America

[SirDuff]

I was staying in New Westminster as it was only about 20 minutes away from the lab I was working at. That is the first time I have ever seen a crack pipe being used in the open on a park bench. But maybe I am just sheltered in a small town in a flyover state.

Weirdly, the only place I’ve seen it is Berne Switzerland) though it involved syringes. It was actually on a staircase and they kindly moved aside to let me pass.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Likewise, some people seem unable to abide the notion that there are things that America could improve upon.

I haven't met these people then. Every American I know thinks we do many things well, but need to continue to work to improve in the areas that we don't.

Ask any immigrant in America right now if they would rather return to their country of origin? What will their answer be 99.9% of the time?

 

[leebee]

I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also?

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I am a mutt with too much of a melting pot mixture to list them all, so that's why I say simply "American".

 

[White Cat]

"America bad, other places good" is a very popular theme

World championship for swimming as an example. The first finals race say a swimmer from Slovenia wins. Fans jump up and down cheering waving Slovenian flags. Oh they are patriotic, so nice to see them win.

An American wins the next race. American fans do the same. Oh my, Americans are so loud and arrogant.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also?

Canadians do and I believe the UK does as well. Feel free to correct me.

 

[White Cat]

Likewise, some people seem unable to abide the notion that there are things that America could improve upon.

I have never heard of that. But I’m sure if you search enough they could be found.

 

[Karin1984]

I haven't met these people then. Every American I know thinks we do many things well, but need to continue to work to improve in the areas that we don't.

Ask any immigrant in America right now if they would rather return to their country of origin? What will their answer be 99.9% of the time?

That their home country might be worse than the US, doesn't equal that the US is a good place for them.

I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also?

I haven't heard of any other country do this. But it probably has to do with heritage is bigger thing in the US. Because the country prides itself being built by immigrants.

Maybe the Australians & New Zealanders can contribute, as convincts were send there in the olden days. Maybe they refer to themselves as British/English-Australians?

Or can Canadians help? During/After WW2 a lot of Dutch people immigrated to Canada. Do they refer to themselves as Dutch-Americans?

 

[gmi3804]

And all lives do matter, don t they?

I could explain it to you (in fact, I did), but I can't understand it for you.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

leebee
I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also

I haven't heard of any other country do this. But it probably has to do with heritage is bigger thing in the US. Because the country prides itself being built by immigrants.

Maybe the Australians & New Zealanders can contribute, as convincts were send there in the olden days. Maybe they refer to themselves as British/English-Australians?

Or can Canadians help? During/After WW2 a lot of Dutch people immigrated to Canada. Do they refer to themselves as Dutch-
Americans?

My maternal grandmother came to the US from Canada. She, and the rest of that side of the family, always referred to themselves as French Canadian. On Ancestry we traced them back to France.

 

[porschegrl]

I haven't met these people then. Every American I know thinks we do many things well, but need to continue to work to improve in the areas that we don't.

Ask any immigrant in America right now if they would rather return to their country of origin? What will their answer be 99.9% of the time?

There are people throughout this thread who rebut every criticism. Often expressed as, America is not as bad as [insert bad country here] at [insert issue here]. As @gmi3804 said earlier, "it's disingenuous to claim that we're doing OK because our problems aren't as bad as others'."

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Genuinely asking and not trying to stoke the flames but I have a friend who was born in South Africa, grew up in South Africa, spent the majority of her life in South Africa and has recently moved to America where she plans to become a citizen eventually. How would you identify her? I never have heard anyone identified as a South African American. I understand the cultural norm of who the term African American typically refers to, but I always thought I should identify her as an African American as she is an African person who has become an American. But based on what is being said here, the only reason she should not be identified as such is because she's not dark skinned.

