4 ms·

I've always wondered, if the states were able to unite, why can't the European nations? And the EU was a small step towards that, and this would be another majo

I've always wondered, if the states were able to unite, why can't the European nations? And the EU was a small step towards that, and this would be another major leap. No idea if uniting is for the best or worse of everyone, but I like the thought process, and somehow it does feel like progress to me, at least in the abstract.

rtkwe 7y ago
For starters the States never really had separate national identities among the original 13 so uniting is much simpler compared to the European nations who have a long history of different cultures and international competition. Then the rest of the States were people moving from the original 13 to new territories and creating states there (after massacring the native inhabitants of course) or the existing United States buying/conquering land.
buboard 7y ago
Because europeans are as diverse between them as they are with americans. An EU federal state is not a low energy state at the moment.
- andromeduck 7y ago
  Neither is the US at this point.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    That's not actually true; while the electoral system masks this somewhat, especially where further reinforced by gerrymandering by the dominant party, the major divides in the US our ideological divides where the major factions are relatively consistent nationally, , they are much less regional that at virtually any previous point in US history.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> I've always wondered, if the states were able to unite, why can't the European nations? The original US states broke away together from the same sovereign with the same complaints, giving them a much stronger starting source of unity than the separate European nations, and even so the union was bitterly divided regionally almost from day one and fell into a horrific civil war with about 3 generations of actually forming a meaningful central government—and remained bitterly regionally divided for decades after that.
JohnClark1337 7y ago
They were mostly united under the Roman Empire.

rtkwe 7y ago

For starters the States never really had separate national identities among the original 13 so uniting is much simpler compared to the European nations who have a long history of different cultures and international competition. Then the rest of the States were people moving from the original 13 to new territories and creating states there (after massacring the native inhabitants of course) or the existing United States buying/conquering land.

buboard 7y ago

Because europeans are as diverse between them as they are with americans. An EU federal state is not a low energy state at the moment.

andromeduck 7y ago
Neither is the US at this point.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  That's not actually true; while the electoral system masks this somewhat, especially where further reinforced by gerrymandering by the dominant party, the major divides in the US our ideological divides where the major factions are relatively consistent nationally, , they are much less regional that at virtually any previous point in US history.

dragonwriter 7y ago

> I've always wondered, if the states were able to unite, why can't the European nations? The original US states broke away together from the same sovereign with the same complaints, giving them a much stronger starting source of unity than the separate European nations, and even so the union was bitterly divided regionally almost from day one and fell into a horrific civil war with about 3 generations of actually forming a meaningful central government—and remained bitterly regionally divided for decades after that.

JohnClark1337 7y ago

They were mostly united under the Roman Empire.