Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: davebowman on May 12, 2012, 10:29 pm
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I've written many times in this forum that I'm Canadian already, but that's one in thirty million so good luck rcmpfags. But furthermore, I totally ignore the vendor listings that come from undeclared countries because I would never order anything not knowing where it was coming from as there are certain countries I would be afraid to order from, or just the fact that I wouldn't know how long it would take to arrive. I have hypothesized that others feel the same way and that it would hurt sales for a vendor not to disclose his or her location.
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I've never been worried, but I've definitely been ashamed to say that I'm a damn yank. ;) I've always been under the assumption that for every five-million mindless Americans, there's only one intelligent individual to stand among them. This theory depresses me every day. :-\ At least I can always fool the natives into believing I'm Canadian or from the U.K. when I travel abroad, I can't stand the idea of them knowing the truth. ;D
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I am actually a 400 lb. Uighur transvestite fighting the minions of Socialism with Chinese characteristics as they attempt to infiltrate the fleshpots of Rio De Janiero. Please don't tell anyone SHHHHHH
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But furthermore, I totally ignore the vendor listings that come from undeclared countries because I would never order anything not knowing where it was coming from as there are certain countries I would be afraid to order from, or just the fact that I wouldn't know how long it would take to arrive. I have hypothesized that others feel the same way and that it would hurt sales for a vendor not to disclose his or her location.
You might be limiting your options. Undeclared could very well mean that the vendor prefers a bit more anonymity, but reading feedback and reviews it can become quickly evident how close or far he/she is from you and their nationality. I know of at least one vendor that uses undeclared but from feedback he's obviously in the states and is one of the best vendors of his kind.
Of course if there's limited to no feedback or reviews on "undeclared" then I wouldn't bother, but that's because of the lack of feedback & reviews. Not because of "undeclared".
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Nah not at all, 65 million souls in the U.K, I'm just one of them.
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Nah not at all, 65 million souls in the U.K, I'm just one of them.
Wow, I always figured you were Chinese or Mongolian the way you talk. Go figure....::)
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Nah not at all, 65 million souls in the U.K, I'm just one of them.
Wow, I always figured you were Chinese or Mongolian the way you talk. Go figure....::)
Every day is a school day Gary! :P
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I've never been worried, but I've definitely been ashamed to say that I'm a damn yank. ;) I've always been under the assumption that for every five-million mindless Americans, there's only one intelligent individual to stand among them. This theory depresses me every day. :-\
I think you're selling many of your countrymen short. I'm sure you meant one in 5 million as a gross exaggeration, since that would imply a little over 30 enlightened beings with you as one of the chosen few. I agree the amerocentric superiority complex does run rampant and permeates much of American mainstream media, which is really a shame, but it's hardly universal. Although I suppose if you're unfortunate enough to live in the wrong state or area it could seem damn well ubiquitous.
Yet I think many well traveled Americans are very self conscious of the "ugly yankee" stereotype and try to go out of their way to demonstrate otherwise. I know I do. Since stereotyping is what feeds bigotry, I think you're doing a great disservice by shying away from admitting your nationality when abroad. We should strive to judge each individual on his/her own merits instead of making unfair generalizations, and your worldliness could go a long way in breaking such preconceived notions instead of passively allowing such stereotypes to perpetuate. As I'm sure you're aware, the other side of the coin also exists as an overreaction to the American mentality where otherwise completely rational and educated individuals are so rabidly anti-American that they're blind to reason and make presumptions and characterizations that are grossly unfair. These are not violent extremists but individuals that need to see firsthand the fallacy of stereotyping. You could help smash those attitudes by just admitting who you are.
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Whoa there, I never claimed to be one of the few intelligent citizens. ;) I'm obnoxious, but far from being a genius. I would only go so far as to say that I at least have more common sense than the average American. You made some good points, but it's entirely dependent on which country I'm in. Another idea to consider is that as humans of the 21st Century, we try to hold back our prejudices but in the end our subconscious will still make judgements against others. It really can't be helped, so I won't blame anyone for doing so. So under the various circumstances, it's far easier to fit in under the guise of a different nationality. Either way, I can't be bothered to help my nation's reputation if I have no pride for it to begin with. The longer I live here, the poorer my stance gets. The great American Dream has been dead longer than I've been alive, it's depressing but so is reality.
Thank god for drugs though! :P
Edit: The Japanese are a great example, as they'll judge you by just your blood type alone. Literally, I've had acquaintances come up and ask me for my blood type. When I reply that I'm type O, they'll completely change their attitude towards me. Instantly they'll begin to assume that I'm arrogant and insensitive despite already knowing me previously, similar to when I express that I'm an American. For these reasons I try to avoid discussing my nationality or lie about it altogether.
