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VanemadUuemad
Sounds almost as bad as the situation in Canada where the English have been forcing their language on everyone for over a century.
I knew a Mari quite well in Estonia a few years ago and asked her lots of questions on the state of the Mari language. According to her, Mari is rarely spoken in the big cities, it is spoken more in rural areas. She could also speak Russian much better than Mari as her education was in that language. It almost seemed to me that some Maris see their language as backward and prefer to speak Russian. Many Mari children are spoken to by their parents in Mari and reply in Russian. If this situation is not reversed soon then the Mari language will go the way of many other minority languages in both Russia and North America.
I knew a Mari quite well in Estonia a few years ago and asked her lots of questions on the state of the Mari language. According to her, Mari is rarely spoken in the big cities, it is spoken more in rural areas. She could also speak Russian much better than Mari as her education was in that language. It almost seemed to me that some Maris see their language as backward and prefer to speak Russian. Many Mari children are spoken to by their parents in Mari and reply in Russian. If this situation is not reversed soon then the Mari language will go the way of many other minority languages in both Russia and North America.
"...almost as bad as the situation in Canada..."? Get help.
Maybe you should get some help or just look at the facts. In reality the situation here has been far worse. Even under the darkest days of the Soviet Union linguistic minorities in Russia had far more rights than those in Canada. Even Stalin did not ban all minority language schools like the Anglos did here.
In the last decades of the Russian Empire the government passed a law that all education must be in Russian. This requirement was relaxed after the 1905 uprising and although the Soviet government did chip away at the rights of Russia's minorities they never went as far as the czarist regime when it came to education. English Canada took a much more hard line stance against its linguistic minorities during the first World War than the Soviet Union ever did. If Putin decides to emulate the Anglos here then the Maris and other minorities are in real trouble.
In the last decades of the Russian Empire the government passed a law that all education must be in Russian. This requirement was relaxed after the 1905 uprising and although the Soviet government did chip away at the rights of Russia's minorities they never went as far as the czarist regime when it came to education. English Canada took a much more hard line stance against its linguistic minorities during the first World War than the Soviet Union ever did. If Putin decides to emulate the Anglos here then the Maris and other minorities are in real trouble.
Activists in the Mari community, on several occasions, have been physically attacked. A journalist was murdered. All of this just recently. To my knowledge, there is nothing comparable occurring in Canada's Estonian community.
You're correctly refer to minority rights in the Soviet Union. You probably know that the Soviet Constitution was an example to the world in establishing a host of rights, including the right of sucession. Estonia didn't exercise it's constitutional right to national self-determination and you've probably wondered why. It's because those rights only existed on paper.
You're correctly refer to minority rights in the Soviet Union. You probably know that the Soviet Constitution was an example to the world in establishing a host of rights, including the right of sucession. Estonia didn't exercise it's constitutional right to national self-determination and you've probably wondered why. It's because those rights only existed on paper.
I am referring to events that happened here in the past that have led to English being the dominant language in Canada.
For your information, Canada had a vibrant non-English language press and many ethnic groups had their own school systems. There were never many Estonians here so it was fairly easy for the Anglos to deny us the right to our own schools but there were many Germans, Ukranians and Russians who were treated very badly by the English-ruled establishment. There was even violence and quite a number of English shools in BC were burned by angry parents of children who were no longer allowed to be educated in their mother tongue after they had been promised this right. Our government responded by setting up concentration camps for the parents and taking away their children. Large numbers of people also left Canada for Mexico for this reason. This is the true story of how English came to be the dominant language of Canada and I was just stating that the government of Russia may try the same tactics there that were so effective in destroying minority languages here.
For your information, Canada had a vibrant non-English language press and many ethnic groups had their own school systems. There were never many Estonians here so it was fairly easy for the Anglos to deny us the right to our own schools but there were many Germans, Ukranians and Russians who were treated very badly by the English-ruled establishment. There was even violence and quite a number of English shools in BC were burned by angry parents of children who were no longer allowed to be educated in their mother tongue after they had been promised this right. Our government responded by setting up concentration camps for the parents and taking away their children. Large numbers of people also left Canada for Mexico for this reason. This is the true story of how English came to be the dominant language of Canada and I was just stating that the government of Russia may try the same tactics there that were so effective in destroying minority languages here.
Anyone who believes that the policies of the Canadian Government have been worse than those of the Soviet Government is, without a doubt, insane.
Peter....a word of advise. Don't waste good intellectual fodder on people that don't want to have any empathy with what you're trying to say. These people are incredibly predjudiced and biased against you, and no doubt they only form their opinions based on their internal opinion of you, and not what the opinions your are expressing in writing. Save your words for people who can appreciate what you have to say. Cheers!
