https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assimilate
"assimilate (third-person singular simple present assimilates, present participle assimilating, simple past and past participle assimilated)
- (transitive) To incorporate nutrients into the body, especially after digestion.
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- Food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue.
- (transitive) To incorporate or absorb (knowledge) into the mind.
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- The teacher paused in her lecture to allow the students to assimilate what she had said.
- (transitive) To absorb (a person or people) into a community or culture.
- The aliens in the science-fiction film wanted to assimilate human beings into their own race.
- (transitive) To compare to something similar. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (transitive) To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between.
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- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir M. Hale to this entry?)
- (intransitive) To become similar.
- (intransitive) To be incorporated or absorbed into something."
As is often the case when people argue about definitions, Uncle Ken and I are both correct. I am using definition 3, and I think that Uncle Ken is using definition 7. As it happens, my assertion that assimilation is a two way street works for both of them. Whether Culture A assimilates Culture B, or Culture B assimilates into Culture A, the result is the same. Culture B is diminished but not extinguished, it is incorporated into Culture A, and Culture A will never be quite the same again.
I agree that words like "conflict" and "survivors" are not appropriate here because we are dealing with refugees rather than invaders. Nevertheless, when one culture crowds in on another culture, there is usually a period of upheaval that ends, maybe centuries later, when the two cultures assimilate each other. It's not the end of the world, but it can be downright inconvenient for those who are experiencing it. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I agree that words like "conflict" and "survivors" are not appropriate here because we are dealing with refugees rather than invaders. Nevertheless, when one culture crowds in on another culture, there is usually a period of upheaval that ends, maybe centuries later, when the two cultures assimilate each other. It's not the end of the world, but it can be downright inconvenient for those who are experiencing it. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
The following is copied from the link that Uncle Ken provided in his last post:
"A more recent example is Argentina, which defaulted on its debt in late 2001 on $132 billion in loans. The amount represented one-seventh of all the money borrowed by the third world at the time. After a period of uncertainty, the country opted to devalue its currency and was eventually able to recover with GDP growth of around 90% over the nine-year since."
This seems to confirm what I said about Argentina doing fine. Or course, they weren't doing fine right after they defaulted, but they're doing okay now. I thought the rest of the article tended to confirm what I said about sovereign default, except for the "restructuring" part, which is not germane to my argument. My point is that, while it's not much fun, sovereign default is not the end of the world. According to the article, lots of countries have defaulted in the past, some of them multiple times, and they're still functioning today. In the case of the US, and I believe most of the countries of the modern world, the national debt is an important tool for managing the ups and downs of the economic cycle. When they think the economy needs a boost, they buy government debt from private brokers with money that they create out of nothing. When they think the economy is running too hot, they take money out of circulation by selling government debt. The total debt will never be payed off, it is periodically refinanced by issuing more bonds. I know it shouldn't work, but it does, as long as there are plenty of buyers for those new bonds.
The reason the asylum seekers turn themselves in after crossing the border illegally is that they know they will be fed and cared for, and then released on the US side. Legal immigrants, on the other hand, have to wait on the Mexican side at their own expense for their applications to be processed. Good behavior is being punished and bad behavior is being rewarded. Anybody who has trained a dog or a kid will tell you that's not the way to do it.
"So how about if a guy is on trial for a bank robbery he says he didn't commit says he doesn't think bank robbing is illegal and if the chance came to rob one came up he might very well do it? I think you all know who I am referring to." - I think that you are probably referring to Trump, but I am unfamiliar with the particular case in point. If you want me to comment on it, you will have to give me more information than that.
Speaking of the end of the world, there are signs that it might indeed be upon us. A little over thirteen years ago, the date was "6-6-6", which is the Sign of the Beast. Since then, there have been wars and rumors of wars. Now the Obama Nation has come and gone, and the Trump is sounding loudly throughout the land. Coincidence? I think not! The good news is that we don't have to worry about the climate heating up anymore. Well, at least some of us don't.
This seems to confirm what I said about Argentina doing fine. Or course, they weren't doing fine right after they defaulted, but they're doing okay now. I thought the rest of the article tended to confirm what I said about sovereign default, except for the "restructuring" part, which is not germane to my argument. My point is that, while it's not much fun, sovereign default is not the end of the world. According to the article, lots of countries have defaulted in the past, some of them multiple times, and they're still functioning today. In the case of the US, and I believe most of the countries of the modern world, the national debt is an important tool for managing the ups and downs of the economic cycle. When they think the economy needs a boost, they buy government debt from private brokers with money that they create out of nothing. When they think the economy is running too hot, they take money out of circulation by selling government debt. The total debt will never be payed off, it is periodically refinanced by issuing more bonds. I know it shouldn't work, but it does, as long as there are plenty of buyers for those new bonds.
The reason the asylum seekers turn themselves in after crossing the border illegally is that they know they will be fed and cared for, and then released on the US side. Legal immigrants, on the other hand, have to wait on the Mexican side at their own expense for their applications to be processed. Good behavior is being punished and bad behavior is being rewarded. Anybody who has trained a dog or a kid will tell you that's not the way to do it.
"So how about if a guy is on trial for a bank robbery he says he didn't commit says he doesn't think bank robbing is illegal and if the chance came to rob one came up he might very well do it? I think you all know who I am referring to." - I think that you are probably referring to Trump, but I am unfamiliar with the particular case in point. If you want me to comment on it, you will have to give me more information than that.
Speaking of the end of the world, there are signs that it might indeed be upon us. A little over thirteen years ago, the date was "6-6-6", which is the Sign of the Beast. Since then, there have been wars and rumors of wars. Now the Obama Nation has come and gone, and the Trump is sounding loudly throughout the land. Coincidence? I think not! The good news is that we don't have to worry about the climate heating up anymore. Well, at least some of us don't.
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