care that's affordable is often times pretty crappy, so i ended up having to pay quite a bit of money for the hospital services. At the same time that i was there in the hospital, there was an illegal immigrant on the same floor. And I wish i was surprised by this, but they had to pay NOTHING for their treatment. Our tax dollars paid it instead. How crappy is that? I pay taxes here and can't get free healthcare, but someone who has never done a damn thing for this country can.

This is an argument for getting Americans better access to healthcare, not getting rid of illegal immigrants. I'm not going to ask how you know the person in your hospital didn't pay, as I have an aunt who works in a hospital and she insists she knows for sure that there are illegal immigrants who walk in there and seem to know what process to use by which they can avoid paying for the healthcare they need.

Well fine, let's say I grant that. The fact remains that human nature often looks for the path of least resistance. But these immigrants have jobs, they pay rent, they pay sales tax, pay roll tax, and often they pay into social security even though they themselves will never benefit from it.

I sent my wife to the hospital, and we do not have insurance, and we're footing the entire bill. The hospital was kind enough to offer to work with us on a payment schedule, but that's as far as it goes. We will pay that bill hopefully over the course of a few months. If there was some sort of pool I could make payments into so that if I had an emergency I could draw from it, I absolutely would sign up in a heartbeat if it was properly run.

Instead the place I work does not even offer health insurance for people who don't work 40 hours a week, and they forbid me from working a minute over 39 hours and 59 minutes. Were I able to qualify for their health insurance plan, I could expect to pay $300-$400 a month for a family plan, and pay a $5,000 deductible before I could even begin to get any assistance. If I was making $35k-$50k a year, that might be reasonable, we don't. None of this is illegal aliens' fault. Health costs are skyrocketing, and wages are sticky, unless you break a threshold. Illegal immigrants in part are willing to work jobs at the bottom of the ladder, and so labor costs stay low, but we have always simultaneously outsourced many many jobs to other countries through NAFTA and granting China most favored trade status. It's a multiplicity of factors that are hurting us. The ideas that these immigrants that make up 10-13% of the population are somehow forcing wages to stay low, and jacking up healthcare costs is ludicrous. They aren't any more likely to go to the emergency room than you are. When they do, we should treat them, if we can, human life is precious, and the moment we lose that belief, is the moment our society will tear itself apart with infighting.

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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by Mucus:

Well, the combination of traits is kind of interesting and unusual for me.

There's the "nation of immigrants" angle, many people know someone in their family from either the old country or who immigrated somewhere else for the same reasons. There is the angle of intercultural and interracial marriages, many people should know of relatives that live in non English speaking countries. Toss in globalization and you get the potential for family friends that move overseas to work.

Then you have the angle that many people who graduate from university find temporary or permanent work overseas.

Missing all of these opportunities and then being incurious to the extent that you have no desire to even visit (I can understand no desire to move, but no desire to visit) a very wide range of countries is kind of interesting. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Well, of the last 3-4 generations of both sides of my family, none have ever lived in another country, so no one to visit. My mother i think has one fried over seas, and she's moving back here, so no visiting her either lol. As for not wanting to visit one, tbh I'm not really all that big on traveling. I'm the type that starts driving and within 30 minutes as anxious to get out of the car lol. If I were to choose a country to visit, it would be Scotland, but it's just not something I've ever seriously considered. I did go to boston once though. Let me tell you, being a girl from an itty bitty town in kansas to boston may as well have been another country for how different it was lol

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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
You may be right. I started out pretty much from 14 on knowing what i wanted to do after college, and knowing that i wouldn't need another language for it. Im not arguing that it can be an asset, i just don't agree with forcing someone to learn one.

You were forced to learn rudimentary math, English, history, some physical education, and science. All because each subject can make a good case for being essential to your being able to function in society.

You learned all that and still had room for elective classes. There's more than enough room in curriculum for schools to fill classrooms with students interested in learning the languages of commerce. You're likely going to be dealing with people who speak other languages in your lifetime. I mean heck, when I wrote my post about America not being an exception for bilingualism, I was called by a woman who needed assistance in Spanish, I couldn't help her, but I was able to ask her to hold and that I would redirect her call. The very next call was another woman struggling to speak to me in broken English. I'm quite good at understanding bad English, after getting her name it became obvious she was from China, so we continued the exchange in Mandarin. I could tell how relieved she was to have the fetters of English lifted for just a moment. She had clearly spent a lot of time learning English as I am sure we could have worked our way through the transaction all in English, but even peppering things with Chinese greased the wheels immensely.

Students who don't want to continue with language education are more than welcome to abandon whatever they have learned after high school, but I would still put language requirements in college. Mine had such a requirement, and most people grudgingly took Spanish so as to meet it. That tiny amount of instruction in Spanish will still serve them in way they can't really grasp yet.

