What with visitors becoming a larger and larger share of the people here, probably it would be a good idea to explain a couple of terms commonly used here, "DUmmies" and "primitives."
The usage of "DUmmies" and "primitives" varies a slight bit, but both terms are interchangeable.
The origin of "DUmmies" is obscure, but it is reasonable to speculate it first appeared on freerepublic circa mid-2001 (DemocraticUnderground having been founded in late January 2001), and was further popularized with P-J Comix's most-excellent DUmmie FUnnies in autumn 2004, and has since spread all through the internet.
"DUmmies" is derived, of course, from the acronym for DemocraticUnderground.
Many members of DemocraticUnderground protest at the name "DUmmies," but what is one to do?
My fellow alum Skins and the Democrat Leadership Council, which founded DemocraticUnderground are to be blamed; they picked the name "DemocraticUnderground," without pausing to think how the acronym would bring scorn and derision to Skins's Island.
If Skins and the Democrat Leadership Council had picked a name for Skins's island less amenable to a ridiculous acronym, then "DUmmies" would never have been invented. Of all the possible variations of "DU," "DUmmies" was so obvious a blind man could see it.
So if someone doesn't like the term "DUmmies," blame my fellow alum and the Democrat Leadership Council.
Sometimes DUmmies refer to themselves as "DUers" on Skins's island, but from an aesthetic, er, unaesthetic, viewpoint, "DUers" doesn't cut it; the word itself looks very much like the profile of a Hapsburg, what with its sagging nose.
And so "DUmmies" it has to be; nothing else even comes close.
"Primitives" was coined on conservativeunderground, circa mid-2007.
A member of conservativeunderground, who sees words as pictures, images, was one day on Skins's island where the DUmmies were discussing the impeachment of Richard Cheney; for some reason, the discussion conjured up an image of angry painted dirty-loinclothed savages sitting at a camp fire, passing voodoo dolls of the vice-president around, grunting and groaning in slobbering ecstasy, smirking and wiggle-waggling their armpits at each other.
The term "primitives" is NOT meant to be derogatory of the natives of the South Seas, who of course live in a time and place much different from our own. An environment hostile to the well-being of mankind, where one does what one can, to survive. A decent civilized person could survive in such a place perhaps half a day, a primitive from Skins's island no more than half an hour, and a sub-primitive surely no more than a couple of minutes.
So when one thinks of the primitives of Skins's island, one has to think of them as European-derived primitives and sub-primitives, as Skins's real-estate is 97.8% or 98.7% (I forget which) white.
The primitives on Skins's island observe and practice many certain rituals also noticed by anthropologists studying natives of the South Seas, especially during the last half of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century.
As mentioned before, "DUmmies" and "primitives" are interchangeable terms for the same thing, although one tends to use "DUmmies" when the primitives are merely being stupid, and "primitives" when the DUmmies are being savagely uncouth and barbaric.
