"We don't give a damn how you did it up North"

[MicaelS]

That was sign posted at a job back in my youth.

A bunch of people from the Upper Midwest got transferred into out district in Texas, and there constant refrain was "We didn't do it like that up North."

Same thing applies to Canada.

[iverglas]

1. did you imagine that this was not perfectly clear since forever?

The proportion of people in the US who don't give a damn about anything outside their own backyard is well known to those of the rest of us who have had much contact with people in the US.

It ranges from total lack of interest on the personal level, i.e. not the slightest interest in the other party in ordinary conversation between individuals, to total disdain on the collective level, i.e. uninformed arrogance in relation to other peoples, nations and cultures.

The idea that one doesn't learn too much in a bell jar, sealed off from outside influences, just doesn't occur to an awful lot of people.

On the other hand, it probably does ... which is why they are all so eager not to let any outside influence penetrate the bell jar ...

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. Awww, not being treated with what you regard as your due importance?

You'll get over it...

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. Brought to mind a half-remembered quote from Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra"

Lokked it up, as it seems quite applicable here:

BRITANNUS (shocked): Caesar: this is not proper.
THEODOTUS (outraged): How!
CAESAR (recovering his self-possession): Pardon him, Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.

[iverglas]

5. it does indeed!

Ah, he was no fool, was he? He was obviously familiar with the lower half of North America. You know, the place where they think there actually are "laws of nature", and that they were delivered to them on a parchment in the latish 18th century in the chosen land ...

Shakespeare was on point too:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

He's talking to you there!

Of course, what Britannus was referring to was the practice of the brothers and sisters of the Egyptian royal family being also spouses. And Caesar was patronizing Theodotus to the nth degree. Obviously, he also thought the practice a scandal, and barbaric to boot. ;)

So the lesson here is that next time I see someone expressing how shocked and appalled they are at some of the sentiments expressed in this forum, I should say to the rest of you:

Pardon him/her, friends: s/he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his/her tribe and island are the laws of nature.

and no one will know I'm laughing up my sleeve at the real barbarians. Right?

:rofl:

[friendly_iconoclast]

6. I think what exercises you Commonwealth types the most...

...isn't that we tend not to listen to your moralizing, but the fact that we don't really need to and are not the least bit shy about reminding you of it whenever you mount your soapbox to tell us how uncivilized we are.

[iverglas]

8. ... could be that you don't have a fucking clue what the Commonwealth is

[friendly_iconoclast]

9. Just keep telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better.

Britons, Australians and Canadians love to lecture us. (I don't know enough Kiwis to say one way or the other).

[iverglas]

4. so here's what was said to me, to which I responded:

I personally believe that such modifications of our current law would be far more effective than the "feel good" laws your side often favors.

I refuted that statement by stating what laws "my side" favours. My side happens to be in Canada. The individual who said that to me knows that.

If you are all so supremely uninterested in what goes on anywhere but your backyard, I am at a loss to understand why so many of you spend so much time yammering about it. A very small fraction of the posts in this forum about matters outside the US is written by anyone who actually lives outside the US.

Funny phenomenon, ain't it? People who do NOT live in another country feel compelled to talk about that country and their musings are welcomed here with open arms. People who DO live in other countries and talk about matters in their countries are not, even when those matters are raised by people in the US.

Funny strange, and also funny ha-ha.

[friendly_iconoclast]

7. Micael, you are violating an unspoken double standard for Canadian-US discussions

It's perfectly acceptable for Canadians to lecture us stroppy USAians.But heaven forfend we reject their "advice", or get above our station and tell them how to run their country. That's just not civilized, dontcha know?