Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Fenrir]

I thought you were talking about the astronaut, so I was astonished when you wrote "singers/musicians". Then I realized that he is Neil Armstrong.

DOUBLE WAT

He is not Neil Armstrong? Perhaps I was thinking of the cyclist.

[Frumple]

I've never heard of Louis Armstrong, but I have heard "kung fu fighting".

Ol' Louie was basically one of the best blues/jazz musician/singers American ever bloody had. That roughly translates into: He was one of the best freaking musicians the USA has ever had, period. There's a lot of good ones, and more than one that matches Louie, but he's basically one of the defining voices of that musical style. Really, really, damn, good.

Have a wiki.

Frankly, I've heard of him, but never knew that he was the one doing that song. Welp. But then again cultural imbecile here.

Oh, no. Louie had nothing to do with Kung-fu Fighting. Just saying that not having heard the one is culturally equivalent to not knowing who the other is. People not knowing who Louie is makes me want to strangle people S'roughly equivalent to not knowing Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, etc, to me. Protip: That's... it's not good. People that don't know those names and that music are honestly deprived of some of the greatest productions of our species.

[JoshuaFH]

I thought you were talking about the astronaut, so I was astonished when you wrote "singers/musicians". Then I realized that he is Neil Armstrong.

DOUBLE WAT

He is not Neil Armstrong? Perhaps I was thinking of the cyclist.

Damn, and here I was thinking of the animoo character.

But really, so many awesome people named Armstrong, and you should know them all.

[Dr.Feelgood]

(message deleted)

[Leafsnail]

... would it count as progressive irritation that it bugs the hell out of me some people my own bloody age (to say nothing of the younger generations, now) actually have never heard Kung-fu Fighting?

No.

[G-Flex]

America has plenty of culture. Jazz, in all its forms, was born here. We love guns. America is tough on crime, and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Some of the world's greatest writers - Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, etc. were Americans. America has baseball, football, and (to a lesser extent) basketball. And America's the #1 when it comes to television and films.

To be fair, when it comes to TV, films, and writing, of course you're going to think the greatest ones are at least from the anglophone world, as you probably don't speak other languages and anglophone stuff is what you're exposed to. For all I know, there are Tamil-language writers that I'd find totally amazing, but I don't know their language and culture, so I wouldn't know that and wouldn't be able to understand it on multiple levels. So talking about whether we have the "best TV shows" or "best writers" is a little silly, since obviously you're going to favor those from your own linguistic and cultural background.

Of course, I also have no idea why you said any of that, since nobody said anything about America not having culture.

Regarding "we love guns": Please, speak for yourself.

That's why we have prison labor and cotton plantations/farms. Criminals have to pay for their stuff.

I don't think turning criminals into what amount to slave labor is a very good way to encourage the incarceration rate to go down.

[JoshuaFH]

That's why we have prison labor and cotton plantations/farms. Criminals have to pay for their stuff.

I don't think turning criminals into what amount to slave labor is a very good way to encourage the incarceration rate to go down.

It would actually probably cause incarceration rates to go up because it would reduce the fear of going to prison. Afterall, if you're working the fields, that's more time you're not getting raped and stabbed.

[Fenrir]

Of course, I also have no idea why you said any of that, since nobody said anything about America not having culture.

It's like folks, especially Americans, not knowing immediately who Louie is. Louie Freaking Armstrong! How the hell does one reach puberty without knowing who Louie is, especially in a country where he's one of the best singers/musicians of one of the only original musical styles our culture has? We don't have much culture you can't scrape up with a fingernail (read: Shallow as fook), how the blazes do we get away with ignoring what little we do have? Darn idjit kids, grumblemutter.

[G-Flex]

I meant more along the lines of: You effectively turn the incarcerated into an underclass and a source of easy-to-control labor that you need to feed and clothe but who have few rights and don't need to be paid, so why encourage any sort of policy that would cause crime or recidivism themselves to go down?

[Frumple]

Because slavery is horrendously inefficient nowadays? Folks running the prisons aren't making money from that. Offsetting the costs, somewhat, and (some farming prisons are) admittedly putting a lot of food out but that's not what's putting them in the black. Gives felons a sure-fire chance to contribute a little to the economy, though, since they're basically unhireable after getting out of prison. I guess that's something?

Re: American culture; yeah, we've got some bits here and there that do alright. Wouldn't deny that. Compared to, say, Europe, though? Not a particularly fair comparison (Europe's been there a lot longer than the USA), but still. We've got jazz, some influential writers, some philosophers (most were European ex-pats, though), and plenty of plays. Then, uh, mostly hyperviolent media. I guess bread and circus counts as culture, in a sense, but it's not something I want my people to be remembered for

I keep forgetting who said it, but th'fellow that held that th'US was the first (maybe it was only? I don't remember the quote well) nation to go from barbarism to decadence with nothing in between feels pretty accurate, some days. Th'downing/irritation part is that the bright spots are almost unilaterally shoved out of public attention. We've got some damn impressive stuff, here and there, but the majority of the population doesn't seem to give two shits. S'saddening, yanno'? You hope for more from your nation.

[G-Flex]

Because slavery is horrendously inefficient nowadays? Folks running the prisons aren't making money from that. Offsetting the costs, somewhat, and (some farming prisons are) admittedly putting a lot of food out but that's not what's putting them in the black.

You're probably right, but you also reminded me of the fact that for-profit corporate prisons exist in the US, so now I feel a little queasy. Eeerrrrgh.

[Nadaka]

Because slavery is horrendously inefficient nowadays? Folks running the prisons aren't making money from that. Offsetting the costs, somewhat, and (some farming prisons are) admittedly putting a lot of food out but that's not what's putting them in the black. Gives felons a sure-fire chance to contribute a little to the economy, though, since they're basically unhireable after getting out of prison. I guess that's something?

Your perception of prison labor is rapidly growing outdated. American prisons are now being privatized with the state paying the company to care for the prisoner and the corporate custodians can utilize their captive labor in high margin industries like electronics and industrial assembly.

[Euld]

Because slavery is horrendously inefficient nowadays? Folks running the prisons aren't making money from that. Offsetting the costs, somewhat, and (some farming prisons are) admittedly putting a lot of food out but that's not what's putting them in the black. Gives felons a sure-fire chance to contribute a little to the economy, though, since they're basically unhireable after getting out of prison. I guess that's something?

Your perception of prison labor is rapidly growing outdated. American prisons are now being privatized with the state paying the company to care for the prisoner and the corporate custodians can utilize their captive labor in high margin industries like electronics and industrial assembly.

Wait, aren't those the jobs that would normally pay above minimum wage?  And we're giving them to prison inmates?...

[Vector]

Wait, aren't those the jobs that would normally pay above minimum wage?  And we're giving them to prison inmates?...

Exactly--don't need to pay salary.

[Nadaka]

Wait, aren't those the jobs that would normally pay above minimum wage?  And we're giving them to prison inmates?...

Exactly--don't need to pay salary.

They do, but it works out to a few dollars a day.

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3440.shtml

not sure how objective that article is, but its worth a read.