Are the States of America truly united?
I am an outsider and have to go by what i know from various news sourses and people i talk to living there so I cant judge.
But from what i'm reading and hearing there seems to be a huge disillusionment within the population.
But to be honest, this is very confusing for outsiders - i have always thought i am dealing with one country not with so many different statelets.
cheers
Well... in my mind they're United until they dissolve the federal government which I don't see happenning any time soon.
No more united than any other country -.- At the moment there is a lot of strife and bickering going on as there always is during an election year and there are some major issues on the table people disagree over but it's not like states are splitting off =/
They're united when they want to be. After some events that happened on September 11, 2001, everyone was united in a war (that very few people even understood) against terrorism in the Middle East. A few years later, when things didn't go to well, they were all united in hating their president. I'd say that overall, they're not bad when it comes to being united because most of the things that they argue over are small in the bigger issue. They've argued about the same things for years, nothing ever gets done, and they still seem to be happy.
| Afaceinthematrix wrote: |
| They're united when they want to be. After some events that happened on September 11, 2001, everyone was united in a war (that very few people even understood) against terrorism in the Middle East. A few years later, when things didn't go to well, they were all united in hating their president. I'd say that overall, they're not bad when it comes to being united because most of the things that they argue over are small in the bigger issue. They've argued about the same things for years, nothing ever gets done, and they still seem to be happy. |
People happily supported the war in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda (for the most part at least..there were obviously anti war people like there always is). However, people have come to their senses about Iraq (well some have) and realized Hussein had no relations with 9/11 and Bin Laden was running free....that's why people got pissy with Bush. It really wasn't the war itself, it was the idiotic decision making within the war....to get oil. 
| icecool wrote: |
Are the States of America truly united?
I am an outsider and have to go by what i know from various news sourses and people i talk to living there so I cant judge.
But from what i'm reading and hearing there seems to be a huge disillusionment within the population.
But to be honest, this is very confusing for outsiders - i have always thought i am dealing with one country not with so many different statelets.
cheers |
That's legally what it means: individual states united under one federal constitution. The federal government exists to perform those duties which are more efficient for a national government than for the individual states (defense, international relations, currency, etc.).
That being said, there has been and always will be a struggle between state and federal rights, as there should be. I personally am an advocate of strong state rights and very limited federal power. Others believe in a more powerful federal government. The United States is founded on and depends upon a constant legal struggle between not only state and federal governments, but also between federal government branches. It is the essence of freedom and this system's best guarantee that no one person or group accumulates too much power.
But if you are looking for 300 million people to be "united" in common mind, I think you are looking at the wrong species. If you can find 300 million people who you believe think alike, I'd be hard pressed to believe they're free to think for themselves.
Respectfully,
M
Last edited by Moonspider on Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:09 pm; edited 3 times in totalPeople in the United States for a long time and to some extent even now think that world means USA. Anything outside is not considered a part of the earth
Most of the US citizens lack a lot of general knowledge on world affairs and if you ask them where is Bhutan, they would think it's a town near Texas.
So in that spirit, the U in USA still stands for United
But more recently, due to United States active involvement in World Affairs like Iraq, Afghanistan, the United States Citizens are slowly opening their eyes to the world beyond as they realize they are not insulated anymore as they thought they are. The danger to their country is real and imminent. Now what is happening is, the citizens are more aware of the world affairs than the government! haha! this is called Irony.
While almost every single US citizen thinks Iraq is a mistake and USA should get out, the govt thinks otherwise! Like Vietnam brought all the citizens together and united, Iraq has become another rallying point. I hope they stand united and tell the govt to have a relook at their foreign policy. What can be more funny than USA punishing Iraq for doing NOTHING and actually helping Pakistan for spreading terrorism!! HAHA! | HalfBloodPrince wrote: |
| ...to get oil. |
Whatever helps you sleep. Perhaps if we were actually seeing even an ounce of the oil from Iraq here in the US I might believe you. To put it simply, no. | MadeinIndia wrote: |
People in the United States for a long time and to some extent even now think that world means USA. Anything outside is not considered a part of the earth
Most of the US citizens lack a lot of general knowledge on world affairs and if you ask them where is Bhutan, they would think it's a town near Texas.
So in that spirit, the U in USA still stands for United
But more recently, due to United States active involvement in World Affairs like Iraq, Afghanistan, the United States Citizens are slowly opening their eyes to the world beyond as they realize they are not insulated anymore as they thought they are. The danger to their country is real and imminent. Now what is happening is, the citizens are more aware of the world affairs than the government! haha! this is called Irony.
While almost every single US citizen thinks Iraq is a mistake and USA should get out, the govt thinks otherwise! Like Vietnam brought all the citizens together and united, Iraq has become another rallying point. I hope they stand united and tell the govt to have a relook at their foreign policy. What can be more funny than USA punishing Iraq for doing NOTHING and actually helping Pakistan for spreading terrorism!! HAHA! |
Bolded: That's really not that true, but I'll let you have your way. It seems you base that opinion on those stupid videos on YouTube that ask where Bhutan is to 100 people on the street then pick the most retarded answers.