To me people who don't want to learn any languages are the same people who insist they don't want to learn how to use a computer as it's an activity that's just too hard for them to grasp. Well, you can't really function in today's society very well either at work, or even in conversation if you are technologically illiterate. Likewise, in an international economy, those who can only speak one language have limitations placed on them.

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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:

The ideas that these immigrants that make up 10-13% of the population are somehow forcing wages to stay low, and jacking up healthcare costs is ludicrous. [/QB]
Never said they were the reason that health care is crap and to expensive now days, or that they are forcing wages to stay low. Not sure where in a one time story of one experience in my life you got that idea from, but oh well. Read it how you want i suppose.
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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:

The ideas that these immigrants that make up 10-13% of the population are somehow forcing wages to stay low, and jacking up healthcare costs is ludicrous.

Never said they were the reason that health care is crap and to expensive now days, or that they are forcing wages to stay low. Not sure where in a one time story of one experience in my life you got that idea from, but oh well. Read it how you want i suppose. [/QB]
Sorry if I'm misreading what you are intending to say. I more projecting what I hear many people say about illegal immigrants. Namely,

"Immigrants all get free healthcare while we all pay a fortune for it!"

and,

"Immigrants have taken all our jobs!"

Would you agree with either of those sentiments, it sounds like maybe not?

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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
You may be right. I started out pretty much from 14 on knowing what i wanted to do after college, and knowing that i wouldn't need another language for it. Im not arguing that it can be an asset, i just don't agree with forcing someone to learn one.

You were forced to learn rudimentary math, English, history, some physical education, and science. All because each subject can make a good case for being essential to your being able to function in society.

You learned all that and still had room for elective classes. There's more than enough room in curriculum for schools to fill classrooms with students interested in learning the languages of commerce. You're likely going to be dealing with people who speak other languages in your lifetime. I mean heck, when I wrote my post about America not being an exception for bilingualism, I was called by a woman who needed assistance in Spanish, I couldn't help her, but I was able to ask her to hold and that I would redirect her call. The very next call was another woman struggling to speak to me in broken English. I'm quite good at understanding bad English, after getting her name it became obvious she was from China, so we continued the exchange in Mandarin. I could tell how relieved she was to have the fetters of English lifted for just a moment. She had clearly spent a lot of time learning English as I am sure we could have worked our way through the transaction all in English, but even peppering things with Chinese greased the wheels immensely.

Students who don't want to continue with language education are more than welcome to abandon whatever they have learned after high school, but I would still put language requirements in college. Mine had such a requirement, and most people grudgingly took Spanish so as to meet it. That tiny amount of instruction in Spanish will still serve them in way they can't really grasp yet.

To me people who don't want to learn any languages are the same people who insist they don't want to learn how to use a computer as it's an activity that's just too hard for them to grasp. Well, you can't really function in today's society very well either at work, or even in conversation if you are technologically illiterate. Likewise, in an international economy, those who can only speak one language have limitations placed on them.

Well, since i live in a little farm town in Kansas and don't work for an international coorperation, I don't need it. It's just my personal thing. Were i choosing a different path in life, I would make different decisions, but i'm not, so i don't need to know another language. (except maybe the language of mechanics, that sure would be cost effective)
As for my son, The curriculum at our school not requires 2 semesters of foreign language, so he'll have to. Maybe it will come in handy for him in whatever career or life choices he makes. Don't know. So far all he's told me is that he wants to be a cow when he grows up.

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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:

The ideas that these immigrants that make up 10-13% of the population are somehow forcing wages to stay low, and jacking up healthcare costs is ludicrous.

Never said they were the reason that health care is crap and to expensive now days, or that they are forcing wages to stay low. Not sure where in a one time story of one experience in my life you got that idea from, but oh well. Read it how you want i suppose.

Sorry if I'm misreading what you are intending to say. I more projecting what I hear many people say about illegal immigrants. Namely,

"Immigrants all get free healthcare while we all pay a fortune for it!"

and,

"Immigrants have taken all our jobs!"

Would you agree with either of those sentiments, it sounds like maybe not? [/QB]

Not really, there's a lot of factors to take into account in that. I blame the government for more of it than anyone. And let's not get started on that conversation. I will admit that i dislike someone who does not pay taxes here getting healthcare for free when we have to pay quite a bit for it, but let's face it, i'm not going to like everything that happens, so i won't try to. My thing with the jobs was companies hiring out over seas. Ie the whole having the whole ( not sure what you call it) but when you call to talk to a company, the call is answered by someone in idia, for a company that is located here in the U.S. The whole point with that was that we need more jobs based over here instead of being outsourced to other countries in order to support the people who live here and will move here.
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Adelda
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By the way black, i may have to add yo to a friend list on here if they have one. (first day on this site and haven't explored it much) you are pretty fun to debate and chat with.
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fugu13
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quote:
I will admit that i dislike someone who does not pay taxes here getting healthcare for free
Illegal immigrants pay taxes, frequently a lot of taxes. They pay sales taxes and property taxes, and very often income taxes; if they use fake documentation to get a job, they often pay more taxes than US citizens, because they're unable to receive any taxes back or any tax related subsidies (for instance, the Earned Income Tax Credit, which many poor illegal immigrants would qualify for if they were legal immigrants, not to mention Social Security benefits they'll never receive despite paying into the system -- six plus billions of dollars, specifically). So you see, your outrage was misplaced.

