4 ms·
Almost anything is for sale given enough money.
by thematt 14y ago
Almost anything is for sale given enough money.
- excuse-me 14y agoAlthough it's odd to buy a state (Alaska excepted) I assume that's why Washington DC isn't a state?
- Turing_Machine 14y agoThe Louisiana Purchase is another example. Quite a number of states were bought in that deal. Washington DC isn't a state because it was decided that it would work best to have the national capital in a special non-state enclave, so as not to make any one state more important than the others.
- dredmorbius 14y agoWhy limit yourself to one state when you can buy 15, and two provinces? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase (And yes, the Louisiana Purchase, at 828,000 square miles, is larger than Alaska, at 663,268. Though the nominal price was higher -- $15 million vs. $7.2). Ellison was robbed blind.
- excuse-me 14y agoBut would you really want Louisiana ?
- yardie 14y agoThe Louisiana Purchase was a scam that went awry. Napoleon "sold it" so he could raise money for his European campaign. The plan was to sell it to the Americans then take it back through force after he successfully conquered Europe.
- benholmen 14y agoThat's an interesting statement. Do you have a citation for that so I can read more about it?
- yardie 14y agoSorry, I don't. Just an opinionated, french father-in-law steeped in french history and colonialism. One of the things I quickly learned after leaving the US is that American historical events are viewed very differently in different sides of the world. Maybe some of the french HNers can give the french perspective. My understanding is just the interpretation of US history books and one grumpy, old frenchman.
- philwelch 14y agoReally? By my understanding it was more of a fire sale--between trying to conquer Europe and the slave revolt in Haiti, Napoleon was convinced that it wasn't worthwhile to hold onto useless colonies in America when he could have all of Europe in his grasp.