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Today you, tomorrow me

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Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#61

Post by Azuldolphin »

nodata wrote: post #58
dazzawazza wrote: post #2

If you live in the UK you will surely know Dave Gorman [1]. He did a TV show called American Unchained [2] where he attempted to get across America without using chain stores. In that series I saw an America that I recognise from the Americans I know and have worked with (I've never visited America). Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. In the show he experien…

Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. I'm going to get downvoted to hell, but I have to say this: I agree completely. The reason why Americans believe that they are hating elsewhere is people transferring their strong dislike of American politics ("let's invade/interfere (with) countries and call it freedom") onto the American _people_. It's an emotional and in…

Not to be a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious. Why did you feel the need to preface your comment with "I'm going to get downvoted to hell"? I can't see a reason why this comment would get downvoted.

Edit: I see you've been downvoted. I wonder if it's BECAUSE of your preface, rather than IN SPITE of it.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#62

Post by dazzawazza »

random42 wrote: post #37
dazzawazza wrote: post #2

If you live in the UK you will surely know Dave Gorman [1]. He did a TV show called American Unchained [2] where he attempted to get across America without using chain stores. In that series I saw an America that I recognise from the Americans I know and have worked with (I've never visited America). Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. In the show he experien…

Do the people who help out dave, know that they are being filmed?

They do, he frequently tells them he is making a documentary about small town America etc. So, yes, you probably should take some of it with a pinch of salt. The documentary is, after all, entertainment.

My personal experience of Americans does back up his experience though.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#63

Post by mcantor »

nodata wrote: post #58
dazzawazza wrote: post #2

If you live in the UK you will surely know Dave Gorman [1]. He did a TV show called American Unchained [2] where he attempted to get across America without using chain stores. In that series I saw an America that I recognise from the Americans I know and have worked with (I've never visited America). Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. In the show he experien…

Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. I'm going to get downvoted to hell, but I have to say this: I agree completely. The reason why Americans believe that they are hating elsewhere is people transferring their strong dislike of American politics ("let's invade/interfere (with) countries and call it freedom") onto the American _people_. It's an emotional and in…

I sort of agree, but a lot of us really are douchebags.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#64

Post by zoomzoom »

araneae wrote: post #48
maguay wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You today ... me tomorrow" is my new favorite "Golden Rule" translation :)

It's really more a translation of karma. At any rate, I vastly prefer it to the "Golden Rule." Whenever anyone goes on about it, I always say, "what about masochists?" It may sound a trite response, but I think it's a really important aspect of a moral system that people are different, and you should think about what they want, not what you would want in that situation.

The golden rule is not about what you want, it is about something you could will as a universal maxim. So you must take the masochists etc into consideration when universalizing.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#65

Post by eru »

kahawe wrote: post #24
dazzawazza wrote: post #2

If you live in the UK you will surely know Dave Gorman [1]. He did a TV show called American Unchained [2] where he attempted to get across America without using chain stores. In that series I saw an America that I recognise from the Americans I know and have worked with (I've never visited America). Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. In the show he experien…

I am from Europe as well and I can wholeheartedly agree with this. I know it has become so popular to be laughing about the States over here but let me tell you something... each and every time I had to deal with people from the States over here, they were nothing but friendly and down to earth, good hearted people who enjoy and appreciate company and small talk - even more so than lots of Germans who often give you…

You can be friendly to people in Germany, but most people are rather more introverted than in America. So the common case of somebody being overly outgoing is the salesman. That tends to colour impressions.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#66

Post by djtumolo »

bobf wrote: post #3

The original Spanish expression is "Hoy por ti, mañana por mi", and I find the Golden Rule to be the closest direct application of the concept in a single expression. Interestingly, the three suggested translations of the expression I found were: "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", "What goes around, comes around", and "Tit for tat" ( http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish_to_english/idioms_maxims_s... ). Howeve…

I've been reading a great book called "The Gift" by Lewis Hyde about just this difference in feeling. Like you seemed to intuit, giving is very different from trading.

Beautiful OP as well.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#67

Post by mcantor »

colkassad wrote: post #32

That's a good story but a little over the top. If the author had dispensed with the $20 bill in the tamale the suspension of belief would have been a little more effective.

I'm curious--did you honestly disbelieve the story, or were you just trolling?

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#68

Post by lylejohnson »

dazzawazza wrote: post #2

If you live in the UK you will surely know Dave Gorman [1]. He did a TV show called American Unchained [2] where he attempted to get across America without using chain stores. In that series I saw an America that I recognise from the Americans I know and have worked with (I've never visited America). Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. In the show he experien…

I checked for this DVD on Netflix but couldn't find it. Does anyone know if there's a way to see it other than ordering this DVD from Amazon UK?

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#69

Post by arvinjoar »

Azuldolphin wrote: post #61
nodata wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe. I'm going to get downvoted to hell, but I have to say this: I agree completely. The reason why Americans believe that they are hating elsewhere is people transferring their strong dislike of American politics ("let's invade/interfere (with) countries and call it freedom") onto the American _people_. It's an emotional and in…

Not to be a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious. Why did you feel the need to preface your comment with "I'm going to get downvoted to hell"? I can't see a reason why this comment would get downvoted. Edit: I see you've been downvoted. I wonder if it's BECAUSE of your preface, rather than IN SPITE of it.

Yes, "I'm going to get downvoted to hell" belongs on reddit, where people actually downvote people out of spite. I've not seen the same behavior here on HN (might just be that I haven't posted too much here). A better and more constructive preface would be "You are welcome to disagree with me here" or something like that, something that would be used in ordinary conversation.

Re: Today you, tomorrow me

#70

Post by colkassad »

mcantor wrote: post #67
colkassad wrote: post #32

That's a good story but a little over the top. If the author had dispensed with the $20 bill in the tamale the suspension of belief would have been a little more effective.

I'm curious--did you honestly disbelieve the story, or were you just trolling?

I really don't believe it. I'm sorry, but real life doesn't play out like that. Maybe there is a grain of truth to the story but alarm bells start ringing when the tale comes straight out of a script writers workshop. Read it again!

And why does this have to be a troll post? The Internet is full of this stuff, reddit in particular (see IamA). Is it so bad to be skeptical?

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