How did you know this person was an illegal immigrant, again?

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Mucus
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
... Let me tell you, being a girl from an itty bitty town in kansas to boston may as well have been another country for how different it was lol

Little steps, I guess. Don't stop pushing your boundaries. Travel can be immensely rewarding in many ways [Smile]
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Tuukka
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As the originator of this thread, I have to say it's great to read all the comments from different people. I knew I was rather ignorant on the issue, so it's really good to get so much new information.
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TomDavidson
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quote:
Well, since i live in a little farm town in Kansas and don't work for an international coorperation, I don't need it. It's just my personal thing. Were i choosing a different path in life, I would make different decisions, but i'm not, so i don't need to know another language.
Perhaps not. But we have a deep-seated need as humans to maintain a sense of progress, to contribute to personal growth and progression. While knowing another language may not be as practical for you as acquiring some other skill, I think you'll find that there are myriad rewards. Especially if you eventually run as far away from Kansas as you can, which I recommend strongly to anyone.
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Bella Bee
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quote:
Especially if you eventually run as far away from Kansas as you can, which I recommend strongly to anyone.
Aw, that's a bit mean. Although admittedly, I've never been to Kansas... But I hear that there's no place like home.

I'd say that it's a valuable life experience, to visit a place where you have no idea at all of the language - it makes it much easier to understand the trials that others go through in your own country when they don't understand what people are saying, or what's going on.

When people have never experienced it, they often find it difficult to imagine how helpless and alone you can sometimes feel in those circumstances.

Plus, you know, seeing a bit of this great big beautiful world before you die is also a fun way to spend your time.

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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Adelda:
By the way black, i may have to add yo to a friend list on here if they have one. (first day on this site and haven't explored it much) you are pretty fun to debate and chat with.

Unfortunately this forum is not equipped with such a friend's list. It would have been nice when I was new, I remember it taking a very long time before I could nail down who five or so people were. In the meantime I just conversed without assuming much about the person I was talking to because I honestly couldn't remember a thing about them.

I don't think anybody gave you the traditional Hatrack welcome though...

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Bella Bee
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quote:
I don't think anybody gave you the traditional Hatrack welcome though...
The one with the hugs and cookies, or the one where she is wrong?
Whatever. New person. Hi new person! [Wave] [Party]

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TomDavidson
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quote:
I don't think anybody gave you the traditional Hatrack welcome though...
Just to clarify, the traditional Ornery welcome is "you are wrong." The traditional Hatrack welcome is to be burninated/eaten by Slash the Berserker.
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Adelda
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nice Tom lol. I will leave kansas eventually. Lived in Washington for a while, till my folks got sick. I'm staying here till their gone though. Someone'e gotta take care of them.
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lobo
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Americans don't need to learn another language. Privilege of the super power. Everyone else who wants to interact with us needs to learn English.
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Mucus
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Everyone who wants to jack you needs to learn English. As a tourist, be very suspicious of people who approach you speaking English and who charge in USD [Wink]
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Darth_Mauve
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Why would a farmer from Kansas ever need to know a different language?

1) The people you sell your crops to may be selling them around the world. Hence your corn may be going to China or Libya or Mexico.

2) The people you hire to help with your farm may be from other countries. They have more experience farming than most Americans. Can you tell a legal from an illegal immigrant?

3) Your neighbors may one day come from another country. Would it scare you to think that they are talking in a language you couldn't understand? What could they be saying about you.

4)Weather changes, so the crops you are planting this year may have to change in 10 years. This means a whole new group of vendors, clients, and contacts.

5)While the seeds you are planting probably come from the US (go Monsanto), the tractor you are using, the tools you are using, perhaps even the technology you are using do not.

The problem isn't that you need to know a different language. The problem is that in this global economy, you need to know many of them, and we just don't have time to learn them all.

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scholarette
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Mucus, walking through a market in China with my father in law was an interesting experience. We were walking single file. Vendors might glance at my father in law, but they never spoke to him, basically ignored him. Then they ssaw my husband and kinda looked confused, but basically ignored him. And then there was me- the blond eyed, blue haired girl (I was 22 at the time). I was swarmed with vendors shouting all sorts of offers. Just seeing the difference in how they responded to us as we walked by was very amusing. Also, we knew a few Chinese words that we used whenever possible. It was amazing how quickly uttering a simple phrase with a horrible accent changed the way we were treated compared to the other Americans we traveled with. It was like we went from stupid Americans to take advantage of to savvy Americans to take advantage of. [Smile]
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0Megabyte
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Blonde eyed, blue-haired?
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Samprimary
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quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Mauve:
Why would a farmer from Kansas ever need to know a different language?

