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Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

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Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#191

Post by pbhjpbhj »

School-Cotton wrote: post #184
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No-one has heard of Idaho, the potato state? >"Most US states are culturally and historically insignificant." // Someone said upthread. Thing is they're not culturally insignificant, I've no idea where Idaho is (NW?) but somewhere I've heard about its potatoes! That's because in the UK almost all the TV is from USA. Perhaps someone in a film, cartoon series, TV serial, song was from Idaho, maybe a country singer sang…

To clarify a bit, the existence of official state flowers and so on seems to mainly be a way for legislators to waste time. I have absolutely no idea what the official flower of any state is, including the state where I was born, and the one I live now.

dogwood, Texas!

I think that's the only one I (think I) know.

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#192

Post by kbutler »

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…

> You'll know the names of the states. How many other foreign countries do you know the subdivisions of

United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, ...

Canada - Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, ....

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#193

Post by hannasanarion »

gammateam wrote: post #124
hannasanarion wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US states do have sovereignty. The federal government can't force them to do anything or override their courts unless they violate federal constitutional rights. For a recent example, see FIDC v Sibelius, which concluded that the federal government doesn't have the authority to expand Medicaid. Unless it has something to do with commerce, taxes, investment and finance, scientific research, intellectual property, the…

The real question is whether this semantical distinction is productive: how many people know about subdivisions of non-US countries and how they work The whole point of this is that people couldnt write the essay you just wrote about practically any other place on the planet, and the court cases that support it assuming it was ever challenged

Sure you could. Germany, for example, is a federal republic following the American model. German states arguably have more power than American states, thanks to their representation in the upper house and the ability to independently conduct foreign trade.

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#194

Post by austincheney »

petronio wrote: post #139
jorvi wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American states are also the size of countries. A more apt comparison would be counties, which barely any foreigners know.

And if we're going there, it's more likely they'll know more European nations than U.S. states. I think there's probably few European nations that people wouldn't recognize by name (e.g. Andorra, Azerbaijan, Slovenia).

Azerbaijan is in Asia. Its east of me and I am in Asia.

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#195

Post by ionised »

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…

That's just what happens with empires/superpowers thoough.

Rome would have been the #1 talked about country evereywhere else when it was at the top of its game. Same with the British Empire etc.

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#196

Post by keypress »

kylec wrote: post #157
keypress wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that true in myopic UK. We know your president, and big news events. I can't even list one US box office movie from this year.

No? Honestly kind of surprised Avengers: Infinity War didn't cross your radar. That movie was huge.

No, totally honest. Not interested in movies.

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#197

Post by bkcreate »

schoen wrote: post #147
bkcreate wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, as an American I don't even need to go to Europe to prove how little non-US geography I know. I can't even name or point to any Mexican or Canadian regions except for British Colombia

Maybe you've heard of Quebec?

Ive heard of Quebec and Sesq... however you spell it, but BC is the only one I could point to on a map

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#198

Post by kylec »

keypress wrote: post #196
kylec wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No? Honestly kind of surprised Avengers: Infinity War didn't cross your radar. That movie was huge.

No, totally honest. Not interested in movies.

I think that reflects more on you than “myopic UK” then

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#199

Post by keypress »

kylec wrote: post #198
keypress wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, totally honest. Not interested in movies.

I think that reflects more on you than “myopic UK” then

Badly worded, I'm not chasing after new and US releases. I do watch films and I do follow the news, though not that obsessively. And while the UK press will flag Trump's exploits and major disasters, the US doesn't get that much of a look-in. We are an island nation and quite blind beyond our waters. The information is there to find, but it's not thrust in our faces. Heck my niece has more interest in Korean popular culture than the US. People generally are only concerned for their own back yards (HN has a blatant US bias, perhaps unsurprisingly as it was born there).

Re: Countries that have preoccupied Americans the most since 1900

#200

Post by ci5er »

keypress wrote: post #199
kylec wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that reflects more on you than “myopic UK” then

Badly worded, I'm not chasing after new and US releases. I do watch films and I do follow the news, though not that obsessively. And while the UK press will flag Trump's exploits and major disasters, the US doesn't get that much of a look-in. We are an island nation and quite blind beyond our waters. The information is there to find, but it's not thrust in our faces. Heck my niece has more interest in Korean popular…

So- you are Manhattan...
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