Spreading hate is not free speech

An article I read the other day: Tension fills Oregon campus over extremists. My thoughts about this are clear from the title of this entry. I decided to include this article since a Lithuanian was mentioned--not in the best light, I'm afraid. I'll refrain from making generalizations since I don't think they would be accurate or fair, but I can say that as a fairly racially homogeneous country, Lithuania couldn't be described as a beacon of tolerance for people whose skin is any shade darker than pale. What's strange, however, is that I've heard some of the most vehemently racist comments from Lithuanians who've lived abroad in multi-cultural countries. I should probably add that those comments came not from educated professionals, but from less well educated people. Quite likely the negative stereotypes of certain people can be reinforced by their negative experiences abroad, while at the same time people with more enlightened souls would tend to find the positive in their environment and understand that people are people.

So you think your language is difficult to learn?

An entertaining and informative article about, among other things, languages and the relative difficulty of various languages can be found here. Nothing about Lithuanian, but Estonian does get a mention because of its notorious 14 cases. Thanks for that, Jeff.

Buying Lithuanian

The readers of Delfi have chosen a quotation of the year. I think it's worth exposing to a larger audience.

Maybe a drumroll isn't necessary, however. Here it is: "Aš laikausi šūkio 'pirk prekę lietuvišką', bet perku ją Lenkijoje. Ten lietuviškos prekės vos ne per pusę pigesnės."

My translation: "I support the slogan 'buy Lithuanian products', but I buy them in Poland. There Lithuanian products are about half the price". Hmm. I'll leave others to explain why that is.

I've gotta get out of this place...

A recent article that appeared on Delfi indicated that 36.4 percent of the inhabitants of large cities in Lithuania would like to emigrate. This figure has gone up an amazing five times since April 2008 (from 6.9 percent). Another 33.4 percent state that they would emigrate if their standard of living got significantly worse. Only 28.8 percent of urban dwellers state that they are not interested in emigrating. In April 2008, this figure was 62.6 percent.

The economic crisis has obviously taken its toll, but in fact large scale emigration has been a problem for Lithuania for many years and complicates the task of making the country viable.

Another recent article also addresses this topic. In it, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament states that emigration will be brought under control only when employers lose their overbearing and haughty behavior with employees. He admits that the difference in salaries of 5–8 times is the main problem but says that the creation of rules for businesses and a suitable work environment would encourage people to stay in Lithuania even if they were making a lower salary.

This article, which appeared on 7 December, has generated 135 comments. Perhaps it would be interesting to look at some of the reactions (in some cases I'll paraphrase or shorten what is written).

Perkunas—10 December: Emigration from villages will stop when it gets easier for children to settle near their elderly parents and build new houses, when the government changes the horrible Soviet laws, and when bureaucrats stealing from the poor are... I wonder if the people in government will ever understand that.

joooo—9 December: Emigration is taking place because of the unwillingness of politicians and the outright rejection of "businesspeople" to raise the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the president, wanting to remain popular with business, doesn't want to say anything. People aren't stupid. They see that some are becoming ridiculously rich and not paying workers. And they choose to leave for a more respectable place. And now the only way is to raise the minimum wage. No amount of tax reform will help matters. Our so-called businesspeople will not look after the interests of Lithuania. They're more likely to rip the rest of the country off and force the last of the workers out of the country and then start whining because no one is left to work. Then they'll start yelling that they need laborers from the East. It's happening now...

ciabuvis—8 December: The problem isn't employers; it's the government. At a corporation I worked for, about 10 government auditors came in a 2-month period. They didn't audit anything, just bargained with the managers for a bribe. It was this way: if you didn't pay the bribe, they would close up the business and not allow you to operate. And then you'd have to go to their bosses, who would demand bigger bribes. ... It seems as if the entire government works this way...

mama—8 December: Young, healthy people have been leaving Lithuania for 15 years and they will continue to leave for the next 15. So what are they going to do when they return to Lithuania when they're 50? Their children and grandchildren will already be abroad. Empty words. Lithuania WILL NO LONGER EXIST then...

q—7 December: I've had to sweep streets in America. I've also been a high-ranking manager in a Lithuanian company that was proud of the way it treated its employees. And I can say that in the States I felt more respected than I do here. If you work there, you're respected as a person.

lola—7 December: I worked as a bookkeeper in Lithuania. The boss called the bookkeepers vermin. I work as a bookkeeper in the U.S.A. The boss says "thank you" every day.

What's Wrong with This Picture?

The Lithuanian Ministry of Education took the time (sometime in the past) to write a rule stating that schoolchildren must use fountain pens exclusively beginning in the first grade. (Oh, the mess!) But strangely enough, at no time in the past did they take the time to write a rule stating that schools must provide toilet paper in the bathrooms/restrooms/toilets for children. Oh, no. It's BYOTP for children in Lithuanian public schools.

So typical of Lithuanian governing. Long lists of mindless, often arcane, rules (which can and will be interpreted differently by various bureaucrats you encounter) for the average citizen to follow, but almost nothing about the responsibility of the government to provide anything of value.

I heard another story recently that sort of fits into the same category (bad governance). You want to get your house hooked up to the gas main? You say it runs just a few meters from your property? Expect to shell out US$100,000+ (so I was told--obviously a gross exaggeration, but I'm sure the actual figure is something ridiculous when compared to salaries here [maybe US$1000?] ) for all of the fees, permits, projects that need to be prepared, etc. Make no mistake. Those in power are not interested in eliminating the excess bureaucracy that leads to corruption. It puts too much money into their pockets and the pockets of their family and friends working in the bureaucracy.

Pickpocket alert

Last Saturday I was sitting in the cafe Vynine on Vilniaus Street with some friends listening to a trio play some jazzy numbers. My mobile telephone was in the inside pocket of my jacket, which I had hung on the back of my chair. When the concert finished, we got up to go and when I checked the pockets of my coat I discovered that my phone was missing. At no time had I left my coat unattended, so my phone was stolen, it's possible to say, right from under my nose, or at least my armpit.

Apparently Vynine is fairly crowded on Friday and Saturday nights (it certainly was when we were there), so it's the perfect place for pickpockets to work. So keep a very close eye on your belongings if you visit there!

By the way, I highly recommend going there to listen to the band that was playing. They sounded very good and were obviously having a great time performing. I'm sorry that I don't know the name of the band, but the lead singer told us that they play there every Friday and Saturday evening, starting at about 9. (But as I said, beware of pickpockets!)

Dupsie's

Note that I've added a new link in my African section: Dupsie's. (http://www.dupsies.com/) The physical address is
2289 South Cobb Drive
Smyrna, GA 30080

The shop features a great selection of clothing, jewelry, and other accessories from Africa. Check it out!