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I don't mean to nitpick, but calling this un-American strikes me as the No True Scotsman fallacy. I.e., Florida is part of the U.S. So if Florida does it, in
by CoastalCoder 5y ago
I don't mean to nitpick, but calling this un-American strikes me as the No True Scotsman fallacy.
I.e., Florida is part of the U.S. So if Florida does it, in at least a small way it is American.
- josefresco 5y agoIt doesn't represent American ideals, but it does represent the reality of America's current (and past) political and cultural landscape. Making it difficult for certain groups of people to participate in the democratic process is unfortunately a long-standing American tradition.
- sofixa 5y ago> It doesn't represent American ideals, but it does represent the reality of America's current (and past) political and cultural landscape Which ideals? Don't forget that the US literally started with slavery and land ownership-based voting rights for males only. Incredible progress has been made, but with huge caveats ( no slavery except as punishment, anyone can vote but... ).
- pyronik19 5y agoInsecure elections don't represent American ideals.
- CoastalCoder 5y ago> It doesn't represent American ideals Could you expand on that? My original comment was based on the assumption that the Florida issue demonstrated a lack of ideological consensus amongst Americans. Thus my "no true Scotsman" observation. So I see two ways that I might have been off the mark: (a) Florida's actions don't represent those officials' ideals, or (b) we somehow don't include those officials' ideals when talking about American ideals. Both (a) and (b) seem like interesting topics of discussion.
- minitoar 5y agoBy that logic, anything going on in Columbia is equally American.
- djbusby 5y agoDid you mean Colombia?
- CoastalCoder 5y agoThe conversation was using "American" as short-hand for "related to the U.S.A." My comment used that colloquialism as well.