I am brown?

I have been making the point about some of Afghanistan's problems resulting from libertarian ideas for quite some time now. A friend of mine who thinks guns are the ultimate guarantor of freedom could not believe that they could cause so much trouble in places like Afganistan. This was 3 years ago when people didn't know where Afghanistan was.

Nah, Pathan is a state of mind.

Also I have an instant allergic reaction to "brother". I have 2 siblings and if my parents wanted someone to call me brother, they would have produced more kids.

So is this the definition?

Brown: Anyone who is not considered white but is not dark enough to be black, excepting Northeast Asians.

What if I have some middle eastern & central asian ancestors? Or is there a one drop of brown blood rule?

I am always mystified by the term "Asian" in the US. Most people mean northeast Asians by it, but most other Asians are also included in the definition by the cansus bureau.

IMO, anyone who thinks it's ok to marry a complete stranger needs to have their head examined.

"Arranged marriage" is an all-encompassing term encompassing almost-forced marriages on the one end to parents-fix-up-their-kids on the other.

Regarding elders seeing character better than someone who's getting married, that's just BS. What they see is not character, it is racial, ethnic and religious background. Financial and educational status and physical beauty are also something they want in the bride & family.

I don't think physical attractiveness is valued less among parents than people getting married. IMO, it is valued more when looking for a bride for their son.

-R,

No system of finding a spouse is perfect. However, the biggest advantage of the western system is that you make the decision yourself. In arranged marriages, even though the final veto might be yours, parents have a lot of control over the process. And in many cases, even though there is no force, there is emotional blackmail from the parents. The Post article points to that in the case of Vibha's parents trying to get her to go to India.

I believe that an adult is responsible for his own life. Therefore, he/she should be able to choose, without any restraint from parents or others, who to spend that life with.

A direct comparison of arranged marriage and what is known as love marriage in South Asia is not possible because the culture of marriage and divorce is very different. Also the standards of successful marriage are different.

Another factor in arranged marriages is race/ethnicity. A friend of mine who is Pashtun by ancestry, though his ancestors migrated in northern India 500 years ago, had to marry a Pashtun because of his parents.

I just noticed that the Post article calls me an "urban sophisticate". Is that a compliment? Seems like a backhanded one.

Ikram: I agree completely.

Alone Again: I think there is a simple explanation for the apparent success of arranged marriages. People who value tradition for marriage apparently have a traditional view of the role of the spouses (not necessarily in terms of work division, but intimacy, friendship, sex, romance etc.) Also, if someone was chicken enough to marry a stranger because of parental pressure, he/she is definitely frightened by the stigma attached to divorce.

Think about arranged marriage this way: Would you like your parents to pick out your clothes? Probably not. Then how can they pick out who you are going to spend your life with? Crazy or not, you decide.

Reminds me of my last France trip. Nobody there understood "Coke". They said "Coca" instead.

What exactly is the definition of a "legacy admission"? That your parent went to the same college? What if your GPA is 4.0 and a 1600 SAT, are you still considered a legacy admission?

Another thing affecting legacy admissions is that children of college-educated parents usually do much better in school than others. So it is not fair to compare the acceptance rates with the overall student body. High school and colege grades and SAT scores are probably a better measure.

Also, comparing the average scores for one year is not a good idea because of the small sample size.