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I find I never really have to worry about this. I'm secretly Chinese ;)
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Whoa there, I never claimed to be one of the few intelligent citizens. ;) I'm obnoxious, but far from being a genius. I would only go so far as to say that I at least have more common sense than the average American.
OK fair enough. I misinterpreted what you were implying. :)
You made some good points, but it's entirely dependent on which country I'm in. Another idea to consider is that as humans of the 21st Century, we try to hold back our prejudices but in the end our subconscious will still make judgements against others.
Yes, but judgements made from how you're treated or how someone presents themselves aren't, by definition, prejudicial. I agree that prejudging a person based on non-interactive superficial qualities from appearance is strongly rooted in biological instinct although rationally we know this is not necessarily true and can easily override instinct if interaction proves otherwise. But determining nationality requires interaction and if your merits ignored in favor of crude national caricatures, why wouldn't you hold that bigotry against them? That's the type of discrimination you're doing everything to avoid.
Thank god for drugs though! :P
No doubt. ;D
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I'm not afraid as countries have many people, and I'm not dangerous to nice people at all.
No matter what country you are in, you will always find assholes.
AWB(AssholesWithoutBorders) is a worldwide organization that promotes fucking people in the ass constantly.
As Canadians we are close neighbors to the US, and a lot of folks give Americans a hard time unjustly. TV has been US-centric here for more than 20 years, and people here think it's so cool to act like TV Americans. So Canadians are turning into massive dicks on a grand scale, thinking Americans will like them better or something. The reality is far from what you see on television, and you wind up with nice folks and assholes alike throwing steaming piles of BS back and forth across the border, when really we are brothers/sisters.
I LOVE American counter-culture, and most of my CC heroes are from the US. I know it feels like you're Rick Moranis, surrounded by assholes, but there are plenty of cool people in any country if you know where to look.
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I used to, but not anymore. See my signature?
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google ron paul
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google ron paul
Why?
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google ron paul
I love Ron Paul. He is my only real hero. And hes won 11 states for fuck sake, no thanks to the media! When I was really young I wanted to be an American because I thought America represented everything Ron Paul is about, this is before I even knew the term monetary policy, like in grade 5 I remember kids at school saying George Bush was dumb because they heard it on the internet or some shit. Back then they would say that Canada is better because it has free healthcare and Americans just have guns, it made me so mad. That still makes me mad because I see Canadians my age now touting the same lines that pissed me off in elementary school, "yeah Canada free healthcare!" Now instead of just getting mad I can at least try to explain to those people that there ain't no such thing as free lunch.
In high school everyone was so excited about Obama getting elected, it pissed me off so much. I took American history in high school in 2008 and my teacher asked us to write a journal response about whether we would vote for Obama or McCain if we were American, and I fucking wrote about Ron Paul, the war in Iraq, the war on drugs and the federal reserve. Everyone else was like, 'I think we should have a black president!" and they thought I was fucked because I told them they were dumb sensationalists and were tricked by the establishment just like all the Americans. Then I'd skip class and smoke weed in the playground.
America was seriously founded as a libertarian society, and now its the farthest thing from it. In my opinion the American people have been disenfranchised under the false notion that they live in a representative democracy, and that they believe democracy is inherently just. The decline into cultural decadence, the credit society, has lead a once great nation to endorse their militaristic global empire, they have become complacent with the police state, and their fiat currency is going to wreck a century of shenanigans in the next decade unless Ron Paul's revolution sets shit right again. I recently watched, "The Capitalist Conspiracy" by G. Edward Griffith, and I was really taken aback at how lucidly he diagnoses the whole federal reserve scheme and calls for a return to sound money, and at the end of the movie hes like, "The hour is late but not too late," and I was thinking OMFG this movie was made in the Nixon era, its too late now!
America was never perfect, as even in the 18th and 19th centuries they had slavery, they recognized liberty but not for everyone, and when they finally got rid of slavery they turned towards federalism and interventionism. The states effectively lost the right to nullification and there was the Spanish American war. Then you get the federal reserve, the depression and two world wars, and after that whole mess there's the Truman doctrine and NSC-68. It's a damn shame, but as Ron Paul says, the liberty experiment is young in terms of global history and we can improve upon it!
Either way Canadian history is boring and stupid and my country's greatest merit is it's vast geographic wilderness. It's almost like the frontier still exists in Canada. Where I live you're cool if you think the rich have too much money and you say you're against fracking, but obviously the cool people don't watch Battlestar Galactica. Dumb Canadians.
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So Schumer, do you want to do the honors on this one or should I?
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hmmm....no