Oh good lord, Cameron, fucking fuck off.
Things I would reasonably expect an immigrant to any country to do
1. Learn enough of that country's primary language & official language (if not the same thing) to get by without severe inconvience to themselves. Provision should be made for this by the country's government, especially as learning another language in later life is not easy for everyone. If it is possible to live comfortably without learning that country's primary language, no need to do it!
This works every damn way, btw. I fucking despise the English ex-pats who litter up Spain refusing to learn a fucking word of Spanish, but as the ex-pat culture has grown to such a degree that it's not necessary for them to learn...
2. If it is feasible and with appropriate assistance from government services where necessary, apply for a work visa or if no work visa is needed and their employer doesn't/they are self-employed, make arrangements to pay tax and whatever that country's equivalent of NI is.
3. Pick up basic social rules of not drastically causing offence through osmosis, more or less, or through helpful pointers/friends/asking; i.e. if I move somewhere that pointing at someone with my left hand is considered very rude, I would want to know so as not to make people think I was a massive fucking dick.
Things I would like for any immigrant to any country to do
1. Feel safe and welcome.
2. Make at the very least a living wage & be treated with the same respect as people native to that country.
3. NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO IMMEDIATELY ADOPT EVERY SINGLE CHARACTERISTIC OF THAT COUNTRY'S CULTURE AND BE OPENLY COMMANDED TO CONFORM OR ELSE BY THE SNAKE-IN-THE-GRASS OILY OVER-PRIVILEGED FUCKING BIGOT THAT COUNTRY'S MORONIC POPULATION HAD FUCKING ELECTED, MISTER CAMERON.
Commentary from friends on Twitter
@happymrlocust: "Cameron wants "minorities" to embrace "our" culture? I thought the idea was a wholesale rejection of bigotry and xenophobia?"
@McKelvie: "I suspect even I, born and raised in the UK, don't fit into Cameron's idea of britishness." [...] "And I shouldn't fucking have to."
@bighatdino: "Does he mean the culture that we got from minorities in the first place, or flat out stole from other countries?"
A more integrated society? Fine. But you don't get that by placing the onus on "minorities" to embrace "our" culture. You get that by everyone making an effort to understand each other and accomodate each other, and not shrieking that British People Are Being Perscuted Because The Council Decided We Could Have Celebrations In The Town Square For Eids As Well As Easter And Christmas.
I was actually going to write a post about the wonderful panoply of types of "romantic" relationship people can have and how silly and demeaning it is to decide that one type of relationship or attraction is better than another or that everyone is "X" really (the things that "every is, really": human. different) and how much I want to punch the majority of the polybikinky crowd for being in the same box as me get out of my box you are all horrible smug slimy selfish creeps with like TWO exceptions.
But then I was reminded what an odious bigoted little prig we have determined should be our representative to the rest of the world, and I didn't want to any more. I have some inchoate thoughts regarding global restructuring, the UK letting go of the goddamn post-colonnial hangover where we think we deserve special bonuses from countries we spent years assfucking, Egypt, Tunisia, socialism, how I think idealism and pragmatism can co-exist with very little compromise, how "growth" is an unsustainable bullshit goal, short-termism, capitalism not being in direct opposition to socialism but definitely needing to be kept under control by it, and the irritating fact of human nature where "I've got mine, Jack, so fuck you" remains a powerful motivating force in people's socio-political views.
But they *are* inchoate & incoherent, so I'm going to try to force more words into my SiNtE assignment before I got and see Sal & Vee.
1. Learn enough of that country's primary language & official language (if not the same thing) to get by without severe inconvience to themselves. Provision should be made for this by the country's government, especially as learning another language in later life is not easy for everyone. If it is possible to live comfortably without learning that country's primary language, no need to do it!
This works every damn way, btw. I fucking despise the English ex-pats who litter up Spain refusing to learn a fucking word of Spanish, but as the ex-pat culture has grown to such a degree that it's not necessary for them to learn...
2. If it is feasible and with appropriate assistance from government services where necessary, apply for a work visa or if no work visa is needed and their employer doesn't/they are self-employed, make arrangements to pay tax and whatever that country's equivalent of NI is.
3. Pick up basic social rules of not drastically causing offence through osmosis, more or less, or through helpful pointers/friends/asking; i.e. if I move somewhere that pointing at someone with my left hand is considered very rude, I would want to know so as not to make people think I was a massive fucking dick.
Things I would like for any immigrant to any country to do
1. Feel safe and welcome.
2. Make at the very least a living wage & be treated with the same respect as people native to that country.
3. NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO IMMEDIATELY ADOPT EVERY SINGLE CHARACTERISTIC OF THAT COUNTRY'S CULTURE AND BE OPENLY COMMANDED TO CONFORM OR ELSE BY THE SNAKE-IN-THE-GRASS OILY OVER-PRIVILEGED FUCKING BIGOT THAT COUNTRY'S MORONIC POPULATION HAD FUCKING ELECTED, MISTER CAMERON.
Commentary from friends on Twitter
@happymrlocust: "Cameron wants "minorities" to embrace "our" culture? I thought the idea was a wholesale rejection of bigotry and xenophobia?"
@McKelvie: "I suspect even I, born and raised in the UK, don't fit into Cameron's idea of britishness." [...] "And I shouldn't fucking have to."
@bighatdino: "Does he mean the culture that we got from minorities in the first place, or flat out stole from other countries?"
A more integrated society? Fine. But you don't get that by placing the onus on "minorities" to embrace "our" culture. You get that by everyone making an effort to understand each other and accomodate each other, and not shrieking that British People Are Being Perscuted Because The Council Decided We Could Have Celebrations In The Town Square For Eids As Well As Easter And Christmas.
I was actually going to write a post about the wonderful panoply of types of "romantic" relationship people can have and how silly and demeaning it is to decide that one type of relationship or attraction is better than another or that everyone is "X" really (the things that "every is, really": human. different) and how much I want to punch the majority of the polybikinky crowd for being in the same box as me get out of my box you are all horrible smug slimy selfish creeps with like TWO exceptions.
But then I was reminded what an odious bigoted little prig we have determined should be our representative to the rest of the world, and I didn't want to any more. I have some inchoate thoughts regarding global restructuring, the UK letting go of the goddamn post-colonnial hangover where we think we deserve special bonuses from countries we spent years assfucking, Egypt, Tunisia, socialism, how I think idealism and pragmatism can co-exist with very little compromise, how "growth" is an unsustainable bullshit goal, short-termism, capitalism not being in direct opposition to socialism but definitely needing to be kept under control by it, and the irritating fact of human nature where "I've got mine, Jack, so fuck you" remains a powerful motivating force in people's socio-political views.
But they *are* inchoate & incoherent, so I'm going to try to force more words into my SiNtE assignment before I got and see Sal & Vee.