America

[DGMacphee]

Jackhammer,

It's not that he couldn't read it.

It's just that he couldn't find a coherent argument.

You can be a B+ in English without making a great deal of sense, y'know.

For example, here is my argument on why puppies should rule the world:

"I believe puppies make better world leaders and control the world's resources in better ways because they are cute, soft, and cuddly."

You'll notice the above line has correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, is written in active voice, and is all in present tense.

But the argument doesn't make much sense, does it?

[Kairus]

You know, Las, in my country I was told that the continent you are is called "Oceania", but generally refered to as Australia as it's by far the biggest country in it, and also the most powerful. I don't know who got that idea as even you don't seem to know the name Oceania.

Thank you Yak and Darth for understanding my point of view.
Jackhammer: please don't think this is something personal against the US people. In South America we really do call ourselves Americans, and we've done it since I have memory and a lot before, too. It's not a way of protest against you, it's normal, we just do it.

I know no one is going to change his or her name because of my post, alright? Las said once that he told someone on IRC that Latin Americans called themselves Americans and they didn't believe him. That's the kind of thing I want to correct. If US-ers want to be Americans, fine, but accept the rest of us are Americans, too. Anyway, I know we're not going to be called Americans, but... just a point of view...

DGMacphee: You're right...
Puppies should rule the world.

[Darth Mandarb]

The only reason I think people would have trouble with non-USA people calling themselves Americans is that most people, I would guess, consider that USA = America.

So if somebody from Mexico called themselves an American most would assume that the person lived in the USA and would probably be confused when they found out he lived in the country of Mexico.  (just a hunch)

Of course, I firmly believe we should ask the natives of these lands to find out what they called the land before we got here.  That's the name it should have.

Nee wannie t'tanka t'oh 'ajine

])]V[

[TheYak]

My apologies for hurting your brain.

Since you're still relatively new here, I'll give you fair warning.  When discussing matters of politics & philosophy, you are out of your depth when arguing with Las.  This is not an insult to you, personally, as I also would be hard-pressed to win an argument with our vicious little citrus-person.  By the way, a republic and federation can be one-and-the-same.  I chose federation because it was more specific.

I'm not sure where the conversation took a wrong turn, perhaps the method of introduction was wanting.  However, it has dissolved into a gooey puddle of viscous viciousness when it didn't need to.  The worst classification of drama this conversation should've had is that of debate.  It's nearly reached the level of a flame war.  I think rather civil and thought-provoking conversation ought to have been the result.  

Rethinking upon the issue, I find that I do think of inhabitants of countries such as Brazil, Peru & Bolivia as South American.  However, if somebody says "American" I automatically assume they're referring to somebody from the US.  Perhaps it's because of the popularity of the term in literature, movies, etc.  For example, a citizen of the US would probably say something like, "You can't arrest me for murder, I'm an American(TM)!" while visiting France.  I think it's a pop-culture thing more than anything.  I might be terribly wrong here but I hardly hear a thing from our brethren to the south.  I hear a bit about/from Australians, Russians, Europeans and Canadians but seldom do I get any information or feedback from South Americans.  \

Ah, screw it.  The topic warrants me making a mental note but the arguments and attacks upon grammar (grammar, for god's sake!) are a bit silly.

[Las Naranjas]

It gets a bit messy Kairus in what constitutes a continent. But yes, generally, were you to ask an Australian which continent they were from, they would answer Oceania, referring all nations south and east of Indonesia. The continental mass however is called Australia.

In this case I was just providing an similar example to the America situation. The name "Australia" predates the state that I live in by a considerable amount of time, the term generally being credited to Matthew Flinders, derived from Terra Australis.

The term was then used in a general sense for the 7 main British colonies in the region collectively, and when 6 federated, they took the term Australia as a name, despite the fact that the 7th [New Zealand] had previously fallen under the same umbrella. However, unlike Latin America, they don't resent the term. Funnily enough, this gave rise to another term, Australasia, to describe the two countries collectively.