Secondly, although a lot (not nearly as many as you say, 45% of the population still thinks Hussein has some relation to 9/11) of US citizens realize Iraq was not the smartest idea and things could have been done extremely more efficiently (me included), the idea that we can suddenly pull out every person we have there is primitive and ideological thinking at its best. You break it, you buy it...and we broke it. Us leaving would not make the "country" in and of itself any better and the vast majority of the region would be more violent with multiple countries going in for grabs of the defenseless Iraq. Pulling out is not an option at this point and much like Vietnam, the military is not losing this war, the American public is by acting like we can simply remove every troop we have there and things will be perfect.America was never united in the sense that all easterners believe the same things as westerners and southerners, but we're all the same in that we all believe we're above-average drivers. America's too big (like many other countries) to be considered a single entity, really, but certain things keep us together, like our egotism. And, hey, we're way more united than back in the eighteenth century when the president could die and half the country wouldn't know for nine months.
Rofl states of america u can name it better san andreas
from gta sa
i think not so if its still united than its good
Well, the 'united' applies to the states themselves, not necessarily the population. You'll never get so many people from so many backgrounds to all agree.
Most of the subjects troubling an American citizen, be it the war, social security, capital punishment, health insurance, gun-control, taxation, crime prevention, prison reform, abortion, and so on, don't seem to running along any state boundaries (although some issues do have a north-south or east-west slope) so I would say that the "U" in "USA" is still what it was in the past, perhaps more so if one looks back more than a century.
I stand by my statement 
. These clips are always fun to watch, but they have been done in every country with pretty much the same results. I've seen them here in Frankfurt with local citizens not knowing the name of their president / chancellor / mayor. They prove nothing except that it was probably a slow news-day. Any by the way: intelligence is not a synonym of either knowledge or education. [quote="ocalhoun"]Well, the 'united' applies to the states themselves, not necessarily the population. quote]
maybe my original post was slightly misleading - i started with states and moved onto people. my apologies, two totally different topics.
what i meant was that as an outsider - as in "the rest of the world" - i always thought i am dealing with one country. when i phone it's the prefix +1. i write a letter, i send it to the USA. i read the news, it's the USA that - has a new teen idol - goes to war - gets bad mouthed - doensn't ratify international treaty's - whatever. at the other hand, my various friends in different states pay differnet for gas or cuigarettes - different taxes. need state driving licenses. can marry their gay partner in one but not the other state. and on and on - so many idiosynchrasies - that's the confusing bit.
| ocalhoun wrote: |
| You'll never get so many people from so many backgrounds to all agree. |
of course not. you sit 2 people onto a table and you have different views. that's great, it keeps the world as we know it going. what else is there to do but to exchange ideas, explore possibiliries, think, expand out horizons - if it's done with respect for each other it's great fun.
cheers | liljp617 wrote: |
| HalfBloodPrince wrote: | | ...to get oil. |
Whatever helps you sleep. Perhaps if we were actually seeing even an ounce of the oil from Iraq here in the US I might believe you. To put it simply, no. |
US do need the oil in order to lower the gas prices since US are the largets car nation in the world. So oil has definently something to do with it, even if it's far from the biggest reason. | Azmo wrote: |
| liljp617 wrote: | | HalfBloodPrince wrote: | | ...to get oil. |
Whatever helps you sleep. Perhaps if we were actually seeing even an ounce of the oil from Iraq here in the US I might believe you. To put it simply, no. |
US do need the oil in order to lower the gas prices since US are the largets car nation in the world. So oil has definently something to do with it, even if it's far from the biggest reason. |
I would have to agree with HalfBloodPrince. Our western civilization depends if not exists on energy, and "energy", at least for the foreseeable future, means oil, gas and coal. Not only do we use it to run our cars, trains, ships and aircraft, light our houses, organize our economy: we practically eat it considering the amount of energy units needed by advanced agriculture (machines, fertilizer, transportation, packaging, ... ). Suggesting all post-industrial nations would come to a standstill without adequate amounts of energy is putting it lightly; chances are they would falls back to times where even stable political systems could be questioned. If severe energy shortages were recorded today, the first outcry of all citizens would be: "Where was the government?".
Although I oppose quite a few of the US' military actions in the Middle East, I can certainly understand the motivation.
| liljp617 wrote: |
| ...perhaps if we were actually seeing even an ounce of the oil from Iraq here in the US I might believe you... |
Although Iraqi oil production is way below pre-war levels, one needs to take a wider view. What is intended is a stabilization of the Middle East as the prime supplier of oil and gas. With Iran and Syria as regional opponents and most other countries, from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, mostly more or less unstable autocracies, it seems (at least to me) obvious where the true and major interests lie.I do believe they are united. You can see this year because it is an election year, some states respond differently... but in the end, it will be another peaceful change of power that the us is known for for many years. most other countries do not have that unity and stability.
i think they are united. do i think they are always right? thats another issue
