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And probably, to some degree, because it's happening to people who aren't traditionally regarded as Americans. For example, despite having earned citizenship, a
by chrischen 13y ago
And probably, to some degree, because it's happening to people who aren't traditionally regarded as Americans. For example, despite having earned citizenship, a lot of people would still regard me as Chinese instead of American. And even people in China would claim I'm still Chinese, not American, because they see an American as a white male of european descent.
- ekianjo 13y agoWell, nobody should be considered "American" in the first place since it's a country made by immigration (apart from native indians). And the principle behind America is that you can be born "American" without being born in the country. But I know what you mean, there's the principles on one hand and the reality on the other.
- Sven7 13y ago"Nationalism is the biggest disease on the planet. Nations have the wrong granularity. They’re too small to be global and too big to be local, and all they can think about is competing." - Nicholas Negroponte
- guelo 13y agoYea but nation states have done wonders for the advancement of humanity. The conundrum...
- alan_cx 13y agoSo did the steam engine, but its pretty much redundant now.
- lifeisstillgood 13y agoSteam engines were replaced only after the invention of a much more efficient engine (internal combustion). What is the much more efficient boundary of government that is not a nationstate ?
- mgunes 13y agoThe polis; an autonomous, self-governing form of city state, invented around 800 BC.
- mercurial 13y agoWhich wasn't shy about competition or large-scale conflict (like the Peloponnesian War).
- Sven7 13y agoThe equations of power have changed. Two contradictory things are happening inequality grows while information asymmetry reduces. Something is going to break. And we generally wake up and fix thing only after things break. I say another 5-10 manning/snowden type events before we transition from the united states of america to the the united states of earth.
- nske 13y agowell, I think if we are talking strictly about efficiency, the intuitive answer would be: either a single government, or at least a government whose boundaries are set based on more practical and real rather than artificial foundations. National identities, as complex as they are and as huge an improvement over religions as they are to serve for the above purpose, are still artificial constructs that in many ways create arbitrary boundaries, introduce and perpetuate differences that are not necessary to exist between people and in some cases have even been manipulated and used by governments for political reasons.
- alan_cx 13y ago"American" is the religion immigrants have signed up to since the Mayflower.
- theorique 13y agoA person born in the USA (or elsewhere) to US Citizen parents is "American in the first place". That's how US citizenship at birth works.
- mamcx 13y agoAmericans are also the people above and below the map of USA.
- theorique 13y agoIf you want to be pedantic about it, yes, the continent of North America is made up of three countries. But if a person says the phrase "I'm American", what's your first guess - that he is referring to the USA, to Canada or to Mexico? Speaking as a Canadian, I do not call myself an 'American', even though my country is certainly part of North America.
- mamcx 13y agoAmerica is the term to the whole continent. Central and south too (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas). I understand that "Americans" is a shorthand for "USA Habitant", in the minds of a lot of people, mainly because USA is the dominant culture in this side. But is like ask: "I'm Asian" and asume is about a chinese.
- stonemetal 13y ago(apart from native indians) Last I checked they immigrated too.