Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
Posts must ask a question.
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
I fucking hate americans who make the fact that their great grandmother came from another country into their whole identity. You're not Irish just because you buy into stereotypes sold to you by American sitcoms from the 90's and you're not Irish just because your mom serves you a potato casserole her grandmom used to make.
Yeah, he has basically no connection. He doesn't seem to have any connections to living relatives in Ireland, and his first visit to Ireland was in 2016.
Pub friend brought that up last week. Why do Americans (US) do this?
I figured people basically fell into it while constructing personal identity (Who am I? Where do I belong? What sets me apart?) because strong labels, such as stereotypes, are the easiest pre-made answers available.
Her idea was that it indicates a need for community that Americans often miss, perhaps subconsciously, and sometimes try to find by resurrecting ancestral identities and traditions, or adopting ones they have no connection to at all.
As to why it happens here, she mentioned individualism and the melting pot metaphor. Our make-your-own-way ethos inhibits transmission of identities and traditions across generations, and our cultural amalgam tends to blend whatever does get passed. So within a handful of generations most connections to the old country are lost and distinctive traditions and cultural identities are replaced by various chimeric versions that are generally considered “American.”
Basically it’s harder for them to pinpoint any traditions, places, or people uniquely “theirs” and it makes them feel isolated and alone. Sometimes their solution is to reclaim hereditary identities and traditions or, if they have no idea, to just adopt ones they like.
Much of the “cultural melting pot” is superficial since it’s subsumed into “American culture” which not only bastardizes and commercializes it, but also reduces it in order to fit in with the terrible work and social culture. The more “authentic” a diaspora in the US, the less likely it is to be mainstream. I imagine it’s similar elsewhere but I don’t hear too many people IRL complaining about other places often in terms of culture.
I've said it before, people in the US do this because they're copying their parents. Their parents and grandparents did this because it was actually very relevant information. People held on to their cultures, and you could tell a decent amount about someone by their particular ethnic background - attitudes, practices, religion, zip code, and broadly who they associated with.
I am not old, and my white grandparents had to be careful in white neighborhoods of other ethnicities - not just poorer ones, richer ones too. Some of their marriages were seen as sort of interracial. Some of their parents and grandparents had fled ethnic violence from other white people.
So this behavior got culturally ingrained for a lot of good reasons (as well as plenty of completely stupid reasons). Its dying out though. Being half/half or even 25/25/25/25 makes people feel like it might still matter, but no gen alpha kid is going "see the difference between you and me is im 3% this and 6 % that and 1.5% this and 3% that and 12% that and 6% that and..."
Good point, like my block is mostly 1st/2nd gen immigrant families and the question of what places your family is from or your “mix” (often abbreviated to “so what are you” lol) is like the second question my friends and neighbors here will ask you, right after your name and that’s considered normal and polite. If you don’t ask they will tell you anyway. By contrast I (4th gen) never think to ask that, not because it would be taken as othering, but because I’m simply not used to it being relevant or useful information. For my friends who grew up on this block though, clearly it was.
It doesn't help people across our nearest cultural neighbors have spent the entire time we've existed telling us we have no real culture and are just less savage than the other brutes outside Western Europe. My view is biased by the sheer number of arrogant Euros I've met though.
Methuselah
Joe Biden's code name is a reference to him being old as shit.
Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents | Britannica
Lancer
John F. Kennedy’s code name was apt, given that his administration was often compared to Camelot, the magical court of Arthurian legend of which Lancelot was a legendary knight. First Lady Jackie Kennedy was known as Lace.Searchlight
Richard Nixon had one of the more ironic code names in light of his attempts to cover up what became the Watergate scandal.Passkey
Gerald Ford’s moniker also held a certain irony, as he locked the door on any possibility of criminal prosecution against his predecessor, Nixon, by granting him “a full, free, and absolute pardon.”Deacon
Jimmy Carter’s name reflected his deeply religious faith. Long active in the Baptist church, he continued to teach Sunday school after becoming president.Rawhide
Ronald Reagan’s code name was possibly a reference to the numerous westerns he had appeared in before becoming a politician.Timberwolf
Alas, it is unknown why George H.W. Bush was named for the largest member of the dog family.Eagle
Bill Clinton also had an unexplained animal moniker. Some have speculated that the code name concerned his association with the Boy Scouts. Eagle Scout is the organization’s top rank, a fitting name for someone holding the highest office in the land.Trailblazer
George W. Bush’s presidential code name was complimentary, but his name while his father was president was less flattering: Tumbler. According to some reports, it was based on his alleged propensity to party.Renegade
Barack Obama reportedly picked this moniker from a list of code names that started with R. No word on what the other choices were.Mogul
While Donald Trump once stated that he would select “Humble” as his code name, the Secret Service opted for something that was…well, a little less humble.Celtic
Joe Biden’s code name—which was the same one used when he was vice president—is a reference to his Irish heritage.
