I guess I have truly made it in the world of blogging. My previous post has come under fire from a reader in Romania, who calls me ignorant for my commentary on the income tax legislation. This means two things: 1. I have a reader in Romania, and 2. My blog is controversial. I have decided to address our Romanian friend’s comments in a post rather than a comment so that my other readers can witness the conversation.
Dear clau2002,
Let me start by saying that I never meant any harm or offense by my post. I am just a hobbyist blogger, who was under the impression that the only people who read my blog were 5 of my closest friends, who know me well enough to know when I am joking or being frivolous. That said, I would like to further address your comments thus:
Witchcraft is not at all widespread in America. If I am ignorant for thinking that based on a news article written by the Associated Press (a widely-trusted and regarded news source) then perhaps you may be ignorant for thinking the same of the US based on…what exactly?
Also, I think it’s fairly common knowledge that, while based on a historical figure, Dracula is not, in fact, historical himself. I know this, and my readers (I thought) know I know this. However, even fictional characters can have birthplaces, no? I will give you a few examples: Where was Harry Potter born? England. Where was Bella Swan born? America? Where was Dennis the Menace born? I’m not sure exactly, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere in the Mid-West. So you see, Dracula does have a birthplace, and that place is Romania.
I hope you will take notice that my blog post does not address why this law came into effect. I don’t talk about the reasons lawmakers decided to do this now, so I think you would be wrong in correcting me to that effect. If you say it is to hold them accountable in court, that’s just swell. But, I beg of you, do not fire that nugget of information at me like you’re winning some sort of battle. You can’t correct me on something I didn’t say. I would also like to point out that your use of the words “Gypsy crooks” kind of gives away your personal feelings about the witches and fortunetellers. I’ll say it bluntly: it sounds like you have a bias, and perhaps the reasons you give are not the ones lawmakers had in mind. I suspect their reasons may lie somewhere along the lines of: hey, these citizens are making money, why don’t we tax it? But, I do not live in Romania, and thus, I cannot be sure.
I do, however, apologize for my use of the phrase “widely accepted.” What I meant to say is that they “exist.” Though, I may add, if a national ruler had a personal witch, I don’t think it would be a stretch for an outsider to think they were accepted as at least slightly legitimate. Nonetheless, I apologize for the unintentional exaggeration.
In closing, I thank you, claus2002, for your input and insight into Romania. I also thank you for showing me that deciding to visit a place one day should be a matter of great consideration. I was all set to plan a trip to Romania, but your remarks have given me pause. Perhaps I may not be understood in Romania quite as well as I am understood in the United States, perhaps my jokes will be attacked as seriously offensive remarks. I don’t know. But I do know I appreciate your active readership, and I do sincerely hope that you will continue reading. I pride myself on my open mind both to other cultures and to criticism, and I would genuinely like to continue learning from each other.
All the best,
BW
PS-- I was also just wondering: how did you find my blog? I tried Google searching, and it didn't come up, short of writing the exact name of my blog. How did you stumble upon it?
PS-- I was also just wondering: how did you find my blog? I tried Google searching, and it didn't come up, short of writing the exact name of my blog. How did you stumble upon it?
