But that hard day was very happy. We had fun doing the work. My friend is very old fashioned. If I eat at his house, I am expected to prepare for food properly - washing my hands etc . And then his 'lady'¨serves us, but does not sit at the table with us. I accept this. I do not moderate my talk, but I accept the sítuation. And obey the rules of my friend when I am in his house.
When he is in my house. some different rules apply, but I see no reason to force him into my rules. I buy some non-alcoholic beer, and we all sit together to eat. I respect that.
Maybe he did work as a torpedo for Mossad in Sweden in the Eighties. Maybe all those scars on his left forearm are not knife cuts. Or the bullet entry scars. Everyone fears him, but I don't.
This is the best salesman I know. Street smart. Fun to be with. Old-fashioned. Reliable.
Business between us is not according to the rules I know. It is highly moral, but based upon a simple reality - exchange of value. There is no value added tax in this system. It's about alpha, beta and other males finding accommodation in the everyday., You can't be me, I'm taken
But maybe what we havei n common is being 'Outsiders' You can't be me, I'm taken
You are right, but as you said in your previous post, when you go to your friend's hourse, you play by his rules. That's why I believe the majority defines what is "normal" and the others have to abide by their laws. Be careful! Is it classified?
Well then, if the police goes to a Gypsy quarter, they should obey the local rules. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
Well then, if the police goes to a Gypsy quarter, they should obey the local rules.
Your statement is absurd. Do black people in America live by their rules or that of the American government?
This is not the Czech Republic, where gypsies don't have a Czech citizenship.
The Roma population hold Bulgarian citizenship and should obey the laws of Bulgaria, just as Bulgarians and Turks. Or maybe Turks should follow the Turkish laws, even though if you are in Bulgaria.
DoDo, I am extending an official invitation to you. Please be my guest in Bulgaria and me and you will take a walk through the gypsy ghettos of the major cities in the country. But I will first take you to talk about this idea with my American professors, who've been in Bulgaria long enough to understand the dangers of such a trip. Be careful! Is it classified?
Hell yeah: it's called a tongue-in-cheek. It was meant to crown the exchange between you and Sven.
DoDo, I am extending an official invitation to you. Please be my guest in Bulgaria and me and you will take a walk through the gypsy ghettos of the major cities in the country.
Hm, that would be just something for my cultural anthropologist brother, maybe I shall convince him to come in a joint visit. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
This is not the Czech Republic, where gypsies don't have a Czech citizenship. The Roma population hold Bulgarian citizenship and should obey the laws of Bulgaria, just as Bulgarians and Turks. Or maybe Turks should follow the Turkish laws, even though if you are in Bulgaria.
Also, what do you mean when you say that gypsies in the Czech republic don't have citizenship? That all gypsies in Czechia are actually Slovak? Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
Actually to be allowed to hold a Czech citizenship, a person must have a clean criminal record in the last five years, and must have lived on the territory of the Czech Republic for same duration. Since most gypsies were OK only with the second requirement, they were never allowed to become Czech citizens. But nobody told them, that the Czech government changed the requirements recently and now only requires a person to have lived on the territory of the country for the last five years. Be careful! Is it classified?
During WWII, the Nazis exterminated most Czech Gypsies. Most Czech Gypsies of today were moved there (most of them forcibly, and often on the place of deported Sudeten Germans) from Slovakia. Many of them lived in workers' housings at factories, which later didn't count as permanent residence, or in special settlements where they weren't registered. Children given to foster parents or foster homes were without permanent residence permits, too.
After the break-up of Czechoslovakia, the new citizenship law was designed (consciously, see in this article) to disenfranchise Gypsies (and prevent further immigration from Slovakia) by exploiting the previous circumstances and more, all the while speaking about "Slovakians". Applicants had to have proof of residence, the five-year crime-free record, and renouncement of Slovakian citizenship (which many of them didn't have in the first place, having been born to "Slovakian" Gypsy parents in the Czech Republic).
Worsening the problem were practical issues like the legal inexperience and lack of counsel of most Gypsies, and local courts who interpreted laws their own even worse way (a worst example: one "Slovakian" Czech Gypsy was forced to go to Slovakia to bear her child; but also examples of rewoking citizenship).
As a result of these combined reasons, in 1993, about 100,000, that is half of Czech Gypsies became stateless.
Now this was not the end of the story. Major amendments were forced on the law: in 1996, by when about 20,000 stateless Czech Gypsies remained, the crazy 5-year-no-crime-record rule (which was valid irrespective of seriousness of the crime - stealing a bread four years ago was a valid reason for exclusion, being sentenced for murder six years ago was not) was eased to a case-by-case basis. In 2000, by when about 10,000 stateless Roma remained thanks to increased NGO activity, the law was finally changed big-time by allowing declaration of pre-1991 residence. Only those who moved away since or sought asylum elsewhere remain excluded. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
As explained, almost none were "left" in the Czech Republic after 2000. However, many of those excluded because they moved into other countries in the meantime (most of them to Slovakia) moved back. For those moving away, I found figures of 20,000-25,000, or 10% of the total; for total Roma immigrants from Slovakia (Czech Romas moving back + Slovakian Romas newly moving) I saw similar numbers. What I'm not clear about and would have to look up (as can also be seen from the termination of my account in 2000) is whether further changes have been made to the law around the time of the Czech Republic's joining of the EU.
BTW, last time I forgot to note two further nasty hurdles in the original law designed to hit poor Gypsies: the hefty legal prices involved ($300 per person) and the requirement of dual parental approval for children's applications (hitting both children of divorced and children in orphanages). *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
That's why I believe the majority defines what is "normal" and the others have to abide by their laws.
Here is the all-time best discussion of majority rule, by Piet Hein.
MAJORITY RULE His party was the Brotherhood of Brothers, and there were more of them than of the others. That is, they constituted that minority which formed the greater part of the majority. Within the party, he was of the faction that was supported by the greater fraction. And in each group, within each group, he sought the group that could command the most support. The final group had finally elected a triumvirate whom they all respected. Now, of these three, two had final word, because the two could overrule the third. One of these two was relatively weak, so one alone stood at the final peak. He was: THE GREATER NUMBER of the pair which formed the most part of the three that were elected by the most of those whose boast it was to represent the most of the most of most of most of the entire state -- or of the most of it at any rate. He never gave himself a moment's slumber but sought the welfare of the greater number. And all people, everywhere they went, knew to their cost exactly what it meant to be dictated to by the majority. But that meant nothing, -- they were the minority.
His party was the Brotherhood of Brothers, and there were more of them than of the others. That is, they constituted that minority which formed the greater part of the majority. Within the party, he was of the faction that was supported by the greater fraction. And in each group, within each group, he sought the group that could command the most support. The final group had finally elected a triumvirate whom they all respected. Now, of these three, two had final word, because the two could overrule the third. One of these two was relatively weak, so one alone stood at the final peak. He was: THE GREATER NUMBER of the pair which formed the most part of the three that were elected by the most of those whose boast it was to represent the most of the most of most of most of the entire state -- or of the most of it at any rate. He never gave himself a moment's slumber but sought the welfare of the greater number. And all people, everywhere they went, knew to their cost exactly what it meant to be dictated to by the majority. But that meant nothing, -- they were the minority.
