Russia, China, India, there are a bunch of countries where people don't even speak the same languages or have anything really in common with one another.
America is not one entity, but a collection of individual states
- Thread starter imperfect.la
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Russia, China, India, there are a bunch of countries where people don't even speak the same languages or have anything really in common with one another.
Narz
keeping it real
America loves it's cake!Miles said:
And all Candian or Chinese towns are the same?Miles said:
I've criss-crossed the country by car four times (east to west twice & north to south twice) & lived in seven or eight states & the only place that struck me as especially unique was Torrey, Utah (population : 180). A strip mall in New Jersey could just as easily be in California or Florida or the MidWest somewhere.
That's not diversity. Use the same corn oil for cooking, swap out a few spices and sauces, rice for duram wheat semolina & it's not all that different, they might even have the same supplier.Miles said:
I'd imagine the diversity in Europe is greater than the diversity in much larger North America.Miles said:
Hardly. You might see a rabbi, a priest & a drunken Irishman all in line in a Dairy Queen together but chances are they will be careful not to touch each other.Miles said:
Our prevalent car culture makes it so all except poor & urban people only have to deal with their fellow humans for more than a minute or two a day outside of family & work.
MobBoss
Off-Topic Overlord
I thought the term used was "Union".
A few states tried the term "Confederacy' but it didnt really work out so well for them....
Narz
keeping it real
No one gave them a chance to try it.
MobBoss
Off-Topic Overlord
No one gave them a chance to try it.
Oh no...they had their chance....they just didnt win.
innonimatu
the resident Cassandra
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You wish. If you want to see what a federal system could look like come to Europe. But be warned, it's already looking ugly... anyway, thanks for the example, we europenas at least now know that the time to resist the centralization of power is right at the beginning, once a formal federation is formed it'll take a life of its own and go all the way to a national entity, even if it takes a civil war.
Taras Bulba
gone
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umm.... the electoral college was put in place so that when electing a President the uneducated masses (stupid people in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and depending how you see it, running slightly into early 1900s) wouldn't really be choosing who is running the nation.
If you had a whole bunch of uneducated people trying to pick who is running the nation, you're not going to always get the BEST candidate, so the electoral college was put in place so that they could elect a better suited candidate. NOW-A-DAYS however, the MAJORITY of the American people are reasonably educated and can make a decent decision unlike back then. The Electoral College should be abolished, and popular vote should choose the President (what the majority of the people want)
we may not have one culture, but many things are Americanized to assimilate culture into one large mass of combined culture without too much hostility. And I'm not quite sure if very many people hate America for what one state does, I think they hate America for what the executive office does. So that would be like saying that you hate the European Union for how Barroso or Sarkozy does something (I'm not very knowledgable in how the EU government works, so I'm not really sure who would be the equivilant of the US President)
Anti-American isn't any less silly as Anti-Nazi Germany, or Anti-Iran, or Anti-North Korea. It all depends on your point of view and opinion. Frankly, I'm not really sure how you could be anti-AMERICAN as much as Anti-Bush, and Anti-American doesn't compare anything to that of the others I mentioned, but the idea itself isn't silly
EDIT:
and what he said... I forgot to mention it, but I wanted too (well.. at least Germany and Mexico, I didn't know the others)
Narz
keeping it real
Yeah, they didn't win so they didn't get a chance to try it.
The Confederate States weren't actually decentralized at all.
They were decentralized in practice enough that states were terrified to give troops to the Confederacy.
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
Quite. Many Americans do not realize that Mexican History parallels American in many ways.
Miles Teg
Nuclear Powered Mentat
On the contrary, they had four years to try it.
So the state governors' reaction to further centralization doomed the Confederacy? I think there's a lesson in there for all of us. Namely, don't listen to me.
MobBoss
Off-Topic Overlord
Circular logic for 500 please!
Australia isn't exactly "one country" with a uniform, homogeneous culture, like the enlightened Europeans and Americans think. We live under a federal system, which essentially means that we live under two governments: a state and a federal government.
In Australia, states have their own rights, laws, demographics, etc. The federal government is designed to aid and support state governments, not to rule over all of the Australian states.
.....
Spain isn't exactly "one country" with a uniform, homogeneous culture, like the enlightened everybody else thinks. They live under a (quasi) federal system of autonomous communities, which essentially means that they live under three governments: a province, an autonomous community and a national government.
In Spain, autonomous communities have their own rights, laws, demographics, etc. The national government is designed to aid and support state governments, not to rule over all of the Spanish communities.
......
Y'all ain't so special, there's plenty of federal systems out there. And in some, like Canada and Spain, the lower tier is far more diverse and powerful than in the US - they deal with multiple languages, very diverse and conflictive histories, full-on secessionist movements, and so forth.
In Australia, states have their own rights, laws, demographics, etc. The federal government is designed to aid and support state governments, not to rule over all of the Australian states.
.....
Spain isn't exactly "one country" with a uniform, homogeneous culture, like the enlightened everybody else thinks. They live under a (quasi) federal system of autonomous communities, which essentially means that they live under three governments: a province, an autonomous community and a national government.
In Spain, autonomous communities have their own rights, laws, demographics, etc. The national government is designed to aid and support state governments, not to rule over all of the Spanish communities.
......
Y'all ain't so special, there's plenty of federal systems out there. And in some, like Canada and Spain, the lower tier is far more diverse and powerful than in the US - they deal with multiple languages, very diverse and conflictive histories, full-on secessionist movements, and so forth.
carmen510
Deity
The federal government is supposed to aid the states in governing, but now it acts more of dictating what the states should do.
Which is kind of sad, considering what the Founding Fathers wanted.
Which is kind of sad, considering what the Founding Fathers wanted.
Miles Teg
Nuclear Powered Mentat
They also abhorred democracy, and a large portion favored slavery.
1) America-haters won't care about any such explanations, nor will they suddenly become convinced that Anti-Americanism is silly.
2) A federation does not equal a collection of sovereign states.
3) The EU is a collection of sovereign states.
4) It is very true that the USA does not have a homogenous culture, though the image the US presents is usually quite the opposite.
So, in conclusion, I'm not sure what the point here is.
carmen510
Deity
I've never seen abhorred democracy.
While a large portion DID favor slavery, that was a Constitutional right. There was also their right to secede.
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
Diversity for its own sake is pointless.
