I'm originally from Mostonsk but grew up in Chorltonau
Id love to hear more about your experiences as a minority. Im often a minority both ethically and by gender but I wonder if it's different as the majority of those situations are temporary.Loads of evidence that happiness is not a function of the amount of stuff you have but your appreciation of what you do have. Completely agree re community, I feel we've lost it more quickly than many of our peer.countries.
It's quite interesting to be 'the other'. I've been in a few situations where I've been the only white person amongst crowds of hundreds and in at least one instance thousands, including the let me pinch you or please hold my baby so I can get a picture type of situation! (should have charged I'd have made a mint as once you foolishly do it for one person loads of people appear out of nowhere with more babies lol) It's interesting though that the only times I've ever been personally attacked either physically or verbally for my identity has been by other white people who either didn't like my politics or the faith I practiced. In contexts where you are prepared for it and expect it that's sort of ok, but I was once caught off guard by what was only verbal but quite nasty bigotry in supposedly progressive Sweden and it gave me the tiniest insight into what it must be like to be hated simply for who you are and it's stuck with me over the years.
My last name is definitely more Irish than Polish. If you track my dad's family back a few generations you end up in Liverpool so it's not hard to imagine that if you keeping going far enough back I end up in Ireland.Haha there's a good game in that. Sadly it doesn't work for me, most Irish placenames are anglicisations anyway, I suppose I could have a go at reverse engineering Wytheshawe but even then Irish phonology isn't consistent like (I think?) Scottish Gaelic broadly is.
Using your system however, I do know someone who is from Port Au Benchill.
A beetroot?You must hail from a different part of Poland than my eldest's girlfriend as she is more often to be seen holding a beetroot.
A beetroot is the taproot portion of a beta vugaris subsp. vulgaris plant in the Conditiva group.A beetroot?
I'll take the @BlueHammer85 route and link this if it may help. I forgot I watched this months ago too, not sure if he addresses your questions/observations because I can't relisten to it now, but all the same...
My last name is definitely more Irish than Polish. If you track my dad's family back a few generations you end up in Liverpool so it's not hard to imagine that if you keeping going far enough back I end up in Ireland.
Actually I think my mums mum is originally Irish. I don't feel that's super unusual for a Mancunian though.
A beetroot?
Id love to hear more about your experiences as a minority. Im often a minority both ethically and by gender but I wonder if it's different as the majority of those situations are temporary.
And at the risk of sounding like one of those guys again sometimes those trying the hardest to be most progressive end up being the most intolerant
Lots of interesting people on this siteNothing that interesting really, mostly semi rural areas of India. It's quite weird to encounter people with mobile phones who nonetheless get excited because they've never met a white person in the flesh before. Occasionally I would go places with an american colleague who had bright blonde hair and whenever she was there I magically became invisible!
Even in the city I could worship in somewhere big like Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi and quite often be the only white face there. If you went to a church in the sticks you were definitely a bit of a novelty. I think that was a very different thing though, as whilst you are a minority of one you are with what is itself a very small minority in relation to the religious makeup of the country (often of migrants who'd moved north) so they themselves are aware of what it means to be other and of course you have a shared faith transcending your differences. Nonetheless I would sometimes sit there with small children staring at me for the entire duration of mass with the grown ups being a bit more furtive in their looks. I always assumed the novelty would wear off if I went to the same church(es) regularly but I seemed to remain some form of weekly entertainment.
Though there were often other white faces in work it was interesting how in some contexts once it would become apparent that unlike my colleagues I was British not American a subtle shift in how I was treated relative to them would often occur.
Thinking about all this you've reminded me of the one time being a bit different got me into all sorts of self-inflicted bother. In my brief soujourn as an archaeological surveyor in what was then Yugoslavia myself and a couple of colleagues found ourselves invited to a rural wedding in the area we'd been working. When we got there it was clear we were being shown off as 'exotic' friends and they made a big fuss of us but this included the old cliché of, as honoured guests, being given apparent delicacies that looked and tasted pretty iffy but had to be ate so's not to offend anyone. To galvanise ourselves we decked into some fortified wine but it was explained to us we should drink it diluted with water. We merrily explained that as Brits we could hold our drink, despite the clue being that even the massively built farmers present were all without exception diluting theirs. The looks of both horror and anticipation as we chugged away were subsequently entirely justified. Not one of my prouder 24 hours.
I'm a bit younger than you I think but I agree. The pressure to "succeed" and the general way society, the economy etc work is stacked against young people. Housing, education, pensions and transport are for many unaffordable. I would hate to be young today and life doesn't seem as hopeful and fun as it was in my day (old fucker alert!) but really I am not that old.Having four granddaughters from 10 - 17 I have a little insight into the world of young people and it scares the bejesus out of me. Not just the future threats which their generation have to face but the here and now of the world they live in.The consequences of covid on their mental health, the impact of social media on their lives, the average behaviour of males in their age group, the standard of education they are provided.
