Your need to monetize speaks volumes about your true motives. There are many Substacks that are totally free because their authors are totally dedicated to their cause and thus wish to reach the maximum audience possible. Apparently that can't be said about you.
Substack is my primary source of income. Upon monetising it, I realised that I no longer needed to keep my research position and so I resigned. I now produce more free content than I ever did when everything was free. It was just hard to justify putting in the many hours necessary to produce a regular stream of high-effort posts and in the process neglecting my other responsibilities. Had I adhered to your principles and never monetised because I had a day job, I'd write one or two posts a month; this would remain a hobby. That may be fine with you, perhaps you don't like my work very much, but there are many authors here and on other platforms whose I content I enjoy and willingly pay for, and I'd very much regret a moral regime that made their writing less frequent or even impossible.
There is this idea that activism is insincere if money is changing hands, but a) I have never claimed to be an activist, I am only a writer; and b) a world that operated according to your principles would have far less writing and also far less activism. It's great that some people write for free, but in general it's just objectively true that (the possibility of) monetisation increases the total amount of content on a platform, including free content. All these financial transactions are totally voluntary for all involved, and it is very hard to understand your objections to them.
Finally, I think these attitudes also arise because the idea of paying for blog posts is somewhat novel. Political activists have been writing and selling books for generations, and I think most people would find the suggestion that this practice "speaks volumes" about their "true motives" pretty bizarre.
I've spent some time to compose a full answer, because I am from time to time confronted with these complaints and I find them very misguided.
Thanks for answering my question. Yes, I am very cynical about the monetization of the internet and I will remain so. I do enjoy your content so I will consider subscribing.
The internet is just another medium, alongside radio, television, and print. Because internet websites, radio/TV stations and newspapers all cost money to operate, all these media have to be monetised in some way. Apparently 'free' content is generally supported by advertising, otherwise there are various subscription models.
Of the two possibilities, subscriptions are in my view much more straightforward and honest, and far less susceptible to corruption. Much of the censorship we see on the internet is driven by advertisers, who also exercise a subtle but pervasive influence over the kind of ostensibly 'free' content you see on websites like youtube. The right-of-centre internet is very into gold investments and nutritional supplements, for example, in part because they're chasing advertising dollars, and this often has an effect on the kind of political commentary they offer. Not in all cases! But, there is a lot of opportunity for non-transparent relationships and disingenuousness.
This doesn't mean that the subscription model is without problems, of course. It can be an incentive to produce a high volume of low-quality clickbait pieces, it can be inimical to long-form writing and investigative journalism, etc. Perhaps some of these kinks can be worked out as the model develops.
There's an actual police investigation of an inflatable snowman decoration anyone can buy online to see if it's offering a "Nazi salute" and your response is to blame eugyppius for telling people about it?
"Maybe you need to figure out how to deal with racism in the US before you comment on how other countries, especially Germany, deals with - isms."
And maybe you should understand that racism politics in the US right now is being pushed to the extreme by those that push DEI, Critical Race Theory and other Marxist ideals.
Most Americans are NOT racist, as you seemingly suggest. As a matter of fact, America is probably one of the least racists countries in the world. In what country can people from all over the world; Mexicans, blacks, SE Asians, Chinese, etc., come to America and make a life for themselves? And if America is such a racist country, why on Earth are we being inundated with literally millions of migrants currently?
I recommend you review the racist policies of these large industrialized countries, such as Germany, before you submit America is a “racist” country. Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of that clap trap.
You know, the topic I know most about (and that's still not a lot lol) is American poetry, and in my day we did close readings, in which one scoured every syllable and sound and beat, so that's my habit of mind. I read a post on another substack this morning that seemed to hit on similar key words, and that resonated exactly like this post. Here's The Gentleman's Guide to Forum Disruption
Thank you for demonstrating that a german will defend to the death any lunacy and idiocy, as long as it is the german state that's providing it.
What would it matter if Eugyppius had been american?
Arresting an inflatable snowman for doing the "How tall was Eva Braun?"-salute cannot be understood for what it is by foreginers, is what you're saying, you know.
