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Subject: 
RE: offtopic: UScentric Americans, why worry?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.au
Date: 
Thu, 4 May 2000 01:24:51 GMT
Viewed: 
407 times
  
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Parsons [mailto:rparsons@hinet.net.au]
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 10:46 AM
To: lugnet.loc.au@lugnet.com
Subject: offtopic: UScentric Americans, why worry?


Guys guys guys!

I'm not sure there's a lot to be gained here.

The Americans rule the planet by weight of economic resources and the
success of their economic/military model.  Get used to it.
That success has
brought a bunch of real advantages for the rest of us.  And
that's all most
Americans think of when they hear criticism, and they wonder
why the rest of
us are so <<expletive deleted on request>> ungrateful.  And then they
remember that we're not as successful as they are by their
measures, so they
ignore us and press on regardless.

For ours, we're pleased as punch for the advantages, but
still rail at the
edges where things are uncomfortable.  I'm pleased that there
is still a
clash of cultures thing going - at least it means that there are still
differences.

And on the Lego side, it annoys the <<expletive deleted on
request>> out of
me that I get responses like this out of TLC:

   Hello,
   Thank you for the e-mail!
   Find your local LEGO Consumer Services at
   http://www.lego.com/info/addresses and contact them.
   If you live in the  US, please contact LEGO Consumer
   Service at 1800 822 4534.
   They will be able to help you.
   Best Regards

to a email that plainly came from .au, and raised an issue
which is not an
issue in America, because it only reminds me what  fly on the
<<expletive
deleted on request>> of the America TLC thinks we are down
here/how much
respect TLC shows America.  You'd have to assume TLC has
worked out that
America contains the largest amount of money being spent on
toys in the
world, and is going after it with a passion usually
attributed to Americans.

But these are all givens.  These are predictable consequences
of factors not
open to our influence.

America - despite the odd exception - is internally focussed
regardless of
posturing, in contrast perhaps to the British, who - despite the odd
exception - actually took responsibility for its empire.
Britain looked at
itself as a king with a duty to all his subjects (in contrast
to a chieftain
who had won his last battle).  Maybe after another hundred
years or so, if
America survives as a world power, it will get around to
taking the same
longer view and responsibility to which the British aspired
(and probably
still aspire).

You have no idea how hard that was to write for a man with a decent
proportion of Irish blood running around in him.

So, what purpose the thread?

We come off as whiners, which is more or less a useless
outcome, and kind of
at odds with our view of ourselves.

It seems to me you get what you can from Lugnet <<customary
head nod to
Todd>>, expect it to be UScentric, and be amazed when it is
not.  I have no
plans to make Port Block or Studs anything other than
Auscentic (but then I
wouldn't posture otherwise ;-)  Just ignore the posturing and
don't sweat
it.  Hit the individual points as you go (language, sale
posts in .general,
set names etc) but don't generalise them nationally.  True as
it may be, its
unlikely to be helpful.

Dear oh dear.  It all reads like I'm trying to take the high
ground.  Not
so!  I guess it all boils down to the idea that most of this
is what it is,
isn't going to change at speed, and not worth stressing over.
Not for me
;-)

Regards

Richard
Still baldly going...

Check out Port Block at http://www.hinet.net.au/~rparsons/port/

Maybe this discussion was never going to gain anything major, but I'd hope
that it might have shown at least 1 person in the US that the world exists
outside the US, and that the people who do live outside the US would at
least like some consideration given from those in the US. After all, lego is
(was?) an international toy, with an international following, and this would
improve with some thought for those who don't live in the US.<esp. in regard
to lego direct and enquiries like you mentioned>

<rant>
[One thing I'd really like to see change is items in marketplace that are
only for 1 country to be listed in a local area, and not where everyone else
can see them. I'm sick of offering to trade for something, only to be told
that 'Sorry, I should have mentioned in the post that I only trade in the
US'. If they're only going to trade in the US [or wherever], they should
either mention this prominently in either the subject, or before they list
the items for sale/auction/trade. Otherwise, they should have to post in
their .loc, or have post privaleges to .market revoked]
</rant>

Benjamin Whytcross
BWhytcro@PacificAccess.com.au
Ph: (03) 9856 5282
Directory Technology Pty Ltd
1/436 Elgar Road,
Box Hill, 3128

Growing older is compulsary..Growing up isn't :-)



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: offtopic: UScentric Americans, why worry?
 
(...) At least on ebay it's quite clear where each auctioneer will ship to, thankyou to all those 'will ship internationally' sellers. If you go in thru ebay.com.au you can even tick the box 'items available to Australia' before you start. pete.w (24 years ago, 4-May-00, to lugnet.loc.au)

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