6) bartering with the reconquista overlords
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Lyrhawn
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quote:
Originally posted by 0Megabyte:
Blonde eyed, blue-haired?

That's stop traffic anywhere.

Except Japan I suppose.

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BlackBlade
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scholarette: I know that feeling all too well.
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Mucus
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scholarette: Yeah, I can totally imagine. (I forget, what do your husband and father in law look like?)
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Bella Bee
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I was guessing that father-in-law is Chinese, and husband is half-Chinese, from what she said.

My (dark haired, dark eyed parents) still tell stories about the treatment I (blonde, blue eyed) got when they took me to Israel as a young child. I just remember that I had a wonderful time!

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scholarette
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Father in law is chinese (and we are going to Hong Kong in less than a month to visit him with girls!) and my husband is half. Our kids show no signs of their Asian side at all, though the oldest goes by her Chinese name almost exclusively, which totally confuses people. Interesting, my husband's brother married a blue eyed, blond haired pale German (like me, but I am much prettier) and their daughter looks Chinese. My sister in law says Chinese people come up to her all the time and say, oh, you adopted from China!
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Adelda
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quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Mauve:
Why would a farmer from Kansas ever need to know a different language?

1) The people you sell your crops to may be selling them around the world. Hence your corn may be going to China or Libya or Mexico.

2) The people you hire to help with your farm may be from other countries. They have more experience farming than most Americans. Can you tell a legal from an illegal immigrant?

3) Your neighbors may one day come from another country. Would it scare you to think that they are talking in a language you couldn't understand? What could they be saying about you.

4)Weather changes, so the crops you are planting this year may have to change in 10 years. This means a whole new group of vendors, clients, and contacts.

5)While the seeds you are planting probably come from the US (go Monsanto), the tractor you are using, the tools you are using, perhaps even the technology you are using do not.

The problem isn't that you need to know a different language. The problem is that in this global economy, you need to know many of them, and we just don't have time to learn them all.

Not good at the quote thing, but i'll answer these since they are extremely valid questions and well thought out.

1.) I'm not actually a farmer, just grew up in a farming town, so needless to say don't sell crops [Smile]
2.)Again, won't hire farmers for reason above lol. as to knowing, other then looking at their documentation, wouldn't know.
3.)honestly don't really care what other people may or may not think of me unless I know them well, and respect them.
4.) same as number 1
5.) Same as number one

Again all valid arguments that would apply to me if I actually farmed.

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scholarette
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What do you do?
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Adelda
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I do mainly computer repair, but i also do some database work. Own my own business doing it.
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Samprimary
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Nobody really needs to know a 'foreign language.' Thing is, it's really wonderful to be able to speak another language, and it's not something that should be categorically rejected because of some principle about national language (same too with rejecting visitation of a part of the world because you aren't fluent in its official language). Spanish in particular is going to continue to become more prominent and rewarding a language in the united states as more and more people speak it.
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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Samprimary:
Nobody really needs to know a 'foreign language.' Thing is, it's really wonderful to be able to speak another language, and it's not something that should be categorically rejected because of some principle about national language (same too with rejecting visitation of a part of the world because you aren't fluent in its official language). Spanish in particular is going to continue to become more prominent and rewarding a language in the united states as more and more people speak it.

You didn't capitalize United States, you're anti-American!!!!
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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by Bella Bee:
quote:
Especially if you eventually run as far away from Kansas as you can, which I recommend strongly to anyone.
Aw, that's a bit mean. Although admittedly, I've never been to Kansas... But I hear that there's no place like home.

Flat open land and sky in every direction as far as you can see. There seems almost nothing in Kansas that is unlike everything else. It is an incredible thing to see, and everyone should see something like that once in their lives.
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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by scholarette:
Father in law is chinese (and we are going to Hong Kong in less than a month to visit him with girls!) and my husband is half. Our kids show no signs of their Asian side at all, though the oldest goes by her Chinese name almost exclusively, which totally confuses people. Interesting, my husband's brother married a blue eyed, blond haired pale German (like me, but I am much prettier) and their daughter looks Chinese. My sister in law says Chinese people come up to her all the time and say, oh, you adopted from China!

The really interesting thing will be to see what your grandkids end up looking like (supposing that your kids also marry white people). You never know- sometimes the only trait remaining is incongruously dark eyes, and sometimes the eyes are green, and everything else looks Asian. I knew all kinds of halfies and other mixed people in school.
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