And claiming a foreigner cannot understand domestic issues is called what nowadays, hm?
You are not talking responsibility for it. It's called masochism and virtue signalling. And don't make me laugh with using the word 'considerate'. You and your ilk have no problem destroying a person's life because they have opinions different to yours.
Do I have this correct? You state no one should judge things from afar that they aren’t a part of, claim you are a German and then shit on Americans for not being responsible (for what exactly?), and then claim the author, a German, is writing from an American perspective? What the actual fuck are you trying to prove?
A tabloid newspaper would have the good sense to report that the snowman is not wearing any pants. Therefore, eugyppius's article falls short of tabloid status.
If you’re German remember a wise person once said “one should never judge things from a far and they aren't a part of”. Thank you for your keen insight into racism is the USA.
Perhaps that original quote was in a certain restricted context. But overall, I've rarely read a more vacuous assertion. Many phenomena can only be observed at a distance. Shall we toss out all astronomy merely because even the nearest subject of interest is 250,000 miles away and most are unimaginably more distant? But let's focus more on human events. Shall we ignore any analysis of politics, of current events, simply because to physically visit or otherwise immerse ourselves in distant places might be inconvenient? Or how about history? We have no option but to observe the past from a great distance, in time and often space as well.
Yes, Jesus is quoted as saying “Judge not and you will not be judged.” On the other hand, Ayn Rand offered, “Judge, and prepare to be judged.”
Hang on. I do like to make my way over to Paul Offit's Substack and do precisely that which you caution against above. https://substack.com/@pauloffit
Let's not deprive ourselves of small sources of enjoyment. Certainly, one must be prepared for a negative reaction if one chooses to insult the chieftain in his home.
Yet, I encourage others to do the same. Take a look at this headline: "Do Infants and Young Children Need a COVID Vaccine?" Care to guess at what his answer is?
Standing ovation for this person, please. Dang. A fact. The Nobel Peace Prize winner (awarded after he'd been president for about 37 mintues) did more for inflaming racial tensions in the United States than any Imperial Wizard or Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.
Satire? Der Author ist deutsch und was er schreibt hat sich so zugetragen. Du glaubst bestimmt auch an die Correctivlüge. Unfassbar wie gehirngewaschen man sein muss um die Realität zu leugnen.
You are right. Germany has only brought problems to Europe, two world wars, holocaust and a fundamental authoritarian mindset. Germany should be dissolved.
Yes, you are absolutely right, that only Germany has been guilty of mass killings in its history. Apparently the slaughter which happened in Spain, China or the early Soviet Union are pure historical fictions.
I feel I have to, as a matter of national. . . pride, let's call it that for form's sake . . . defend Sweden. We are much better at pants-on-head retarded lunacy than our southern cousins:
"In 2005, the Swedish company was criticized by the Centre against Racism and Related Intolerance after launching an advertising campaign introducing their new line of ice cream bars, the Nogger Black, which is an addition to their existing "Nogger" ice cream product. The Nogger had been marketed since 1979, its name derived from the nougat filling. The criticism was mainly aimed at an advert where the slogan "Nogger + liquorice = ♥" was written in white chalk on asphalt. Stig Wallin, chairman of the center, misread the slogan as "Nigger + liquorice" and said: "It's impossible not to see this as an allusion to racism". The center urged for a boycott of the company if they did not withdraw the campaign." (From Wikipedia's article on GB Glace)
The Nogger Black was delicious, by the way. Vanilla ice cream with a salmiakk liquorice cover.
When I was reviewing ice cream in the '80s, licorice ice cream was a "white whale." I believe only two creameries in the USA (both were mom-and-pop outlets) offered it. I did manage to sample the New Hampshire store's product. Yum.
There used to be a brand of soft liquorice, the pieces vaguely resembling mini-flying carpets, and the logo was a sterotypical "Arabian nights"-looking boy. Deemed racist and changed.