The South Africans I've known (actually have neighbors on our street too) have always identified as South African. In general it can either be a regional identification (much like our regions in the U.S.) or a way to distance oneself from the rest of Africa (either due to image or a more racist/classist way). My sister-in-law's boyfriend's family (including him too) all have renounced their Pakistani citizenship and have embraced their American citizenship in some ways more than we have (especially in regards to legal immigration) but they still identify culturally as Pakistani and Muslim and many of their day to day lives are influenced by that. Whether South Africans are the same I'm not sure but the few that I have met seem to still identify more strongly with South African rather than just call themselves Americans

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, however even though the smaller states have fewer electoral votes, each of those votes carries proportionately more weight, based on population. For example, one electoral vote in Wyoming represents about 190,000 people, while each electoral vote in California represents over 700,000 people. *

Same with the Senate, where every state (regardless of population) has two senators. Senators from smaller states have as much influence as those from populous states, who represent the interests of far more people.

And as previously mentioned, it is handful of swing states that effectively determine the outcome of presidential elections. States that are solidly red or blue (including both large and small states) are essentially ignored by candidates, because they are assumed as a given. Thus campaigning is heavily focused on the “purple” swing states.

Whether any of this is good or bad, fair or unfair, depends on your personal perspective. It’s the system we have and not likely to ever change.

*Source:
https://usafacts.org/visualizations/electoral-college-states-representation/

Although that is outdated information now as far as the actual numbers since it was done before the most recent census.

CA lost one, FL gained one, TX gained two, New York lost one, etc.

And your discussion about influence isn't steeped in real life because while there may be 2 senators per state it doesn't mean that smaller states have much more influence. That entirely depends on the issues, the time period, etc. A smaller populated state can absolutely be drowned out by other states

 

[nw6675]

18 pages and still going. Wow.

Thanks to you for a large part of it.

 

[White Cat]

I could explain it to you (in fact, I did), but I can't understand it for you.

Clever. But you are wrong if you don’t feel that all lives matter.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Can't they just be American.

In truth terms shift and change as time goes. Everyone who has an American citizenship is an American by definition, that does not necessarily mean that is how they are referred to (not really talking about the PP's way out there thing about Elon Musk, just generally speaking). Over the years sometimes how someone is referred to has been used in a very negative connotation and other times it's a collective request by those very persons to be referred to a certain way.

You will more commonly see Black in favor of African American or black (which were more used terms/spelling when I was growing up). Persons of Color IME is seeing less and less of a day to day usage but it also expanded IME in those it was used to identify with. In the past African American was a term used to identify persons who were black and that has shifted. It also led to people calling those in Europe African American by default embarrassingly so.

And no one term is embraced by all and each has been met with controversy both from those within the community it is supposed to represent (such as combining individuals of many cultures into one label) and those who are using the term to identify someone else. In your quote above you probably were on the more negative side due to the Elon Musk garbage talk but in reality yes a person can just be an American but it is also a far more complex topic.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Spain, Asia, and America is the correct answer. Why on earth would the leave the utopia of socialized medicine in England for healthcare in another country? I thought their system was great?

Actually, it is. I have been treated with dignity and speed, never having to pay more than £3 for my prescriptions and narry a penny for my consultations. I go in for my blood tests each week, have it all done and my meds handed over within 5 minutes of arriving, guided by expert staff.

Of course, that is not always the way. The NHS is suffering through under-investment and over-development in many fields of medicine. I guess if you wanted to and had the cash you could always go private for a nominal fee, but when you have an emergency, they're always there for you, so yeah. Score one for socialised health care

 

[Karin1984]

My maternal grandmother came to the US from Canada. She, and the rest of that side of the family, always referred to themselves as French Canadian. On Ancestry we traced them back to France.

Oh, good one! When it comes to proud of their culture/country the French can almost rival the US.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also?

Yes we are. We seem to be obsessed with labels.

 

[SirDuff]

My maternal grandmother came to the US from Canada. She, and the rest of that side of the family, always referred to themselves as French Canadian. On Ancestry we traced them back to France.

French Canadian is a bit different though. As you likely know, Canada was founded by both the British and the French, they had a war that the British won, we became a British colony. However, Quebec (then Lower Canada), which is where the French had been has always held itself apart/separate (they’ve tried to literally be separate a few times). You hear French Canadian often but rarely hear something-else Canadian. People may say it if pressed about their background but I rarely hear it (certainly less than I heard Americans doing it).