BW:Since you felt the need to address my comment in an entire post I will try to say a few words about the issue for you and for your readers.Internet is a public space and when you post your opinion in a blog you should expect that every person connected may read it.Now you may think AP is a widely trusted source but that "widely"refers to the USA and if you look at it from outside,the USA is not that wide.AP,Reuters,CNN,Fox,CNBS etc.are not that credible outside USA anymore.I spent eight long years in the USA,not that far from New York (NJ&PA) so unlike you I know what I am talking about.I would say that in a country where witchcraft has a national holiday(that would be the Halloween),people believe vampires are real(personal experience with American coworkers)and 60% of the population believes the earth was literally made in 7 days by Bruce almighty 5000 years ago,witchcraft,ignorance and superstition are widespread.On the Dracula character,I need to point to you one more time that it is the creation of Bram Stoker who created it in IRELAND so the birthplace is IRELAND not Romania.Vlad the Impaler was a real prince who ruled in Wallachia not Transylvania and his father was called DRACULEA not DRACULA since he was a knight of the order of the DRAGON.In Romanian the name DRACULA has no meaning.DRACULEA means..."of the devil" so DRACULA is Stoker"s misspelling.While he wasn"t an angel he wasn"t worse than any other ruler of that time.So besides the name Bram Stoker borrowed,there is no real connection between them.Witchcraft traditionally is one of the occupations of Gypsy women(Gypsies are an ethnic minority in Romania like everywhere else),not of Romanian women.So i think the AP article should have said..."Gypsy witches from Romania"and not Romanian witches.In my opinion this is what is called biased reporting.Alyson Mutler,the original author,is a freelance journalist who gets payed to take real facts out of context,wrap it in a sensationalist terminology in order to boost the newspapers sales,except that this is no news at all.With a little research on the Internet(A handbook of the self-employed astrologer,with a foreword by Steven Forrest) you will discover that uncle Sam was taxing these crooks from the very moment he decided is much profitable to tax them then to burn them in the city square(about 250 years ago).I am willing to bet that he got his inspiration from her Majesty"s Government. Based on your preferred books list I presume you are a high school girl so in the future you might be willing to study and not believe blindly whatever you read(regardless the source).Since I am a 45 years old University graduate I am entitled to advise you to remember what Socrates,the worldwide acknowledged father of wisdom used to say:"The day when an ignorant idiot starts to have doubts on his/her superior view of the world is the day when the said ignorant idiot starts to become intelligent".In Romania we are taught that it is not fair to lough at the stupid because he/she was born that way,it is not his/her fault,but it is a moral duty to lough at the ignorant because the ignorant choose not to learn out of laziness.Best regards from Romania and don"t worry,if you come nobody will attack your jokes since we pride ourselves to have a very healthy sense of humour(a little witty I might add).
ReplyDeleteP.S.In Europe we don"t really care about all that PC crap they are imposing on you in the USA.
P.P.S.I was searching something and googling ROMANIA I was hit by an avalanche of about 100 news posts,blogs all about that article of Alyson Mutler.So I got pissed off and it happened to post my comment on your blog since you actually had something to say and it was not just a copy-paste link.
Clau2002,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing back. I'm not going to continue this argument with you frankly because you seem pretty set in your ways, and I just don't have the time to devote to making you see my point. I will wrap things up with just a couple comments.
Yes, perhaps my favorite books would lead you to believe I am in high school. But I'm sure there are many adults out there who will admit to liking Harry Potter. So sue me. I would think, though, that if you took the time to look at my profile, and do that bit of research, that you would also take a look at some of my other posts, and really get to know your subject, instead of making blind inferences. If you had done that, you would see instantly that I am also a University graduate. And I don't believe blindly whatever I read, I merely stumbled upon an article I found interesting and made a brief, harmless comment upon it. And since I do live in the United States, where AP is widely acknowledged as a news source, I, too, will regard it as such.
We will just have to agree to disagree on Dracula. But one more time, he is a fictional character in a novel based in Romania. In the book, he has a long history of living in Romania. There is no mention of Ireland in the novel. Even if that is where he was created, as a character he was not born there.
Thank you for the reassurance about Romania, but I think it is unnecessary. Based on my only interaction with a Romanian (that's you) I really have no interest any longer in further exploring the country. If you are truly a representative of the Romanian way, as you seem to think, I'm not sure Romania and I would get a long very well. I'm not interested in people who repeatedly call others ignorant or stupid and have no interest in learning from them. I was sincere when I said we could learn from each other. I am open to new ways of thinking and learning about other cultures. You seem to know it all already and have no interest in conducting intelligent conversation, only attacking those who take an interest in it. Please note that I would never call you ignorant simply because you do not agree with my point of view. As a 45 year old University graduate, I would expect a little more open-mindedness and tolerance from you. But perhaps University education in Europe isn't quite as open to new ideas as American University is.
Again, I appreciate your active readership, but I will thank you not to make any more comments on this blog until you can do it in a respectful and intelligent way. I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but please disagree with respect, thought and consideration.
Thank you.
PS-I would think that, as one of the few blogs that actually had something to say, you would appreciate my response, if not agree with it, simply because I took the time to engage the topic, instead of just copy-paste. Also, the next time you comment on someone's blog, perhaps you shouldn't do it from a place of anger, but really take the time to consider what they are saying, and their intentions and decide if it is truly worth your time. Writing an angry rant is fine, but if you do it more than once, people with stop caring, and your opinions will go wholly unnoticed.