From: pwork@afit.af.mil (Paul R. Work)
Subject: Re: Let's hit Nazis?
Organization: Air Force Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 20:14:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan23.131805.1@vxdesy.desy.de> godfrey@vxdesy.desy.de writes:
 
>Frankly I see no point whatever in arguing with a twit like you Roger.  First
>you send a post offering to charge me for translating posts that an ignorant
>German, perfectly fluent in English, had the discourtesy to make personal
>comments about me in German, then periodically blinded with rage you send
>streams of nazi apologist posts (8 or more at a time) to those of us who 
>dare to criticise the Germans.
>
>You're not worth the trouble,
>
>Laurence
>

Howdy Y'all,

    It looks like Laurence has his opinion that differs from that of
other people.  Since Laurence is living in a country with a democratic
form of government, he is entitled to his opinion :-)  I happen to
disagree with his opinion, but it appears that he cannot be dissauded
from it.  It also appears that we'll have to agree to disagree and let
it go at that.  That means that neither Laurence nor any of his
detractors needs to post further attempting to press their views on each
other.

    I have lived in both Germany and England at various times.  In both
places I found both open, friendly people and stubborn people with
superior attitudes.  For people meeting other cultures, there is a
saying which is very applicable:  "You only get out of it what you put
into it."  First impressions can also go a long way towards determining
a person's opinion of another culture and its people.  I can certainly
see that a stubborn person with a superior attitude who meets another
stubborn person from another culture, would be unfavorably impressed by
that person, and hence his or her culture.  On the other hand, if one
approaches new meetings with an open mind, it is very hard not to leave
with something positive from that meeting.  Internationally, it often
takes several evaluations from different "experts" before an idea can
be generally accepted.

    Once a person has a dislike for anything in particular, it is easy
to find fault with that object of his or her dislike.  It is also easy
to ignore any redeeming factors that may be evident.  To judge an entire
nation, its culture, and its people by two years of experience, even if
one were to immerse oneself thoroughly would still be an unfair
judgement.  Germany happens to have a ready excuse for anyone wishing to
condemn it:  the Holocaust.  To focus on that alone does no justice to
the country today, its accomplishments over the past thousand years (and
the suffering it has endured), or the efforts of many Germans to educate
everyone to ensure that something like that does not happen again.

    Stooping to personal insults is also unworthy of the position that
one has attained.  A PhD should be educated enough to be able to respond
intelligently to criticism.  Professional behavior should be the norm.
Treating others as your equal goes a long way toward establishing
peaceful relationships, both in individual cases and in international
politics as a whole.

    I'll finally end this long (for me if not for others also) message
with a question?  If one should address replies to someone in a language
they understand, what about those Germans who cannot readily understand
English?  Should not they be entitled to hear criticism of their nation
in a form they can readily understand?  Or should they be excluded from
the discussion because they aren't fluent in the "international"
(sarcasm intended) language used previously?

Eine Uebersetzung des vorigens darf jeder der darum bittet freilich
bekommen.

Let's try and develop a little more harmony in the world today!

    -Paul

Paul R Work  aka  "The Studebaker Kid"      pwork@afit.af.mil

Xref: sparky soc.culture.german:10260 soc.culture.jewish:26043