-=> Quoting Karolina Stutzman to Sondra Ball <=-
 PMFJI
 KS> I just hope I learn to "get" it.  Not enough laughter in the world.  
 If you are speaking specifically of Indian humor, you just have to be around
 it a lot (or read a lot of it). It's the same idea as English humor. Unless
 you watch a lot of BBS comedy, you might not "get" the strange (to Americans
 sense of humor). Actually, after a period of time you might know when you 
hear
 (or read) something that it's humor (Indian or British), but it still might
 not seem "funny" to you. 
 KS> Is the d.c. an amalgam of individuals of many different tribes?
 To my way of thinking, it depends on how you are meaning the words
 "individuals" and "tribes". And I am not sure I would call it an "amalgam"
 either. To me an "amalgam" implies that it is a "mixture". I don't think our
 "mainstream culture" (personally, I prefer that to "dominant" which to _me_
 implies the opposite of "submissive") is a "mixture" of anything. I think it 
 is a unique development. A product of ever-changing values. And it is an
 ever-changing culture of values and ethics. 
 
 IMHO, when I try to define the "mainstream culture", I look at the icons
 and the advertising of the culture. 
 Who are the "heroes"? Madonna and Mike Tyson. _Why_ are they "heroes"? You
 tell me.  How does one become a "hero" like them? What gets the big
 advertising dollars? Things that cost money. How do you get money? The
 easiest way you can.
 KS> And is it ok for a non n.a. to say "tribes"?
 In this part of the country (the Pacific Northwest) it's obligatory. The 
ord
 "tribes" is part of their official name. They use it. The "mainstream 
culture"
 uses it. As in: "The Confedrated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of
 Oregon". Usually, however, shortened to "Grand Ronde".
 KS> (I really *have* lived a sheltered and uneducated life.  Sigh.....)
 
 Probably not your fault. 
 SB> dominant culture.  I kept asking myself, "Why do they find *this*
 SB> funny, and not *that*?"   
 KS> Oh, oh.  Might be a lot more difficult than I thought, then, if *you*
 KS> had that much trouble.
 
 Oh, I have lived in the "mainstream culture" for almost sixty years. And I
 don't think MOST of the "comedy" on TV is funny. In fact, the "mainstream
 culture" has (and is) trained (from the day they are born) to laugh at the
 appropriate times by the ubiquitous "laugh track" and the Saturday Morning
 cartoons.
 
 KS> So... what I got from this is that I'll have to figure out for myself
 KS> what the d.c. is.  :)
 Actually, what you _think_ it (the "mainstream culture" is.
 KS> Perhaps, then, a part of what the d.c. is, is that it is more "new"
 KS> fashioned and non-traditionalist?  Perhaps by one definition it has been
 KS> "washed down", and, by another definition it might be considered
 KS> "forward thinking", with each side believing they are correct?  
 
 To my way of thinking the "mainstream culture" has been _developing_ for a
 very long time. I had to go back to college and major in U.S. History to 
 learn more about: "Where we (the American "mainstream culture") are and how
 we got here." question. I also threw in a little "Cultural Anthropology". 
 KS> I don't understand what you mean by "a different concept of history".
 
 Try reading these two books. They should be readily available.
 
 "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen and "The White Man's Indian" by
 Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr.
 SB> I think you will need to read carefully, sometimes even between the
 SB> lines, to figure out completely what is meant by DC.  
  
 KS> OK.  But I wouldn't mind a hint here and there!
 
 Think values, ethics, icons, home, family, commercial televison. There is an
 article in the current Reader's Digest about "rude children". They are a
 product of the "mainstream culture".
 
 SB> þ SLMR 2.1a þ May the wolves run at your side and not at your heels.
 KS> You're incorrigible!!!
 
 There again is a "cultural" difference that has been perpetuated for eons.
 The idea that the wolf is a bad creature stems from ancient Europe and it
 is a complete fallacy. If you study wolves for a while, their culture begins
 to make complete sense and order. We (the "mainstream" human culture) may
 think it hrash, cruel, etc. but that is mostly a product of "false
 advertising".
 Jim  
--- Blue Wave v2.12
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