Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

Post by goodcanadian » Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 4:21 PM UTC

gmuslera wrote: post #66

nothrabannosir wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'll know the names of the states. How many other foreign countries do you know the subdivisions of I prefer to compare the USA with Europe as a whole, its member countries as states. In that light, I wager many Americans would know quite a few. Norway, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Ireland surely would make the majority? Maybe even Belgium. Are we still allowed to say UK? Americans love to chast…

You know, there is another country that have United States in its name, the United States of Brazil. Do you know any of their individual states? You may know now some of the ex-URSS component countries because recent conflicts, but back then, would they had count as countries or states? Talking about EU is like talking about OTAN. Each of their component countries have their own president, their own political countri…

Post by thrav » Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #95

lordnacho wrote: post #24

What's interesting is if you did this for just about any other country, there would be a wall of star spangled banners. If you ever travel outside the US, you inevitably hear about what the US is doing, what they're discussing, who the important people are, etc. The reverse is not true: - Everyone outside the US knows the top US politicians. You even know what issues they are discussing, like gun control and healthca…

Here are my assessments as somebody who has traveled to South America, Europe, and spent 4 years living in the Middle East. > Everyone outside the US knows the top US politicians. You even know what issues they are discussing, like gun control and healthcare. That is only vaguely true. People outside the US tend to know of these issues in the media about as well as the average American, which isn't very well. > You'l…

Post by blhack » Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 4:30 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #98

nothrabannosir wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'll know the names of the states. How many other foreign countries do you know the subdivisions of I prefer to compare the USA with Europe as a whole, its member countries as states. In that light, I wager many Americans would know quite a few. Norway, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Ireland surely would make the majority? Maybe even Belgium. Are we still allowed to say UK? Americans love to chast…

> In that light, I wager many Americans would know quite a few. Norway, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Ireland surely would make the majority? Maybe even Belgium. Are we still allowed to say UK? As names (if that). Try having them pinpoint them on a map, or say anything intelligent about them.

Post by jorvi » Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 4:37 PM UTC

thrav wrote: post #103

austincheney wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are my assessments as somebody who has traveled to South America, Europe, and spent 4 years living in the Middle East. > Everyone outside the US knows the top US politicians. You even know what issues they are discussing, like gun control and healthcare. That is only vaguely true. People outside the US tend to know of these issues in the media about as well as the average American, which isn't very well. > You'l…

In terms of states, I don’t think they meant, “everyone can’t point to Delaware on map.” I’d wager it’s more like, “People know Texas, and California, New York, and Florida, Hawaii, etc.” I’d wager most people can name several. This is mostly because of point 3, movies and media.

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 4:40 PM UTC

aristophenes wrote: post #67

kerng wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't a standard map I'd say. Wherever you go, the "home continent" is typically centered. I was (naively) surprised the first time I went to USA long time ago and saw maps that had the Americas in the middle - but thinking about it, it made sense.

I'm confused, I grew up in the USA and for global maps the US was never centered. It was always on the left, like every map here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Maps_of_the_world , and Africa is in the middle. If the Americas were centered on a world map you'd have to cut Asia in half, with it being on both the far left and right. It makes a lot more sense to make the split in the middle of the Pacific ocean and…