Assumptions

1. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   I think Sallybea is right. I know it's annoying when you come across such attitudes.  Coming from Australia, I have the same problem.  However if you look at the person making the assumption, nine times out of ten they're someone who has never left their native country, and indeed may never have lived anywhere else.  So I advise you to feel sorry for them and their narrow, uneducated horizons instead of letting them irritate you.

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   1. 85

      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You are right Marisa.  I was once asked how it is possible that I could be white and still come from South Africa!  I think it is up to us to change attitudes by being the best we can be.   Let us be proud of who we are and where we come from.

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2. 0

   Will Apseposted 8 years ago

   Nationality will soon be everything. And eye colour will be important too.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      GDPR Deleted
      1. 62

         Glenis Rixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I agree that this is a very strange remark. I don't understand what Will Apse is trying to communicate.

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      2. 0

         Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         The way things are going, the treatment that you receive will be more and more related to your race and nationality and less and less to your intrinsic humanity or your abilities.
         
         Also, the myth makers will increasingly construct the world along racial lines. I'm already finding Hollywood movies hard to watch.

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         1. 68

            gerimcclymposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I've been finding most Hollywood movies hard to watch for a long time, lol.

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      3. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         You seem to be assuming that Will thinks that's a good thing. I am absolutely sure he does not.  He is making a wry comment on the way politics is going.  Sadly I agree with him.

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3. 0

   Will Apseposted 8 years ago

   'I find it disconcerting that some on Hubpages assume that someone living in South Africa can't know much about anything. '
   
   'Nationality will soon be everything. And eye colour will be important too'
   
   A few dots to join up the above quotes:
   ............................................
   
   I would like the dots back when you have finished with them, lol.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Tess, I'm starting to run out of dots, along with everything else, lol. If you have any patience to spare, throw that in too.

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4. 78

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 8 years ago

   I think we as people choose how much to value any person's comments. You have to be the arbiter of another person's opinions and ideas. I'm absolutely guilty of, in the past, being a massive and highly aggressive insult monger on this website. I think a lot of people have days where being casually insulting on the internet towards someone you don't know....seems like a way to ventilate some anger.
   
   I repent! I don't want to be my facebook self here. This place is a business. And unlike facebook, this business pays me.
   
   When I was a kid I had the strange notion that European culture was vastly superior to anything USA. I think the idea was simply due to the much deeper history of Europe, and all those different well developed cultures. I've been to Canada. I've been to Mexico several times. But I've never seen such far flung outposts of European colonialism as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and holy smoke, I've never been to Europe either.
   
   I've plenty of opinions about political and cultural things going on in places where I've never been. And I'll sometimes express myself. One thing which does annoy me is when someone not living in the USA has such strong opinions about US politics. Well, it's our dog and pony show over here. Me being annoyed is not worth a lot.
   
   Anyway, I can't imagine thinking someone was dumb for being from South Africa. For some reason, reading the post, I assumed you'd had a politics disagreement with someone in the US.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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      1. 78

         jackclee lmposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I know some people in South Africa. What is your opinion of what has been going on there in politics since the end of the white domination? How has race relations been compared to here in the USA? I really like to know.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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            1. 78

               jackclee lmposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Tess, thanks for your first hand information on South Africa. I was under the impression that things are not well there. I have a few relatives by marriage whose family live in Capetown. On a few occasions, when the topic came up, I was told the government is corrupt and the officials are mostly incompetent. This was partly due to the change in government after the end of apartheid. Some officials were ousted and the replacement were not qualified technically. That is why they experince periodic power outages... Thanks for a different perspective.

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5. 68

   melbelposted 8 years ago

   I'm so sorry you've experienced this!

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6. 74

   DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years ago

   I do love to read, and I don't understand why anyone would make assumptions about any other country when they have neither read nor researched about it, or visited there.
   
   My own excursion outside the USA is limited to a single trip to Western Canada back in about 1991.  It was nothing like visiting a foreign country at all; we share the same language; drive on the same side of the road; have similar laws.  However, I did find the Canadian people to be more friendly and polite than many here at home.  Also, it was clean!!  No unsightly graffiti; no chewing gum globs on the sidewalks; no litter in the street gutters.
   
   I am from the USA...and at the moment, I am quite thoroughly disgusted with our political system, and the rampant corruption.
   
   It has gotten worse and worse, and now we see the results come home to roost!
   
   I offer you a quote from Mark Twain:  "Patriotism is respecting your country all the time, and the government when it deserves it."

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   1. 0

      Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Here's another quote: 'patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel'.

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