GrahamKennedy wrote:No doubt there are economic changes in the US that hit some states hard but benefit others. But it doesn't occur to the people of California to think of the rest of the US as "those people" in the same way that a Brit thinks of France or Italy. And an American living in California could move to Texas, say, pretty easily. He knows there will be differences, sure, but he also knows there will be the same language, much the same public services, largely similar laws, the same rights and freedoms. He knows he will still be able to eat his favourite food, read his favourite newspaper, watch his favourite TV show, see the same sports, vote for the same political parties who will stand on the same issues (at least for national elections). There's a thousand reasons why a Californian would think of Texans as part of the people he calls "us" - in comparison, the differences that make Texans "them" are minor.
What if he decides to move to Alabama?
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe: Albert Einstein.
That's not a different country - it's a different planet.
Obviously, there are marked differences in culture from area to area, much like there are marked differences in the culture of London compared with that of the Orkneys. I've seen things done in Georgia, for example, that the local populace handwaves if not condones - which things would cause government-toppling riots if done in the Northeast. However, GK has the right of it. The sort of forced political identity which the EU is attempting to force-feed Europe is the same sort of artificial nation-building which led to the minor political squabble called... what was it again?... oh, yeah - World War I.
Part of the effect that GK mentions is due to the fact that nationalities and ethnic divisions in Europe are old. No such geographical cultural division in the States, obviously, can be older than about 270 years - some on the continent are older than a millennium. Such things are not easily forgotten, and are far stronger motivators than some 5-minute-old economic cooperation treaty.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
The other difference is the space between cultures. The US is very very big, with lots of open room for people to expand to. As far as I know, most of Europe is pretty well covered in what it can be used up for.
GrahamKennedy wrote:
It's a very, very different thing when I go to Italy. Different language, different currency, different laws, different customs, different politics, and on and on. People in the UK really don't think of people in France or Italy or Germany as "us" at all. And no attempt to push us into thinking that way is ever going to work.
Exactly, and I think this is a very good thing. Cultural diversity isn't something horrible and abomishable but rather something to enjoy imho. God knows why they want to force us into a homogenus mass of europeans...
I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel.
It's not exactly Coruscant or anything, but there's not nearly as much empty space in the UK, no.
I remember watching the movie Dog Soldiers, which is British but with some American money and input into the making of it. Soldiers lost in Scotland comment that it's a four hour drive to the nearest house, and six hours to the nearest town. Um, no, not in this country it's not. There isn't a place in the whole of the UK that's a remotely close to a four hour drive from the nearest town, let alone six. Hell, you could drive the entire length of Scotland in six hours.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
That was a fun movie, and I thought Sean Pertwee did a nice job.[/tangent]
Yes, I think people underestimate the distances in the U.S. I live in a very small state, and two+ hour car trips aren't uncommon between New Jersey locales.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Deepcrush wrote:'m betting thats partly because driving in Jersey is rather horrid.
You'd lose. The county roads and intra-city traffic are as congested as you'd expect from any suburban spot along the Northeast metro corridor; but I'm talking about straight, non-stuck movement primarily along one of the two main arterial highways (NJ Turnpike or Garden State Parkway.) Bear in mind that New Jersey's northernmost point is well north of NYC, and its southernmost point is south of Dover.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
GrahamKennedy wrote:There's a lot of issues at work; in the UK, it's generally the case that elections are decided on domestic issues rather than foreign ones. So even though most people are fairly anti-Europe, they are willing to elect pro-Europe governments so long as they get the tax/spending policies they want from them.
People here are also rather less interested in the principles of government than they seem to be in the US. I imagine if the US government decided to adopt the Peso as its national currency, for instance, there'd be a colossal political shitstorm about it. Whilst the idea of converting to the Euro is not popular here, a lot of people do like it... purely on the basis that they wouldn't have to change currencies when they went on holiday. Seriously, that's one of the major arguments put forward for adopting the Euro; it would save them ten minutes at the airport and make prices easier to understand abroad.
It's not that it's inconvienient it's getting ripped off when you change the money, and ripped off again if you have to change it back. You never get a good exchange rate, no matter where you go, and you get different rates to buy than to sell.
The idea of losing control over a major part of our own economy just doesn't seem to bother them since in their view it wouldn't impact directly on their day to day life.
IanKennedy wrote:It's not that it's inconvienient it's getting ripped off when you change the money, and ripped off again if you have to change it back. You never get a good exchange rate, no matter where you go, and you get different rates to buy than to sell.
Paying a commission or getting a different rate is hardly "being ripped off". If you started up a business changing money for people, would you really do it for free out of the goodness of your heart?
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
IanKennedy wrote:It's not that it's inconvienient it's getting ripped off when you change the money, and ripped off again if you have to change it back. You never get a good exchange rate, no matter where you go, and you get different rates to buy than to sell.
Paying a commission or getting a different rate is hardly "being ripped off". If you started up a business changing money for people, would you really do it for free out of the goodness of your heart?
Four hours walk maybe.