I look back at my own teenage years and though they were far from idyllic, bloody hell I wouldn't swap them for the here and now. On the plus side, I do get a thorough education in all things Taylor, Billie.........
No you aren’t just a nsgom . And to answer your question nobody is railing against the issues.I'm a bit younger than you I think but I agree. The pressure to "succeed" and the general way society, the economy etc work is stacked against young people. Housing, education, pensions and transport are for many unaffordable. I would hate to be young today and life doesn't seem as hopeful and fun as it was in my day (old fucker alert!) but really I am not that old.
Musically I wonder who is railing against this? Is there anyone around, or any movements, protesting about it? In the 60s/70s there were plenty of major artists protesting about Vietnam, Civil Rights, the Environment and the rest. Dylan, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, James Brown were all big names and stood up for "something".
In the 80s the Specials, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, U2, Elvis Costello etc had something to say although I'd argue they weren't as big as the decades before.
I'm not saying every song in these eras was protesting, most weren't but the big names had something to say. If you'd been in a coma since 1970 you'd have little idea what issues of the day we're bothering young people. Who stands up now?
Or am I just being a grumpy (not so) old man?!? :)
Interesting whole topic in itself. On the other thread,was going to put forward a 'songs with social commentary' theme, but thought it might veer into politics a bit. Perhaps I should, but restrict it to post 2000s.I'm a bit younger than you I think but I agree. The pressure to "succeed" and the general way society, the economy etc work is stacked against young people. Housing, education, pensions and transport are for many unaffordable. I would hate to be young today and life doesn't seem as hopeful and fun as it was in my day (old fucker alert!) but really I am not that old.
Musically I wonder who is railing against this? Is there anyone around, or any movements, protesting about it? In the 60s/70s there were plenty of major artists protesting about Vietnam, Civil Rights, the Environment and the rest. Dylan, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, James Brown were all big names and stood up for "something".
In the 80s the Specials, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, U2, Elvis Costello etc had something to say although I'd argue they weren't as big as the decades before.
I'm not saying every song in these eras was protesting, most weren't but the big names had something to say. If you'd been in a coma since 1970 you'd have little idea what issues of the day we're bothering young people. Who stands up now?
Or am I just being a grumpy (not so) old man?!? :)
Lots of interesting people on this site
Very much musical. I just wonder if there is anyone who is making the equivalent of a The Times they are a changing, Big Yellow Taxi, Mercy Mercy Me, Inner City Blues Give peace a chance etc etc.Do you mean something to say through music, or as personalities just out of interest.
It's a good point about some of the grime artists and while I like some of it, I can't listen to say an album of it just as I can't generally listen to a full rap album.Depends how you're framing 'protest'. I think there is 'political' music out there but both music channels and political debate has atomised a lot partly through technology and partly through the rise of various forms of identity politics. You still get big artists like Kendrick making political statements but maybe not in the traditional sense. Was Swift's You Need To Calm Down a protest song? I didn't think it qualified but I know people who do. Pearl Jam do a good job of highlighting issues like homelessness. There are bands like Anti-Flag who were pretty political too but as I write I realise that I'm only referencing Americans and now I'm struggling to think of a big UK artist who would qualify. Maybe it's like the demise of the band in favour of the individual, a rubbish trend?
Actually there are some UK pockets, Idles are political I would argue, as clearly are Sleaford, Polly Harvey occasionally. There's others too but often the politics of the personal, I don't follow the charts these days but I suspect there's not too many songs like Eton Rifles getting into the top 10. Maybe some of the more political grime acts ?
Btw - I agree with your underlying sentiment. I think the model of our kids 'doing better' than us has gone into reverse.
Very much musical. I just wonder if there is anyone who is making the equivalent of a The Times they are a changing, Big Yellow Taxi, Mercy Mercy Me, Inner City Blues Give peace a chance etc etc.
Might be one for another thread but some of the best music has been a "reaction" to something or a protest about something. I don't generally remember hearing anything maybe since the early 2000s. It might be an age thing if course, but I think if you listened to the majority of "chart songs" in the last 20 years would you have any idea about the problems of the era?
Very much musical. I just wonder if there is anyone who is making the equivalent of a The Times they are a changing, Big Yellow Taxi, Mercy Mercy Me, Inner City Blues Give peace a chance etc etc.
Might be one for another thread but some of the best music has been a "reaction" to something or a protest about something. I don't generally remember hearing anything maybe since the early 2000s. It might be an age thing if course, but I think if you listened to the majority of "chart songs" in the last 20 years would you have any idea about the problems of the era?