Used to be a kind chocolate-dipped puffed rice called "Kinapuffar" (Chinapuffs) with an image of an archetypical strawhat-wearing chinese, smiling a happy smile. Racist. Removed.
Chocolate balls (cocoa, butter, oat flakes, cold coffee mashed together and rolled into balls that were rolled in confetioner's sugar, the corase kind) were called "Negroballs", because "negro" originated from the spanish for "black" - it had nothing to do with africans. Banned. Criminalised, more or less.
Meanwhile, the alcoholic drink "Gammeldansk" is a-okay. No problem calling a drink "Old Dane" apparently. Same with the snack called "Finska pinnar" - Finnish sticks. No problem there. Fransyska (lit. french woman), the part behind the roastbeef on a cow? No problem. Spanish pepper? Same, no problem. Spanish fly? See last point.
And so on: if it has to do with orientals or africans, it's a no-no. If it has to do with europeans, it's a-okay.
Maybe it's me, but that's a tad hypocritical of the PC-thugs, no?
Is "gammel" related to the English word "gammer?" [I love these Germanic language family comparisons...]
We had a brand of rice called "Uncle Ben's" with the logo of a kindly distinguished-looking elderly black man, and "Aunt Jemima's" pancake syrup with the logo of a cheerful dignified black lady, both gone. I don't think anyone of my generation thought these people looked in any way servile. They looked trustworthy. That's why they were on the labels/boxes. They made you feel confident in the product.
Which psychological marketing these morons utterly have failed to understand.
Looked up "gammal" in an etymological dictionary: the root is "gam" or "gamm", proto- or urgermanic meaning "winter", so "gammel" or "gammal" would mean "one who has lived many winters". In pre-christian days, Midsommar was when the old year died and the new year started, so it makes sense you'd measure age referring to winters (it lives on in poetic form).
"Gamm-" would relate to age. "Gammal" means old. "Gammel" is old-fashioned spelling in danish (any dane reading please correct as needed).
In my native dialect, you'd refer to middleaged unwed men living with their mothers as "Gammgossar"; "gosse" meaning boy, more specifically pre-pubertal boy. So, "gammgosse" would mean a boy who never grew to manhood - though not with the meaning "mama's boy" has in english.
We still have Uncle Ben's Rice here with the nice old man logo, by the way. Stangely, no-one objects to that one.
Don't forget Cream Of Wheat. As a child in the 60s we traveled cross country several times on trains, and I remember describing the invariably-friendly male dining car waiters as "Cream of Wheat" guys.
You lucky kid! I love trains. (Not subways, mind you. Long-distance trains.)
I watch quite a lot of old movies and it's pretty much 50/50 the ethnicity of one's household staff between white servants and black ones. For anyone of our generation, a black face as part of a product logo does not, I think, signal to our brains something along the lines of "slave" but much more an assurance of a wholesome product made with skill and care.
Of course that feeling may not survive if we are confronted with new and unfamiliar faces now.
Here in the US we do not escape this lunacy. Until at least the 1970s there was a popular restaurant chain, Sambo's. The sign showed a smiling brown skinned boy. Few people knew that the allusion was to a Kipling character, a ["dot"] Indian, not an Afro-American.
No doubt the "Little Black Sambo" story popular in my childhood has been globally excised. I was always charmed that a circle of tigers could run fast enough to turn themselves into butter.
OMG for two reasons. The spurious allusion to racism is one. The licorice flavor is the second—I can't stand licorice. Disclaimer: I acknowledge this prejudice is purely personal.
I get DW's daily email newsletter which has been full of reports of these 'anti-right' protests. And I have been bemused by the way the the reports never seem to pick up on the fact that what they are protesting against is not some band of 'fascists' but MILLIONS of their fellow Germans!
I don't think they can. I suspect they must believe the millions you refer to are under the spell of superfascists. If not they'd have to confront the possibility perfectly reasonable people have quite different views than them.
We witnessed a similar confusion with Brexit. They convinced themselves leavers were backward racist types, a minority. After the vote they couldn't process what they were seeing.
Just like Trump winning in 2016. I remember being in shock for days.