When Parkes, the premier of New South Wales started agitating to federate the colonies he had a political stunt where he decalared that NSW was changing it's name to "Australia". Whilst he was bluffing, and trying to spark debate on being unified under that name, it did cause much resentment in the other colonies. Which is amusing.

[Timosity]

After thinking about this, It is normal for anyone from an American continent to consider themselves American, but obviously when communicating internationally, being more specific can help in locating where you are from. (if that is the intended outcome)

Yeah, Oceania is the collective term used to indicate a group of islands where Australia is the main piece of land. Even Tasmanians consider themselves Australian. It also includes countries like Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinie and Sweden, The continents name is Australia.

A New Zealander would kill you if you called them Australian (unless you're name's Russel Crow)

What about other parts of the world, Is Scandanavia part of Europe? Is the UK part of Europe? do people like to be called European or the country they live in? or do they really care? Is it Holland or The Netherlands (and why are they also Dutch)??

What about Brittain, and the Uk? people just call them that cause they don't know which counties they are.

Is Russia part of Europe or Asia? Do Indians call themselves Asian? Is the Middle East part of Asia? Why is Africa left off the AGS map?

Do Dolphins consider themselves Mammals?

And Las, you crack me up with your choices of words, for the sake of showing off artistic ablility without actually saying much.

Also, You American's crack me up, yes, you know the one's you are (those American ones, from you know, America, which one, yeah that one.)

[TheYak]

What about other parts of the world, Is Scandanavia part of Europe? Is the UK part of Europe? do people like to be called European or the country they live in? or do they really care? Is it Holland or The Netherlands (and why are they also Dutch)??
What about Brittain, and the Uk? people just call them that cause they don't know which counties they are.
Is Russia part of Europe or Asia? Do Indians call themselves Asian? Is the Middle East part of Asia?

So many rules to remember.  I can't speak for all USA inhabitants but I don't really care how you refer to my nationality.  Northwesterner, American, North American, US-er, Damnable arsehole, Californian, Central Californian, Bay Area Resident, Petaluman.  As general or specific as you like and none of 'em will cause me the slightest amount of offense.  Maybe I'm just a bit more forgiving, or perhaps a tad less patriotic.  

Why is Africa left off the AGS map?

Because Chris Jones is a white supremacist.  AGS originally stood for African Genocide Society.  Or, it could be that we've got no African AGSers.

Do Dolphins consider themselves Mammals?

When asked (politely) a dolphin will acknowledge itself to be mammalian.  However, among dolphins this is commonly considered a "dirty" word.

[Timosity]

Why is Africa left off the AGS map?

Because Chris Jones is a white supremacist.  AGS originally stood for African Genocide Society.  Or, it could be that we've got no African AGSers.

Hehe.

I've mentioned this a few times before (about the map) and no one really noticed it, so I think we're being falsely lead by this "AGS" cult into believing it's about the adventure games.

I'm not sure If any Africans have been members on the board in the past, I'm sure they have, but I noticed someones profile the other day and they were from South Africa, can't remember who but it means the map is continentalist.

I think it would be cool to have Africa on the map, just to see if anyone puts a little flag there (and not just someone being silly)

It seems a bit odd to leave out a whole continent, and a bit rude, it could be an honest mistake, or maybe Chris Jones IS the head of the African Genocide Society. Yak, I think you're on to something, I'll see if he notices my new sig, that way we'll know for sure.

[shbaz]

I'm not sure where the conversation took a wrong turn

When he said you can ignore me because two people think otherwise, which is statistically a blatantly wrong statement, and I protested. That forced him to make dumb n00b jokes which categorically proves me totally incapable of having a logical opinion. I made one jumbled argument, but anyone with moderate critical reading skills would know to take one sentence at a time and re-read when you get confused. There were a lot that make sense. Out of my league? I don't have a PhD in World History and English but I know what I'm talking about, thanks.

If anyone still feels like insisting that I was that hard to understand..

Las Naranjas - not to be rude, as you're certainly entitled to your opinions, but your last post was much harder to understand than Jackhammer's  (I'm not taking sides on the issue, I'm just stating my opinon.) Edit - if English isn't your primary language, please accept my apologies.