I'm sure it's just a coincidence that JFK's name sounds a lot like "lance her".
Obama
Renegade
ｌｍａｏ
And he fucking picked it himself
This is the goofiest thing I've read in 2024
The article I was reading said "Biden's Secret Service code name is Celtic" and - dummy that I am - I thought code name was a Celtic word because "Celtic" would be way too much on the nose. And then I googled to learn what the word was.
Barack Obama reportedly picked this moniker from a list of code names that started with R.
there's one there that the secret service could have chosen for Clinton and frankly for a lot of the other presidents too
Racist?
gonna guess they mean r*pist but that works too ofc
Timberwolf
Alas, it is unknown why George H.W. Bush was named for the largest member of the dog family.
gotta be an inside baseball CIA reference
Inside Baseball CIA Reference would be a great name for a song.
What’s the point of these code names if they all reference something real lol. At least the CIA and NSA have random name generators so you should intriguing yet inherently meaningless names like “MK ULTRA” and “Eternal Romance”
Imagine having like 20% Irish heritage you can’t even trace back to the Emerald Isle and running around saying “I’m Irish btw!” Meaning 1/5 of my grand parents were Irish and I don’t know a gd thing about Ireland
Hes probably as irish as Obama
O'bama
Celery
Joe Biden's code name is a reference to him being half a stalk away from being a vegetable.
Oof.
Haha.
Flatline
Joe Biden's code name is a reference to him needing a defibrillator twice a day.
So what's the point of code names if they're public knowledge. "Celtic" even has the same number of syllables as "Biden" and anyone who
a) is in a position where they can hear the secret service talk about Biden and
b) Biden's current status might need to be hidden from
would most definitely be aware of the code name. Serious question, what is the point of the code name? Hell, even if it wasn't public knowledge, "Celtic" would be pretty easy to guess.
My wild hunch is public code names are mostly for show so the Secret Service can look cool and puff out its chest a little. And I assume when the president is abroad (etc) the services use hard/impossible to decipher code phrases because they could be intercepted by who knows what advisory or enemy. So in the US the service might actually say "Celtic is leaving the building." But if Biden is in Europe every important situation gets a different code and codes aren't reused.
That's my two cents anyway.
I'd imagine it's probably something like InevitableSwing said, but also just a way to help in general with language/directions/etc. Instead of saying "Biden leaving the Oval" or "Obama en route to Chicago", both which (for example) can have numerous different meanings - is it Malia, Barack, or Michelle en route to Chicago? Beau is leaving the Oval, or is it Hunter? Same goes for just saying like "the President" - that could be misheard as Vice-President or something equally unimportant. Having a code name, even if it's public knowledge, helps with that. Doesn't really matter if they're public tbh because you'd assume that the line of communication itself is private - and even outside of that, it's less for obfuscation and more for just ensuring both parties easily know who/what the fuck is being discussed.
At least, that's my two cents and how I'd justify giving out codenames in any sort of situation I'm given leadership in.
Codenames are also chosen so they are understood over something like a radio even if the radio has static and you only get half the word. It's why the military alphabet (alpha Bravo Charlie etc) is what it is. If you only here "tel" you know it's "hotel" and therefore a H.
Subpar GI Joe shit
Joe Biden and Jaylen Brown both have the initials JB. They've also never been seen together. Just sayin'
Imagine if joe had joined the ira
My old Joe's a Provo,
With a baret and a gun
He don't know what is happening
His brain is almost gone
He looks so really sickly
As he ships the Nazis guns
Much lamer than the other dads
Who are not all liberal scum.
Jay o'Biden.
It would be cool if Celtic fans did taunting chants against Genocide Joe with massive banners and all. Insult him deeply.
Why not Werther's? Or is Werther's itself now so it's old that the kids need to be told that it's a candy for grandparents to give to grandkids created in 1969 so the original grandkids now have their own grandkids.
The BBC? I'm Irish
Joe Biden
Whatever was left of your feckin Irish heritage was left down the drain when you chose the path of imperialism over national liberation
Chucky ar la... Poke m' horn!