Never occurred to me to wonder how all the predictions could have been so wrong. Trump = Evil sufficed as an explanation. It's like looking back on a period of insanity in one's life.
It is a good experience to go through. Think how many are still trapped there. I would argue it is almost a cliched definition of the chattering classes now. The simplicity and naivety of the positions they are now taking and the increasing difficulty they must have squaring reality with what they believe. Pro-immigration, pro-climate change policies and the nonstop white guilt thing all have real world consequences that will harm them.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but the impression I've gotten over time and in part thru reading many of our author's previous posts, is that this is what the AfD is all about. I also have come to realize this: if the German corporate media and mainstream politicians are anything like their American cousins, they're lying.
Tardigrade ,in my opinion ,the snowman could be a chines spy balloon ,all security agencies must investigate .Biden may give the order to shoot it ,like the pipe lines .
The FBI was asked to fly in an investigative team, but they reported they were too busy investigating a garage door opener's rope in a garage somewhere.
This will simply accelerate Public Anger & make Violent Revolution more inevitable.
Nobody buys into these 'moral arguments' anymore. The people of Germany have seen what their 'moral' leaders do overseas. So they have wised up to what is really going on over here:
Scapegoat Populists so that when the Economic Implosion occurs, the 'Elite' have an 'Out.'
I just read that the Berlin Film Festival is in hysterics of rage because representatives from AfD received invitations and now all [insert terrified groups here] will be in danger
I'm looking forward to your reporting on the apocalypse which has now been triggered because Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin and the EU is currently marshalling all its strength to fight back.
this post was supposed to be free but I clicked the wrong thing. it should be open to everyone now.
Many Thanks Good Sir!
All your posts should be free unless this is your sole means of supporting yourself.
why?
Your need to monetize speaks volumes about your true motives. There are many Substacks that are totally free because their authors are totally dedicated to their cause and thus wish to reach the maximum audience possible. Apparently that can't be said about you.
Substack is my primary source of income. Upon monetising it, I realised that I no longer needed to keep my research position and so I resigned. I now produce more free content than I ever did when everything was free. It was just hard to justify putting in the many hours necessary to produce a regular stream of high-effort posts and in the process neglecting my other responsibilities. Had I adhered to your principles and never monetised because I had a day job, I'd write one or two posts a month; this would remain a hobby. That may be fine with you, perhaps you don't like my work very much, but there are many authors here and on other platforms whose I content I enjoy and willingly pay for, and I'd very much regret a moral regime that made their writing less frequent or even impossible.
There is this idea that activism is insincere if money is changing hands, but a) I have never claimed to be an activist, I am only a writer; and b) a world that operated according to your principles would have far less writing and also far less activism. It's great that some people write for free, but in general it's just objectively true that (the possibility of) monetisation increases the total amount of content on a platform, including free content. All these financial transactions are totally voluntary for all involved, and it is very hard to understand your objections to them.
Finally, I think these attitudes also arise because the idea of paying for blog posts is somewhat novel. Political activists have been writing and selling books for generations, and I think most people would find the suggestion that this practice "speaks volumes" about their "true motives" pretty bizarre.
I've spent some time to compose a full answer, because I am from time to time confronted with these complaints and I find them very misguided.
Thanks for answering my question. Yes, I am very cynical about the monetization of the internet and I will remain so. I do enjoy your content so I will consider subscribing.
Thanks for considering :)
The internet is just another medium, alongside radio, television, and print. Because internet websites, radio/TV stations and newspapers all cost money to operate, all these media have to be monetised in some way. Apparently 'free' content is generally supported by advertising, otherwise there are various subscription models.
Of the two possibilities, subscriptions are in my view much more straightforward and honest, and far less susceptible to corruption. Much of the censorship we see on the internet is driven by advertisers, who also exercise a subtle but pervasive influence over the kind of ostensibly 'free' content you see on websites like youtube. The right-of-centre internet is very into gold investments and nutritional supplements, for example, in part because they're chasing advertising dollars, and this often has an effect on the kind of political commentary they offer. Not in all cases! But, there is a lot of opportunity for non-transparent relationships and disingenuousness.
