Another Reason European Countries Are Nuts!

[mickthinks]

Why are governments involved in this at all?
Because there is popular support for a centralised supervision of the way children are nurtured, and not all names would have a benign effect on those who might bear them.

Should the government regulate nicknames too? How about the names of our pets? Where does it end?
Are you suggesting that there is something illogical or inconsistent about only regulating the names which are recorded and used for official purposes?

[bobevenson]

Look, you European socialists can throw up a million reasons why it's OK for your oppressive governments to control every aspect of your lives. In effect, you have all admitted that a faceless government knows more about how to run your life than you do. Your governments have sucked the very life blood from your brains. You have upstaged the zombies in the cult movie "Night of the Living Dead."

[lennartack]

Why are governments involved in this at all?
Because there is popular support for a centralised supervision of the way children are nurtured, and not all names would have a benign effect on those who might bear them.

Why does "popular support" mean everyone has to be subjected to "popular support"? What if some parents do not agree with "popular support" and want to nurture their kid their way? Are they wrong, just because the majority of people says so?

[lennartack]

Why are governments involved in this at all?
Because there is popular support for a centralised supervision of the way children are nurtured, and not all names would have a benign effect on those who might bear them.

Why does "popular support" mean everyone has to be subjected to "popular support"? What if some parents do not agree with "popular support" and want to nurture their kid their way? Are they wrong, just because the majority of people says so?

And do you realize that popular support is in fact often created by a bunch of arrogant people who are able to influence popular opinion? Bob's got a point with the brain sucking thing.

[Felasco]

Are you suggesting that there is something illogical or inconsistent about only regulating the names which are recorded and used for official purposes?

Yes, I am.

Why shouldn't the government control pet's names too? What if somebody names their dog "the N word" and that offends the neighbor next door?

What if my nickname is "Asshole" and my mom is always yelling this to call me to dinner, and the people down the street find this outrageous?

What if I change my forum screen name to "Death To All Queers"?

Why shouldn't the government stick it's nose in to these problems too?

[mickthinks]

Why does "popular support" mean everyone has to be subjected to "popular support"?

That's kind of entailed by democracy. Democracy is not ethically perfect.

[Kayla]

Actually having a certain amount of ambiguity in identity can be an advantage

what would this advantage be

i know people with names of the kind i describe -they dont seem to see an advantage

don't see how your objection to having similar "ghetto names", is any different from the way kids used to be called Shawn, Sean, Matthew, mathew, mark, luke and John??

i just addressed this

any moron knows that shawn and sean is the same name - and you will not normally have parents naming one child sean and another shawn - and doing so would be stupid

[lennartack]

Why does "popular support" mean everyone has to be subjected to "popular support"?

That's kind of entailed by democracy. Democracy is not ethically perfect.

Democracy does not mean the majority is in power, if you ask me. On the contrary, protection of minorities against the majority is an important aspect of democracy in the modern sense of the word.

[mickthinks]

Why shouldn't the government stick its nose in to these [a dog named "n*****", Mom yelling "Asshole", a forum-name "Death To All Queers"] problems too?

I don't see anyone whose nurture and development is threatened in any of these cases like a child would be damaged by being given a name that is offensive?

[lennartack]

Actually having a certain amount of ambiguity in identity can be an advantage

what would this advantage be

As far as I know there is nobody with the same first and last name as I have, which is quite exceptional. This is kind of an advantage, though it could also be seen as a disadvantage if you consider privacy.

Edit: looked up the word ambiguity, didn't mean what I thought it meant.

[mickthinks]

Democracy does not mean the majority is in power, if you ask me.

Either the majority of the people (ie. Demos) is in power, or some privileged minority of the people, surely?

On the contrary, protection of minorities against the majority is an important aspect of democracy in the modern sense of the word.

The attempt to provide protection for minorities is an anti-democratic refinement found in many modern states, yes. None of these states is perfectly democratic, which is a good thing in my view.

[chaz wyman]

Actually having a certain amount of ambiguity in identity can be an advantage

what would this advantage be

Hey cop its not me its the other mohammed.


i know people with names of the kind i describe -they dont seem to see an advantage
In which case they can change their name to something unique.

don't see how your objection to having similar "ghetto names", is any different from the way kids used to be called Shawn, Sean, Matthew, mathew, mark, luke and John??

i just addressed this

any moron knows that shawn and sean is the same name - and you will not normally have parents naming one child sean and another shawn - and doing so would be stupid

You are talking irrelevant bollocks. How does this address anything I said?

[chaz wyman]

Actually having a certain amount of ambiguity in identity can be an advantage

what would this advantage be

As far as I know there is nobody with the same first and last name as I have, which is quite exceptional. This is kind of an advantage, though it could also be seen as a disadvantage if you consider privacy.

Edit: looked up the word ambiguity, didn't mean what I thought it meant.

I don't think Kayla knows the meaning either.

[chaz wyman]

Are you suggesting that there is something illogical or inconsistent about only regulating the names which are recorded and used for official purposes?

Yes, I am.

Why shouldn't the government control pet's names too? What if somebody names their dog "the N word" and that offends the neighbor next door?

What if my nickname is "Asshole" and my mom is always yelling this to call me to dinner, and the people down the street find this outrageous?

What if I change my forum screen name to "Death To All Queers"?

Why shouldn't the government stick it's nose in to these problems too?

There is good old British Film about the RAF in WW2, in which one of the characters dog, a black Labrador is called n*****.- He takes a crate over Germany, takes s shufty, and does not come back - poor doggy!
It's either 633 Squadron or the Dam Busters

[Arising_uk]

This reminds me of Pulp Fiction.

"Butch: I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit."

I agree that it seems odd to many that a government would regulate childrens names but such things are probably cultural inheritances as, I guess, the Scandinavians had a custom of naming their kids, son of son, etc. Many Catholic countries, Spain, Italy, Ireland, etc, have a restricted set of names drawn from the saints and apostles and not many claim this an outrageous religious imposition. I understand that its not 'imposed' in a legal sense by religious cultural pressure is still, in a sense, politics.