I feel that the fact that someone thought that English was Las's second language if he couldn't understand my post says it all.

You also made the same mistake that Sully made in IRC once by assuming I've barely been here. Check EZboard for shbazjinkens, or way back into deleted history for Trouble1201. You might even be "newer" than me, but probably posted more. Besides, it makes no difference. Even if I'd never been here, that doesn't make me retarded and incapable of arguing. I didn't make lame n00b jokes, I feel like the person who acted immature was Las.

Anyway, Kairus, I didn't realize that was the way you felt about it. One of my good friends (Colombian) came to America when I was 17 and I asked him about this once. He said that most people in Colombia called us Americans, but some of the people had a sort of childish jealousy toward the US, that since they couldn't be here they insulted it any chance they could get. It seems that way on the internet a lot sometimes, so forgive me for assuming.

I object to the way some Americans will give up anything on the instant that they think it might offend someone. I thought you were suggesting that we did indeed need to just straighten up and call ourselves some other name. I still don't understand why you would WANT to be called American, but that's a whole different issue. Sorry for coming off as a JackASS toward you.

[Nacho]

Well... this is a mess... If we want to talk propperly, let´s reffer to the people who you name after as "latin americans" with some other name, as they´re a mixture of native populations and people from Andalucía and Extremadura (Two regions of Spain).

The dna of latin people (Romans) in that places was erased by visigothic and muslim invassions...

In Brasil, for instance, depending on from part of Portugal the invader was, we can find portuguese antecessors both celts and latins.

The only latin mark in the South American population can be found in Argentina, were there was a lot of Italian inmigration... let´s remember that also a lot of people from Germany emigrated to Brazil and Argentina, which means that there are also saxon blood in South America.

As you can see... I named 5 antecessor races in just a moment, and only one of them is latin...

BTW... I perfectly understand what kairus mean. It is like in the united Kingdom just the English could be told "Britans"... It´skinda strange, but I think it is just a matter of how annoying should be pronouncing "UnitedStatesman" each time you refer to Bush...

[SSH]

Let's face it: every nation is a mongrel nation. Britian has ancestors from Turkey (Celts), Germany(Angles, Saxons), France (Normans), Italy (Romans), Scandinavia(Norse, Vikings, Danes), Ireland(Picts, Scoti, Attacotti)... some of those came from other places before that.

So I propose that we never label anyone or the popualtion of any country because it is wildly inaccurate, no matter how convenient it may be when referring to people in some kind of general terms. The only acceptable terms will be Pangeans or Edenites, since we all came from one of these originally...

[Nacho]

I agree somewhat with that... My surname is Basque, but my grandpa likes to investigate, and he has discovered that my family has been  in the east of the Spanish Peninsula for 4 centuries. Than makes me latin, whereas some people could argue that in the east of Spain there was a great influence of the Arabs (which makes me remember that new studies claim that the Arab colonization was just cultural, that only 500,000 arab people crossed the Gibraltar strait in 5 centuries of muslim domination...)

To conclude... I don´t know which is my race...  

[bspeers100]

To conclude... I don´t know which is my race...  

My guess is Human.

[shbaz]

My guess is Human.

Haha. I wish the world were that simple, like in ancient Egypt.

[bspeers100]

Still:

http://www.physanth.org/positions/race.html/

[fakecharacterd]

Subtract the / at the end, he said, realizing it is better to log in than to double post.

[Las Naranjas]

Then again, America is a purely geographic term. Country names based on ethnic groups are sooooo old world.

Now, if you'll excuse me

* Las Naranjas goes hunting for alleged n00b jokes.

[Nacho]

According to my avatar, I am a clown fish... :

[Darth Mandarb]

"Hey ... you're a clown fish.  You're funny right?
Yeah, come on Farlander ... tell us a funny joke!", said the big blue ball.

[evenwolf]

Clown fish don't tell jokes, they juggle.  Hey - youre a big blue ball right? Let's see you get juggled! Go on, get two of your friends and let's see it!