Your syntax is incoherent. Is this the product of a muddled mind, a lack of education, or both? Your spelling is also famous, for the wrong reasons. With these impediments, it's hard to take you seriously as a man of ideas. You sound like a high-school drop-out who, curiously, thinks that he's an intellectual.
Maksim reminds us of a little boy who thinks that he can be an adult by wearing a fedora and fake moustache. We can't help but laugh even though it's endearingly innocent.
Peter, on the other hand, preaches to the deaf with falsehoods and non sequiturs. His unheeded message of hate drives him to anger and makes him dream of Hitler as an avenging angel. He's a twisted soul, isolated from the world by his own poison.
It's odd that they should become soul-mates and, for the rest of us, it's embarrassing that they should do so in this public forum.
Peter, on the other hand, preaches to the deaf with falsehoods and non sequiturs. His unheeded message of hate drives him to anger and makes him dream of Hitler as an avenging angel. He's a twisted soul, isolated from the world by his own poison.
It's odd that they should become soul-mates and, for the rest of us, it's embarrassing that they should do so in this public forum.
You can't give Peter a word of "advise". The word that you're looking for is "advice".
Now that I've given you a bit of education, please give me some by explaining what you mean by "internal opinion". Is this something distinct from "external opinion", or what?
Now that I've given you a bit of education, please give me some by explaining what you mean by "internal opinion". Is this something distinct from "external opinion", or what?
I don't know what your comments have to do with the situation in Mari El, I just made the observation that the Russians seem to have learned a thing or two from our Anglos who successfully destoroyed many linguistic communities over the last century. These Russians share a similar dream, a totally Russian speaking country with no room for any linguistic minorities, much the same as what Canada has become.
You should also make an effort to control your anger here in this forum, it can lead to high blood pressure and I would feel bad knowing that I was responsible for you suffering a stroke in front of your computer.
You should also make an effort to control your anger here in this forum, it can lead to high blood pressure and I would feel bad knowing that I was responsible for you suffering a stroke in front of your computer.
Peter approaches an historical question with the verdict in advance. Then he assembles evidence to support it cafeteria-style, selecting and passing over the options according to his desires. This unscholarly method can lead to implausible arguments as Peter has clearly demonstrated.
To Peter:
In the above, you have been asked some straight-forward questions regarding minority rights in Canada and Russia. Your response is only partial and an ambiguous (perhaps debatable) reference to events in Canada's distant past. This in response to Russian violence against the Mari that is in today's newspaper. You're not convincing in your assertion that Canadian democracy is worse that Russian authoritarianism.
Redeem yourself with some clear answers to some simple questions.
1) Where have Estonians in Canada been subjected to violence for trying to preserve their culture?
2) Why didn't the Estonians in the Soviet Union exercise their constitutional right to national self-determination?
In the above, you have been asked some straight-forward questions regarding minority rights in Canada and Russia. Your response is only partial and an ambiguous (perhaps debatable) reference to events in Canada's distant past. This in response to Russian violence against the Mari that is in today's newspaper. You're not convincing in your assertion that Canadian democracy is worse that Russian authoritarianism.
Redeem yourself with some clear answers to some simple questions.
1) Where have Estonians in Canada been subjected to violence for trying to preserve their culture?
2) Why didn't the Estonians in the Soviet Union exercise their constitutional right to national self-determination?
I never said that Estonians in Canada were subjected to any violence for trying to preserve our culture. The events that I mentioned did happen in the past but now the damage has been done and most of our linguistic minorities are already gone and the real history of what happened to them has been conveniently swepped under the rug. I am not in any way defending the former Soviet Union's constitution as I am well aware that it was not worth the paper it was written on but had the Soviet government also banned all minority language education as our government did then I doubt if any Maris or members of other ethnic groups in Russia would still be speaking their languages.
As a postscript, the government of B.C. recently planned to erect a monument to some of the Russian immigrants who were interned and whose children were taken away from them. I guess they feel guilty about this shameful act now.
As a postscript, the government of B.C. recently planned to erect a monument to some of the Russian immigrants who were interned and whose children were taken away from them. I guess they feel guilty about this shameful act now.
You make vague historical statements with unambiguous (and implausible) implications. When challenged you don't clarify your views. Instead, you shift them, slightly, to a another vague location.
With that, you've become a tedious bore.
With that, you've become a tedious bore.
Kommentaarid sellele artiklile on suletud.