Canada broken up into West and East would be helpful.
Poll: Where do you live?
521–530 of 563 posts
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#522Great to see several people from Mexico! BTW, the fact that only the US country has options separated by state reminds me of when I lived in Europe, and sometimes we got together with a bunch of international. Invariably the "where are you from" question would pop up, to which almost everyone would answer with their country... except Americans, who would answer with their state haha. Once, I asked someone where they…
US states and EU countries are generally similar in size. If you ask an Italian where they are from it would be a bit odd if they said “Europe” wouldn’t it? I think it also speaks to the degree of autonomy and identity among the states. The US originally thought of itself more like the EU is now, a collection of sovereign nations that agreed to a very strong alliance (first confederation, then federation). The differ…
> The difference is when the US’ “brexit” moment happened the northern states decided the southern states didn’t have the right to leave and enforced their opinion at the cost of 1 million lives (out of a population of about 32M at the time).
An interesting analogy, but it downplays two key differences. Firstly, the confederate states opened fire on union troops, whereas Britain did not start a shooting war when it left the EU. Secondly, there is no provision in the constitution of the United States for a state to leave the union, unlike in the EU.
As a final point, I would note that the United States of America by that point had a history of using military force to expand (in line with Thomas Jefferson's "empire of liberty" doctrine), including two attempted invasions of Canada, the Mexican-American War, as well as successful wars (and massacres) against the Native peoples. So if you do take the position that the confederacy had the right to secede from the United States, it is hardly a surprise that the USA then took the opportunity to use military force to annex a smaller neighboring nation with a weaker military, limited infrastructure, and insufficient foreign support to defend itself.
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#523Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, as of right now, China has 1 point and India 9. That combined is less than Poland, which has 15. It makes sense to have finer granularity for the poll options people will actually choose.
It's 04:33 in the morning in China (in one of the timezones at least), makes sense.
China is currently has 7 points, 19 hours later. India is 72, Russia is 23, Vietnam 7, UK is 242. hmmm
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#524Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, as of right now, China has 1 point and India 9. That combined is less than Poland, which has 15. It makes sense to have finer granularity for the poll options people will actually choose.
Is HN even accessible behind the great firewall?
HN has been blocked for more than a year now.
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#525Earlier quoted context omitted.
US states and EU countries are generally similar in size. If you ask an Italian where they are from it would be a bit odd if they said “Europe” wouldn’t it? I think it also speaks to the degree of autonomy and identity among the states. The US originally thought of itself more like the EU is now, a collection of sovereign nations that agreed to a very strong alliance (first confederation, then federation). The differ…
> The difference is when the US’ “brexit” moment happened the northern states decided the southern states didn’t have the right to leave and enforced their opinion at the cost of 1 million lives. It was over a century and a half ago, but we still owe the union soldiers who died in the US Civil War a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice in ending the scourge of slavery in the United States. Their lives paid for the f…
I largely agree with your comment, and did not mean to in any way to disrespect the value of the Union victory and resulting end of slavery. Re-reading my comment I wish I had said the North choose to enforce their _decison_ rather than _opinion_.
FWIW I think the history is actually complex and interesting. The southern succession was clearly driven by slavery, but the historical record shows that the war was not initially pursued by the north on abolitionist grounds. If you read Lincoln’s inaugural address[1], which came after the first states succeeded, he promised not to end slavery. Rather he argued he had a legal duty to keep the states together.
Regarding Fort Sumter, what’s actually unusual there is that 35 soldiers who were likely all locals decided they didn’t want to be part of succession and tried to hold out rather than do what virtually all other US forces in the south did and change allegiance. The much larger confederate force did besiege and bombard them, but no one died in combat, and they eventually surrendered[2].
The first combat fatality occurred when a mob in Baltimore ambushed US troops marching through [3]. Recall that Maryland did not succeed so the first “Union death” was caused by “Union civilians” who didn’t want the army to continue further south. Also recall that the Emancipation Proclamation[4] did not end slavery in the Union states that still had it (Maryland, Missouri, and the newly formed West Virginia), so it wasn’t until the thirteenth amendment passed after the war that slavery truly and fully ended.
Most historians I’ve read argue that abolition rose in importance over the course of the war, specifically as a way to reframe the war as a moral imperative and maintain support for it (which flagged early on). So by the end, the characterization as a war to end slavery is true, but it’s difficult to argue that was true from the outset. At the start the war was very controversial, and Lincoln’s stated objectives were merely to hold the Union together, which he saw as his legal duty.
1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln's_first_inau...
2: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter
3: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_riot_of_1861
4: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln's_first_inau...
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#526Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#527Earlier quoted context omitted.
US states and EU countries are generally similar in size. If you ask an Italian where they are from it would be a bit odd if they said “Europe” wouldn’t it? I think it also speaks to the degree of autonomy and identity among the states. The US originally thought of itself more like the EU is now, a collection of sovereign nations that agreed to a very strong alliance (first confederation, then federation). The differ…
Dunno if your geographic size argument holds much water. Australia is about the same size as the continental US, but we always get lumped in as one entity. Canada appears to get the same treatment.
Population is a factor. Canada has slightly less population than California. Australia has less than Texas.
As I understand it the US states also have more legal autonomy and thus a lot wider divergence in local laws and policies compared to the internal divisions of most other countries (but I’m not an expert on that).
But my point was mostly psychology… whether they ought to or not, most Americans think of the state they live in as an important distinction, while my experience is that in most other countries that isn’t seen as very important.
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#528Earlier quoted context omitted.
Power grids tend to fail just about everywhere that experiences extreme weather. Its not necessarily a US-only thing. Its just that the US experiences a pretty large share of extreme weather compared to most of the developed world. Far more tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, etc. affect the US than say, Europe.
California's rolling blackouts were not the result of any particularly extreme (for California!) weather. Similarly, hurricanes are not new to most of the hurricane-afflicted parts of the country. Wildfires have been a force in the US for a long time, and the West has experienced seasonal wildfires for decades. The difference is the US doesn't generally build or maintain infrastructure in a fashion commensurate with…
What kind of similar weather risks do the Nordic countries or Germany experience that would be an equivalent to the tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires the US experiences on a very regular basis? I truly don't know what kind of similar risks they face and would like to rectify my ignorance.
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#529Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The difference is when the US’ “brexit” moment happened the northern states decided the southern states didn’t have the right to leave and enforced their opinion at the cost of 1 million lives. It was over a century and a half ago, but we still owe the union soldiers who died in the US Civil War a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice in ending the scourge of slavery in the United States. Their lives paid for the f…
I largely agree with your comment, and did not mean to in any way to disrespect the value of the Union victory and resulting end of slavery. Re-reading my comment I wish I had said the North choose to enforce their _decison_ rather than _opinion_. FWIW I think the history is actually complex and interesting. The southern succession was clearly driven by slavery, but the historical record shows that the war was not in…
[deleted]
Re: Poll: Where do you live?
#530US: Oregon