Re: THEORY: Languages divided by politics and religion

In a message dated 2000/05/27 12:00:25 AM, Nik wrote in regards to an
alternate history in which the American Civil War has divided the US into two
nations:

>I could picture the North in
>this alternate timeline having a similar civil rights movement, but I'd
>imagine the South would be delayed by at least a couple of decades.
    True. Perhaps even 30-50 years or so.

>I'm sure that slavery itself probably would've been legally abolished
>shortly after the Civil War due to British pressure [in Harry
>Turtledove's "The Great War: American Front", this occurred in the
>1880's], but it would probably be largely a nominal freedom, the
>ex-slaves remaining disenfranchised and in a sort of _de facto_ slavery.
    I agree. It would be purely "lip-service" to the "democratic ideal" & not
"from the heart" (hard to pressure that kinda of socio-cultural change - i.e.
like even in today's liberal, Politically-Correct Berkeley, CA, I still get
loaded questions like "What are you? Where are you from?"  For me, these quest
ions could be as much mere curiosity as knee-jerk reactions to my skin-colour
& angle of my eyes. The question of "where" I am from is especially
problematic: what does the questioner want to know? I currently live in the
Bay Area, CA. I grew up in Houston, TX. I was born in London, England, UK. My
mum is a Mainland Chinese from Foochow, my dad is from Sumatra, Indonesia. So
there...  THAT is "where" I am from. OH!!! & I still suffer from
"culture-shock"... that's the space I come from.  see, it gets complicated...
HE-HE...).

    zHANg