This doesn't mean that the subscription model is without problems, of course. It can be an incentive to produce a high volume of low-quality clickbait pieces, it can be inimical to long-form writing and investigative journalism, etc. Perhaps some of these kinks can be worked out as the model develops.
lol
There's an actual police investigation of an inflatable snowman decoration anyone can buy online to see if it's offering a "Nazi salute" and your response is to blame eugyppius for telling people about it?
"Maybe you need to figure out how to deal with racism in the US before you comment on how other countries, especially Germany, deals with - isms."
And maybe you should understand that racism politics in the US right now is being pushed to the extreme by those that push DEI, Critical Race Theory and other Marxist ideals.
Most Americans are NOT racist, as you seemingly suggest. As a matter of fact, America is probably one of the least racists countries in the world. In what country can people from all over the world; Mexicans, blacks, SE Asians, Chinese, etc., come to America and make a life for themselves? And if America is such a racist country, why on Earth are we being inundated with literally millions of migrants currently?
I recommend you review the racist policies of these large industrialized countries, such as Germany, before you submit America is a “racist” country. Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of that clap trap.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/non-discrimination/news/anti-black-racism-is-rising-in-eu-countries-led-by-germany-study-finds/
it is almost like our nurse ussi is … jUdgInG ThiNgS fRoM AfAr.
as a German, perhaps the good nurse would like to read up on the Lichtmesz-Sommerfeld Gesetz.
Thank you. I was going to say all that, but you said it first and better than I would have.
You know, the topic I know most about (and that's still not a lot lol) is American poetry, and in my day we did close readings, in which one scoured every syllable and sound and beat, so that's my habit of mind. I read a post on another substack this morning that seemed to hit on similar key words, and that resonated exactly like this post. Here's The Gentleman's Guide to Forum Disruption
https://ritholtz.com/2012/11/the-gentlemans-guide-to-forum-disruption/
Thank you for demonstrating that a german will defend to the death any lunacy and idiocy, as long as it is the german state that's providing it.
What would it matter if Eugyppius had been american?
Arresting an inflatable snowman for doing the "How tall was Eva Braun?"-salute cannot be understood for what it is by foreginers, is what you're saying, you know.
And claiming a foreigner cannot understand domestic issues is called what nowadays, hm?
Is Ussi German for Karen?
Oh shit, I just ruptured something…
My endorphins! They are surging now so powerfully!
Germany is and has been prosecuting author/playwright C.J. Hopkins for over a year for a similar "crime" as the snowman.
He is German, you ignoramus. It must be embarrassing for you to have Germany and the behaviour of German NPCs exposed like this.
You are not talking responsibility for it. It's called masochism and virtue signalling. And don't make me laugh with using the word 'considerate'. You and your ilk have no problem destroying a person's life because they have opinions different to yours.
Do I have this correct? You state no one should judge things from afar that they aren’t a part of, claim you are a German and then shit on Americans for not being responsible (for what exactly?), and then claim the author, a German, is writing from an American perspective? What the actual fuck are you trying to prove?
Perhaps if you read with comprehension you'd have figured out that our author is--wait for it--a German. A real live German. Living in Germany.
A tabloid newspaper would have the good sense to report that the snowman is not wearing any pants. Therefore, eugyppius's article falls short of tabloid status.
If you’re German remember a wise person once said “one should never judge things from a far and they aren't a part of”. Thank you for your keen insight into racism is the USA.
Perhaps that original quote was in a certain restricted context. But overall, I've rarely read a more vacuous assertion. Many phenomena can only be observed at a distance. Shall we toss out all astronomy merely because even the nearest subject of interest is 250,000 miles away and most are unimaginably more distant? But let's focus more on human events. Shall we ignore any analysis of politics, of current events, simply because to physically visit or otherwise immerse ourselves in distant places might be inconvenient? Or how about history? We have no option but to observe the past from a great distance, in time and often space as well.
