81–90 of 226 posts
I remember flying to Munich once from Cape Town and a German colleague guessed the flight was three to four hours. I said no, it was over eleven hours and he was shocked. I laughed and told him to check out a globe sometime - not a map - so he could trace for himself how massive Africa really is. The surface area of the moon is only 20% larger.
Ha, in 3-4 hours you may be in Cairo at best
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think america is diverse, and shockingly homogenous given its diversity. For example, chinatown in NYC does not seem particularly different from chinatown in SF. Yes, the midwest calmer and the south is friendlier, the east is more uptight and the west is more chillaxed, and the cuisine is different in different parts of the country, but these are pretty much details at the edges. Everyone speaks english, the low-e…
To me (an outsider from Europe) the US doesn't feel homogenous at all. Compare New York to Taxas or California to South Carolina and they feel as much as different as for example Germany and Spain. With the only difference being that all US states share the English language and Europe has different languages, but even that difference is slowly reducing. For example the French, famous for not speaking English 20 years…
Then you don't know Spain.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you say the US is homogenous for it’s size, are you referring to the physical geography or the demographic make up of the population, or something else entirely? (I think I would disagree, but good faith requires I actually try to understand what you meant before I take issue with it.)
As the other commenter responded, I'm referring to the linguistic, socioeconomic and judicial homogeneity. Even though the US is culturally diverse, it still has a single currency, a single dominant language and a single jurisdiction (with minor state specific legal requirements). I only need one US visa to travel to all 52 states. A software company taking payments in the US has access to all 52 states. A peach cobb…
I actually found US more federal in nature for doing business compared to India and to some extent Europe.
The tax laws are lot more state specific than India, California has very different rules for privacy(ccpa) or environmental regulations than other states. Europe largely following GDPR is good enough (with some exceptions for Germany), most environmental regulations seem broadly consistent across Europe.[1]
US did seem lot more regulatory diverse than India which is more culturally/linguistically diverse,it feels like US states have more significant autonomy than countries in Europe have over EU regulations!
[1] It may be that I have not done as much work with Europe as US so I have not yet come across nuances
I remember flying to Munich once from Cape Town and a German colleague guessed the flight was three to four hours. I said no, it was over eleven hours and he was shocked. I laughed and told him to check out a globe sometime - not a map - so he could trace for himself how massive Africa really is. The surface area of the moon is only 20% larger.
Ha, in 3-4 hours you may be in Cairo at best
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In which sense is the USA homogenous?
Language, currency, jurisdiction (to large extends), media… An American from Idaho will be able to communicate, trade and watch the same tv as someone in Vermont, whereas a person from Malawi will not be able to do any of these things with a person in Guinea
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you say the US is homogenous for it’s size, are you referring to the physical geography or the demographic make up of the population, or something else entirely? (I think I would disagree, but good faith requires I actually try to understand what you meant before I take issue with it.)
As the other commenter responded, I'm referring to the linguistic, socioeconomic and judicial homogeneity. Even though the US is culturally diverse, it still has a single currency, a single dominant language and a single jurisdiction (with minor state specific legal requirements). I only need one US visa to travel to all 52 states. A software company taking payments in the US has access to all 52 states. A peach cobb…
Better luck next time DC and Puerto Rico.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a lot of Americans think that Africa is a country.
Coming from a background most would consider rough and tumble in the US, this is true. However, you're missing a bit part of it. Americans don't understand governance models very well. Provinces are to counties and states are to small countries. What does federal map to? Mental model says next one up - continent. I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble.
Indeed!
Funny, because others replying to my comment seemed to be similarly inexperienced outside their well-educated Silicon Valley / Ivy League bubble… :^)
Why are we changing maps? (from The West Wing) - https://youtube.com/watch?v=eLqC3FNNOaI