tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post1190338795906943443..comments2024-02-11T09:55:50.468-08:00Comments on The Eastside View: The Dutch-American historical connectionCharles Sherehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-82648577215673549702013-10-25T23:52:15.212-07:002013-10-25T23:52:15.212-07:00In the first grade in Edgartown (Martha's Vine...In the first grade in Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard), a place with no particular connection with the Netherlands, I remember Dutch housewives being held up to us as worthy examples because they scrubbed their front steps every morning.John Whitinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16170335248108710190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-39454913962984898302013-10-24T06:47:28.541-07:002013-10-24T06:47:28.541-07:00Pace.
I guess we're just "poldering"...Pace.<br /><br />I guess we're just "poldering".<br /><br />Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-13287561711788743412013-10-23T11:02:40.497-07:002013-10-23T11:02:40.497-07:00Tolerance; negotiation; conversation; discovery — ...<i>Tolerance; negotiation; conversation; discovery — it seems to me these qualities are related, linked. They are qualities I enjoy: others may not.<br /><br />Argument. I suppose one definition might be "conversation between people undisposed to change their minds or revise their attitudes." I don't like argument, perhaps because there was too much present in my childhood.<br /><br />"Ideal state of affairs" is a phrase I'm trying to understand. To me, what is ideal is what is not present. Difference is always present; might as well try to enjoy it. Time enough for resolution when we're dead.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-42500213177736982782013-10-23T05:31:44.434-07:002013-10-23T05:31:44.434-07:00Charles:
Not to sound argumentative--
you quote:...Charles:<br /><br />Not to sound argumentative--<br /><br />you quote:<br /><br />"Tolerance was adopted as a policy — not as a grand ideal, but as a way to deal with the mixed character of the population."<br /><br />This is what I said, that "tolerance" is a way to deal with necessity. I just don't like the idea that "difference" and "diversity" are an ideal state of affairs. It may well be that peace and cooperation are worth celebrating, but the difficult part is accommodating difference, which almost always causes disputes and suspicion and strife. <br /><br />Let's not confuse the problem with the cure.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-78863894707665055652013-10-22T17:04:51.526-07:002013-10-22T17:04:51.526-07:00You raise too many points to address here. Speakin...<i>You raise too many points to address here. Speaking simply for myself, I don't feel "constantly badgered" by or about anything, not even telemarketers, but then I live in the country. <br /><br />Nor did I grow up in a homogenous country. Nor do I understand how a society that manages to put up with Christians and a small number of Jews should find it impossible to accommodate that other weird desert monotheism. <br /><br />I suppose it comes down to where you were formed: coast or inland. Give me San Francisco, if I must have a city; Rome, Marseilles, Vancouver, Melbourne; keep your Dallas, Firenze, Lyons, Edmonton, — well, I can't really speak for Canberra, never having been there, but I can imagine. Capitals are by their very nature cosmopolitan, but can that be true of Canberra, or Ottowa, or Sacramento?</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-26364818946446984442013-10-22T08:32:59.206-07:002013-10-22T08:32:59.206-07:00Since the advent of the "diversity" tren...Since the advent of the "diversity" trend in modern culture, we are constantly badgered into accepting the notion that difference is an unalloyed good, and homogeneity suspect.<br /><br />I will accept that it is preferable to try to get along with people of different backgrounds and persuasions, out of necessity (what's the alternative?).<br /><br />But I question that being surrounded by difference is in itself a simply good thing. Growing up in an homogeneous culture can have many benefits; avoiding conflict, for one thing. <br /><br />Will "diversity" allow us to embrace Islam, for instance, in the coming century? Is such an embrace even possible, in a democracy? We shall see (or not, depending upon our age).Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.com