Yes, Jesus is quoted as saying “Judge not and you will not be judged.” On the other hand, Ayn Rand offered, “Judge, and prepare to be judged.”
Wow. The first substack comment ratio I've seen. And it's a doozy.
It is of course a profoundly unwise thing to openly insult a chieftain when a guest in his home and in front of his assembled tribe.
A tribe made up of many nations no less.
Hang on. I do like to make my way over to Paul Offit's Substack and do precisely that which you caution against above. https://substack.com/@pauloffit
Let's not deprive ourselves of small sources of enjoyment. Certainly, one must be prepared for a negative reaction if one chooses to insult the chieftain in his home.
Yet, I encourage others to do the same. Take a look at this headline: "Do Infants and Young Children Need a COVID Vaccine?" Care to guess at what his answer is?
https://pauloffit.substack.com/p/do-infants-and-young-children-need?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
I'm afraid to look, Jim :):)
I think I'll pay a visit to Mr. Offal from time to time :) Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!
FYI race relations in the USA were in a decent space until Obama took office. A half black man calling all the Caucasians who cast for him racist.
Standing ovation for this person, please. Dang. A fact. The Nobel Peace Prize winner (awarded after he'd been president for about 37 mintues) did more for inflaming racial tensions in the United States than any Imperial Wizard or Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.
Satire? Der Author ist deutsch und was er schreibt hat sich so zugetragen. Du glaubst bestimmt auch an die Correctivlüge. Unfassbar wie gehirngewaschen man sein muss um die Realität zu leugnen.
You are right. Germany has only brought problems to Europe, two world wars, holocaust and a fundamental authoritarian mindset. Germany should be dissolved.
Captain Morgan ,if you where a snow man ,we could dIssolve YOU
I am a Chinese made inflatable and provocative snow man, and I don’t do irony.
Yes, you are absolutely right, that only Germany has been guilty of mass killings in its history. Apparently the slaughter which happened in Spain, China or the early Soviet Union are pure historical fictions.
agreed, and you forgot the Pol Pot myth.
I thought things were bad here in the US, but I am in awe at the German level of lunacy.
I feel I have to, as a matter of national. . . pride, let's call it that for form's sake . . . defend Sweden. We are much better at pants-on-head retarded lunacy than our southern cousins:
"In 2005, the Swedish company was criticized by the Centre against Racism and Related Intolerance after launching an advertising campaign introducing their new line of ice cream bars, the Nogger Black, which is an addition to their existing "Nogger" ice cream product. The Nogger had been marketed since 1979, its name derived from the nougat filling. The criticism was mainly aimed at an advert where the slogan "Nogger + liquorice = ♥" was written in white chalk on asphalt. Stig Wallin, chairman of the center, misread the slogan as "Nigger + liquorice" and said: "It's impossible not to see this as an allusion to racism". The center urged for a boycott of the company if they did not withdraw the campaign." (From Wikipedia's article on GB Glace)
The Nogger Black was delicious, by the way. Vanilla ice cream with a salmiakk liquorice cover.
i concede this is a full level of retardation above what germany has so far achieved. maybe we catch up though.
I found it hilarious living in Germany and coming across Nigger Kisses.
I doubt they call them that now.
No , they were Neger Kisses, Neger being the German word for a black person for centuries.
And you're right. They have different names now.
Obviously, the name was part of the clever globalist plot to indoctrinate Caucasians into the belief that inter-racial relationships were acceptable.
When I was reviewing ice cream in the '80s, licorice ice cream was a "white whale." I believe only two creameries in the USA (both were mom-and-pop outlets) offered it. I did manage to sample the New Hampshire store's product. Yum.
There's a very naughty part of me very sad that the Chocolate Babies candies I ate as a kid had already been thereby renamed from the original.
There used to be a brand of soft liquorice, the pieces vaguely resembling mini-flying carpets, and the logo was a sterotypical "Arabian nights"-looking boy. Deemed racist and changed.
Used to be a kind chocolate-dipped puffed rice called "Kinapuffar" (Chinapuffs) with an image of an archetypical strawhat-wearing chinese, smiling a happy smile. Racist. Removed.
