NationStates Jolt Archive

What is a name but an artificial barrier, enacted for the partial purpose of differentiating between various cultures? An appellation is only necessary to identify a particular individual, but should carry no more weight than that. Already, our society is polarized enough between different races; in many locations, citizens segragate themselves based on such attributes. More ominously, resistance to assimilation is commonplace among those who retain one shred of their former culture -- their native name. They proudly flaunt their quirks and oddities under the protective veil of a strange name; some may wear turbans in public and others may engage in dubious pasttimes. This is a sad state of affairs. In fact, I have encountered many people with obscure names, such as Sheneekqua. Such a distinctive alias only leads our youth down the part to cultural isolation, instead of becoming a member of the wider American society. Additionally, some terrible names are imposed upon children -- for example, celebrities frequently bestow unseemly names upon their offspring, and names such as "Anita Dick" are commonplace among children raised by sadistic parents (it's true -- look the name up in the white pages). To rectify this problem, the US government should be in charge of assigning a prenomen (and quite possibly a cognomen, if the situation so requires) to each newborn child. With such a measure in place, we will be able to weed out un-American names and replace them with names which will be conducive to greater cultural incorporation and hinder the retention of a former culture, which will benefit the US as a whole.

How horribly narrow-minded.

Such bureaucratic measures would take away individuality and the ability to express one's fondness of another culture.

Additionally, 'foreign' names are selected not because one clings to their roots, but because some cultural names have special meanings and the parents like giving their children meaningful names.

I'll agree with you, however, that celebrities are incapable of competently naming their children. I mean, what kind of name is 'Suri'? In Japanese, it means thief.

Please, for the love of all that is unholy, don't feed the troll. Ignore him and he'll go away.

Or why don't we just ban names altogether? Everyone has to go by a number to be determined first by your state of birth, county of birth, and then six digits on top of that. Larger counties can incorporate A-F to make it hexadecimal if they so choose. So someone born in Ohio may be "1725471248" and be referred to mainly by the last six digits of their "name." (The "17" is in reference to the fact that Ohio's the 17th state; the "25" is for Franklin County, where the capital is. Substitute your own state and number if you so desire.) There are over 16.7 million possible names if hexadecimal characters are used for names after the state and county.

Uhm ... no. People like to name their children themselves, and if sometimes the names are less well-thought out, so be it. The child can always change it later. As for encouraging cultural homogeneity, all you'd be doing is putting a thin veneer of "American-ness" on people. Really, if you wish to achieve that, you need to rid the country of the un-American people, not just cover up their names. I think that's called "ethnic cleansing" and like "eugenics" it has a rather poor connotation these days. Thanks for asking, though.

Such bureaucratic measures would take away individuality and the ability to express one's fondness of another culture.

One's name has nothing to do with one's individuality; such a characteristic would solely depend on one's actions. If someone is original and a free thinker, they will not be any less individual than an identical individual with a more obscure name. The whole point of this exercise is to reduce the expression of one's culture so as to facilitate cultural assimilation.

Please, for the love of all that is unholy, don't feed the troll. Ignore him and he'll go away.
He's looking a little thin. He doesn't like meaty posts...

"troll".

Or why don't we just ban names altogether?

I was contemplating that, but I figured that it would be too difficult to say a name quickly. After all, it is much easier to say "Fred" than to say "134637." If it can be made practical, however, I would be all for it.

One's name has nothing to do with one's individuality; such a characteristic would solely depend on one's actions. If someone is original and a free thinker, they will not be any less individual than an identical individual with a more obscure name. The whole point of this exercise is to reduce the expression of one's culture so as to facilitate cultural assimilation.
Assimilation takes away any form of individuality. To facilitate such a move would create a nation of one-mindedness, where no one thinks for themselves because they've become a number, a meaningless statistic.

Assimilation does away with free thinkers. You cannot have free thinkers if everyone is assimilated.

How do you come up with this drivel?

There are over 16.7 million possible names if hexadecimal characters are used for names after the state and county.

Wouldn't we need a few more?

http://www.passatworld.com/smilies/smiley_troll.gif

Really, if you wish to achieve that, you need to rid the country of the un-American people, not just cover up their names.

There are several factors which contribute to being un-American. One of them happens to be a name which allows individuals to maintain their "aloofness." I do not wish to ethnically cleanse those who are un-American, as that would not tackle the root cause of cultural retention. I want to integrate everybody into our society.

Assimilation does away with free thinkers. You cannot have free thinkers if everyone is assimilated.

Sure you can. People would still have the right to choose if they want to become a mathematician or an artist. The only thing which such a policy would get rid of is people who wear turbans or engage in dubious pasttimes, as I previously stated. You can think as freely as you want, however.

How do you come up with this drivel?
He gets out his helium and mixes it with some alcohol...

Or why don't we just ban names altogether? Everyone has to go by a number to be determined first by your state of birth, county of birth, and then six digits on top of that. Larger counties can incorporate A-F to make it hexadecimal if they so choose. So someone born in Ohio may be "1725471248" and be referred to mainly by the last six digits of their "name." (The "17" is in reference to the fact that Ohio's the 17th state; the "25" is for Franklin County, where the capital is. Substitute your own state and number if you so desire.) There are over 16.7 million possible names if hexadecimal characters are used for names after the state and county.

Well, except for the facts that the names would take a long time to say and are utterly and completely unappealing in linguistic and aesthetic terms, that would work. But then again, it would be just as easy to make your name your Social Security Number or something like that; that's one billion names right there, and you can increase it tenfold or twenty-six fold by adding a letter or number.

To say the least, I don't want to be branded with a serial number like a car or refrigerator. Names provide a unique creative outlet because you can literally make up words to use as names.

I was contemplating that, but I figured that it would be too difficult to say a name quickly. After all, it is much easier to say "Fred" than to say "134637." If it can be made practical, however, I would be all for it.

Back in Biblical times, people's names used to correspond to numbers. People were known by either, and nicknames often came from the numerical combinations of names. So the way I see it...if someone is named "13F569" then that corresponds to a number of alphabetic combinations, most obviously "MFEFI" or "MOEFI." From that second one, it is logical that one would then use the name "Moe" in practical conversation. Granted, it gets us back to names and everything, but at least it encourages a little bit of creativity.

How do you come up with this drivel?

I identify problems in our modern society and seek to rectify them through some equitable means. Is there anything wrong with such an approach?

There are several factors which contribute to being un-American. One of them happens to be a name which allows individuals to maintain their "aloofness." I do not wish to ethnically cleanse those who are un-American, as that would not tackle the root cause of cultural retention. I want to integrate everybody into our society.
Since the US has very little culture other than gun culture and complaining about 'un-Americanism', maybe it could do with a bit of influence from afar, and perhaps letting people have foreign names aids that, no?

Nope. This one is pure, 100% trolling.

Closed.