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Sobeh · 03-28-2006, 10:52 PM

Racial categories and the idea of multiculturalism have a lot of origins, and the web of connections is a lot thicker than a short history of Soviet Russia. Nationalism, the earlier German Folk revival... hell, you can trace it back to anyone who decided to be anti-Jew, because to ensure you weren't Jew you had to be in some other category... didn't you?

Some ancient peoples associated themselves with the large metropolitan areas they lived in or near, others with common languages or cultural forms. You can find maps that chart the boundaries between peoples and their myths, religions, languages, etc. What you find is that boundaries are very organic, and that the boundary map for, say, language, doesn't match up at all with the one for, oh.... nations, to pick one. So, when you hear labels like 'American' or 'Jewish' or something, be sure you know which boundary map the speaker/writer has in mind, and be careful not to extrapolate generalizations from specifications.

03-28-2006, 10:52 PM	#39
Sobeh Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: couch-surfer Posts: 598	Racial categories and the idea of multiculturalism have a lot of origins, and the web of connections is a lot thicker than a short history of Soviet Russia. Nationalism, the earlier German Folk revival... hell, you can trace it back to anyone who decided to be anti-Jew, because to ensure you weren't Jew you had to be in some other category... didn't you? Some ancient peoples associated themselves with the large metropolitan areas they lived in or near, others with common languages or cultural forms. You can find maps that chart the boundaries between peoples and their myths, religions, languages, etc. What you find is that boundaries are very organic, and that the boundary map for, say, language, doesn't match up at all with the one for, oh.... nations, to pick one. So, when you hear labels like 'American' or 'Jewish' or something, be sure you know which boundary map the speaker/writer has in mind, and be careful not to extrapolate generalizations from specifications. __________________ The phrase "we (I) (you) simply must---" designates something that need not be done. "That goes without saying" is a red warning. "Of course" means you had best check it yourself. These small-change cliches and others like them, when read correctly, are reliable channel markers.