Chocolate balls (cocoa, butter, oat flakes, cold coffee mashed together and rolled into balls that were rolled in confetioner's sugar, the corase kind) were called "Negroballs", because "negro" originated from the spanish for "black" - it had nothing to do with africans. Banned. Criminalised, more or less.
Meanwhile, the alcoholic drink "Gammeldansk" is a-okay. No problem calling a drink "Old Dane" apparently. Same with the snack called "Finska pinnar" - Finnish sticks. No problem there. Fransyska (lit. french woman), the part behind the roastbeef on a cow? No problem. Spanish pepper? Same, no problem. Spanish fly? See last point.
And so on: if it has to do with orientals or africans, it's a no-no. If it has to do with europeans, it's a-okay.
Maybe it's me, but that's a tad hypocritical of the PC-thugs, no?
Is "gammel" related to the English word "gammer?" [I love these Germanic language family comparisons...]
We had a brand of rice called "Uncle Ben's" with the logo of a kindly distinguished-looking elderly black man, and "Aunt Jemima's" pancake syrup with the logo of a cheerful dignified black lady, both gone. I don't think anyone of my generation thought these people looked in any way servile. They looked trustworthy. That's why they were on the labels/boxes. They made you feel confident in the product.
Which psychological marketing these morons utterly have failed to understand.
Looked up "gammal" in an etymological dictionary: the root is "gam" or "gamm", proto- or urgermanic meaning "winter", so "gammel" or "gammal" would mean "one who has lived many winters". In pre-christian days, Midsommar was when the old year died and the new year started, so it makes sense you'd measure age referring to winters (it lives on in poetic form).
Thank you for this.
"Gamm-" would relate to age. "Gammal" means old. "Gammel" is old-fashioned spelling in danish (any dane reading please correct as needed).
In my native dialect, you'd refer to middleaged unwed men living with their mothers as "Gammgossar"; "gosse" meaning boy, more specifically pre-pubertal boy. So, "gammgosse" would mean a boy who never grew to manhood - though not with the meaning "mama's boy" has in english.
We still have Uncle Ben's Rice here with the nice old man logo, by the way. Stangely, no-one objects to that one.
Don't forget Cream Of Wheat. As a child in the 60s we traveled cross country several times on trains, and I remember describing the invariably-friendly male dining car waiters as "Cream of Wheat" guys.
You lucky kid! I love trains. (Not subways, mind you. Long-distance trains.)
I watch quite a lot of old movies and it's pretty much 50/50 the ethnicity of one's household staff between white servants and black ones. For anyone of our generation, a black face as part of a product logo does not, I think, signal to our brains something along the lines of "slave" but much more an assurance of a wholesome product made with skill and care.
Of course that feeling may not survive if we are confronted with new and unfamiliar faces now.
Uncle Ben's, Aunt Jemima's... this meme derides the "unintended consequences" in which our left's cancellation fever ultimately resulted.
https://imgb.ifunny.co/images/fae287344c544d5cc6a11fe71cec6807bd052b0a6a2bac5b370a8706131f1878_1.jpg
I was thinking something along these lines when I left my comment. Great minds etc. etc. Looking forward to Mrs. Butterworth at Drag Queen Story Hour.
'And so on: if it has to do with orientals or africans, it's a no-no. If it has to do with europeans, it's a-okay.'
Only until European groups become professional victims. It's inevitable, since that is currently the only path to societal and political power 😬
Here in the US we do not escape this lunacy. Until at least the 1970s there was a popular restaurant chain, Sambo's. The sign showed a smiling brown skinned boy. Few people knew that the allusion was to a Kipling character, a ["dot"] Indian, not an Afro-American.
No doubt the "Little Black Sambo" story popular in my childhood has been globally excised. I was always charmed that a circle of tigers could run fast enough to turn themselves into butter.
Not Kipling. Helen Bannerman.
I'm in the US too.
Very well! Next thing I know, you will be claiming that Winnie the Pooh wasn't a Kipling character either.
