Comments on: PITA Populations

By: fotrkd

fotrkd — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:31:57 +0000

Something cute: George Monbiot vs symbiotes

By: fotrkd

fotrkd — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:09:31 +0000

During my skulking I started wondering about this quote in relation to camouflage: "Mosca: I am so limber. Oh! Your parasite Is a most precious thing, dropped from above, Not bred 'mongst clods and clot-poles, here on earth. I muse, the mystery was not made a science, It is so liberally professed! Almost All the wise world is little else, in nature, But parasites, or sub-parasites." Then I noticed the full title ofVolpone is Volpone or the Fox. A group of foxes is called a skulk. Is that helpful at all?

By: fotrkd

fotrkd — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:37:44 +0000

I wrote a long reply which my computer deemed worthy of deletion. I think I lost sight of the bigger picture (red wine after a Sunday lunch is a killer). (Of course it’s romantic… That’s the point). Now off to dwell (possibly skulk) over the road ahead (I think I’m going to upgrade hell from murky to plain old shitty). Question: is it all a question of camouflage (not for the Roma obviously, but in general)?

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:00:27 +0000

I’m not expecting The Waltons in Bulgaria.

By: Nick B. Steves

Nick B. Steves — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:11:31 +0000

They showed up on The Waltons if I recall correctly. They were real nice, but misunderstood. I think they showed up on X-Files a little more in character.

By: james wilson

james wilson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:24:47 +0000

Most Americans cannot conceive of the extent to which Gypsies are self-segregated. That is the reason that Gypsies have remained unchanged in custom and language for a thousand years and through several continents. It is most certainly not persecution or discrimination. It is surprising that they are not more often persecuted, and unfortunate they are not more often prosecuted. It is impossible to discriminate against a Gypsy. Their way of life is immutable. Squalor may be in the eye of the beholder.

FYI, there are at least six million Gypsies in the US.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:52:09 +0000

I can understand where you’re coming from (I think), but if caught off-guard you might confess that it’s a little romantic. I don’t know enough to comment upon Roma conceptions of time (for some reason, they don’t seem to write a lot down), but more generally, if populations are evaluated through their achievements, I don’t think the Roma come across as particularly impressive. Do you think that escaping Cathedralist education without learning anything else, and defending freedom without attaining independence, are admirable cultural traits?

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:40:45 +0000

Given the clear failure of the liberal solution, it doesn’t strike me as unfair to describe it as hand-waving (wishful thinking and can-kicking wrapped up in hazy sentiment). As we’re seeing in many different areas, elites and populist movements have very different ideas about what counts as a ‘big deal’.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:36:49 +0000

It’s a European problem, so my relation to it is extremely detached — I’m certainly not in a position to ‘do’ anything about it (nor do I want to). Seems to me though that the Roma culture is heading for a clash with hardline East European ethno-nationalism, and on the present trajectory, people are going to get killed. Being a ‘fan’ (big or otherwise) isn’t going to make any difference to that.

By: James A. Donald

James A. Donald — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 01:22:27 +0000

Gypsies have been always been underclass. They live by stealing and cheating, which in the twentieth century was supplemented by welfare. This has always pissed people off.