Ha!
They are my favourite. Their Aussie name escapes me.
OMG for two reasons. The spurious allusion to racism is one. The licorice flavor is the second—I can't stand licorice. Disclaimer: I acknowledge this prejudice is purely personal.
Such problems will recede into history, Rikard, when the population of Sweden is 19 percent white people. And peace and harmony will reign!
I get DW's daily email newsletter which has been full of reports of these 'anti-right' protests. And I have been bemused by the way the the reports never seem to pick up on the fact that what they are protesting against is not some band of 'fascists' but MILLIONS of their fellow Germans!
I don't think they can. I suspect they must believe the millions you refer to are under the spell of superfascists. If not they'd have to confront the possibility perfectly reasonable people have quite different views than them.
We witnessed a similar confusion with Brexit. They convinced themselves leavers were backward racist types, a minority. After the vote they couldn't process what they were seeing.
Just like Trump winning in 2016. I remember being in shock for days.
Never occurred to me to wonder how all the predictions could have been so wrong. Trump = Evil sufficed as an explanation. It's like looking back on a period of insanity in one's life.
It is a good experience to go through. Think how many are still trapped there. I would argue it is almost a cliched definition of the chattering classes now. The simplicity and naivety of the positions they are now taking and the increasing difficulty they must have squaring reality with what they believe. Pro-immigration, pro-climate change policies and the nonstop white guilt thing all have real world consequences that will harm them.
Thankfully, it seems ordinary Germans are beginning to recognize what they're facing, and pushing back.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but the impression I've gotten over time and in part thru reading many of our author's previous posts, is that this is what the AfD is all about. I also have come to realize this: if the German corporate media and mainstream politicians are anything like their American cousins, they're lying.
Some Germans will vote AfD simply because it's forbidden.
Yes and I might just be one of those Germans.
The snowman was nothing. Better get the authorities on this: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/33184
dont worry America is saying hold my beer
I live on the other side of the planet, and even I can tell that's not a Nazi salute.
But you aren't an expert!
I beg your pardon. I have six decades of movie-watching, and saw Hogan's Heroes on TV regularly.
First-run episodes, or just MeTV syndication episodes?
I'm old enough to have watched the original broadcast.
I know NOTHING, Colonel Hogan!
But obviously, you saw nussink! Nussink!
Tardigrade ,in my opinion ,the snowman could be a chines spy balloon ,all security agencies must investigate .Biden may give the order to shoot it ,like the pipe lines .
The FBI was asked to fly in an investigative team, but they reported they were too busy investigating a garage door opener's rope in a garage somewhere.
Winner!
I wonder if it's syndicated in Germany and elsewhere. With swastika and other "triggering" imagery edited out, I would suppose.
Yes but perception is all! If someone is offended and believes it is a Nazi salute, then it is! Like racism!
You're right, of course. These days perception trumps reality.
Didn't a famous German* say "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"?
*Correction: no, he was Austrian and Jewish too.
Tardigrade ,look again it seems the snowman has a mustache under the nose .
As opposed to wear, the elbow? 😜
This will simply accelerate Public Anger & make Violent Revolution more inevitable.
Nobody buys into these 'moral arguments' anymore. The people of Germany have seen what their 'moral' leaders do overseas. So they have wised up to what is really going on over here:
Scapegoat Populists so that when the Economic Implosion occurs, the 'Elite' have an 'Out.'
(For those interested)
If you wish to read (& listen!) to more of My commentary, here is my Main Stack:
https://thefallofthewest.substack.com
Thank You Kindly to everyone!
I just read that the Berlin Film Festival is in hysterics of rage because representatives from AfD received invitations and now all [insert terrified groups here] will be in danger
I believe the AfD members have now been disinvited. I should've included this story in the round-up too, but there is just so much.
I'm looking forward to your reporting on the apocalypse which has now been triggered because Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin and the EU is currently marshalling all its strength to fight back.
what a shitstorm that is going to be. and to think I was worried that post-Covid there would be nothing to write about.