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OT: American Politics

MindzEye said:
Why would that be more fair? I get what you're trying to say here, but this is a really bad way of trying to say it.
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Why would that be more fair?

Because canada is much bigger compared to greenland same way that the usa is much bigger compared to Canada.

Why would Canadians know much about the much smaller greenland despite them being our neighbors same way that why would Americans know much about much smaller canada despite being neibours?
 
Habitants87 said:
Why would that be more fair?

Because canada is much bigger compared to greenland same way that the usa is much bigger compared to Canada.

Why would Canadians know much about the much smaller greenland despite them being our neighbors same way that why would Americans know much about much smaller canada despite being neibours?
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Well, USA to Canada vs Canada to Greenland aren't really very fair comparisons. Greenland only has 55k people, and are arguably not even a full country. Most of the news in Greenland wouldn't even be about Greenland, if they even have news media there. The Canadian influence on the US is much much larger than the Greenlandic influence on Canada is.
 
Greenland isn't a country. It's an autonomous crown dependency of the Kingdom of Denmark.

A much fairer comparison would be asking Canadians what they know about any of the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, or Sweden). They're culturally and politically similar to Canada in many respects, with a comparable standard of living.

And while it's unfair to expect Americans to know minute details about Canada, we share so many economic, cultural, political, and sporting ties that they should know a reasonable amount just by virtue of proxy. You're talking about a country with a higher standard of living, upon whom many Americans are dependent for their livelihoods, and who exports plenty of human talent to them that play a major role in their film and sports industry (for a couple of examples).

We also share long-standing, very close geopolitical and security ties through our militaries, border services, and intelligence agencies. They should know something.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
Greenland isn't a country. It's an autonomous crown dependency of the Kingdom of Denmark.

A much fairer comparison would be asking Canadians what they know about any of the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, or Sweden). They're culturally and politically similar to Canada in many respects, with a comparable standard of living.

And while it's unfair to expect Americans to know minute details about Canada, we share so many economic, cultural, political, and sporting ties that they should know a reasonable amount just by virtue of proxy. You're talking about a country with a higher standard of living, upon whom many Americans are dependent for their livelihoods, and who exports plenty of human talent to them that play a major role in their film and sports industry (for a couple of examples).

We also share long-standing, very close geopolitical and security ties through our militaries, border services, and intelligence agencies. They should know something.
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Meh.

Canada has a smaller population and GDP than the state of california.
 
Habitants87 said:
Why would that be more fair?

Because canada is much bigger compared to greenland same way that the usa is much bigger compared to Canada.
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The US has 10x the population of Canada, Canada has 720x the population of greenland.

So no, not remotely comparable, which was my point

Why would Canadians know much about the much smaller greenland despite them being our neighbors same way that why would Americans know much about much smaller canada despite being neibours?
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Because Canada actually has a culture to export. Famous actors, musicians, athletes, etc. Greenland has none of these things to export. This is a terrible comparison. The only level that it makes some sense on is geographic, but even that manages to ignore the fact that 90% of Canadians live without a few hundred KM of the US border and that very few live in the north of Canada to exchange culturally with, even if Greenland had any of those things to exchange.
 
Habitants87 said:
Meh.

Canada has a smaller population and GDP than the state of california.
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What does that have to do with anything?

So yeah, the most populous and wealthiest state in the US has a large population and GDP than Canada. Newmarket Ontario has a higher population and GDP than Greenland.

Just a stupid, stupid line of thought you're following here.
 
Habitants87 said:
Meh.

Canada has a smaller population and GDP than the state of california.
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All but a couple of super-economies in the world (China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom) have a smaller GDP per capita. California has a GDP the size of France, with only roughly 60% of the population.

That doesn't mean anything in this discussion. Canada is still a G7 economy with a worldwide top ten national GDP. You cannot meaningfully compare a legitimate middle power with what essentially amounts to an overseas province of a small Scandinavian kingdom, and then use it for a basis of comparison.

Canada and the United States share an almost limitless interconnected relationship economically, geopolitically-speaking, the world's largest undefended border, and one of the most similar popular cultures out of any two nations on Earth.
 
MindzEye said:
The US has 10x the population of Canada, Canada has 720x the population of greenland.

So no, not remotely comparable, which was my point



Because Canada actually has a culture to export. Famous actors, musicians, athletes, etc. Greenland has none of these things to export. This is a terrible comparison. The only level that it makes some sense on is geographic, but even that manages to ignore the fact that 90% of Canadians live without a few hundred KM of the US border and that very few live in the north of Canada to exchange culturally with, even if Greenland had any of those things to exchange.
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Fair enough. My point simply is I don't expect Americans to know much about that small quiet country to the north that isn't bigger than their largest state.

The only reason we know so much about America is because they are ten times bugger than us, everything they do effects us in some small way and their culture is exported into canada daily with their tv, music, food, businesses.

Canadians aren't exactly more knowledgeable about the world, we just know a lot about America. Ask the average Canadian questions about great Britain, france, Italy, germany, Japan, China, Mexico and we would sound just as dumb.
 
MindzEye said:
What does that have to do with anything?

So yeah, the most populous and wealthiest state in the US has a large population and GDP than Canada. Newmarket Ontario has a higher population and GDP than Greenland.

Just a stupid, stupid line of thought you're following here.
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I approve of this basis for comparison. :thumbsup(22):
 
JaysCyYoung said:
All but a couple of super-economies in the world (China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom) have a smaller GDP per capita. California has a GDP the size of France, with only roughly 60% of the population.

That doesn't mean anything in this discussion. Canada is still a G7 economy with a worldwide top ten national GDP. You cannot meaningfully compare a legitimate middle power with what essentially amounts to an overseas province of a small Scandinavian kingdom, and then use it for a basis of comparison.

Canada and the United States share an almost limitless interconnected relationship economically, geopolitically-speaking, the world's largest undefended border, and one of the most similar popular cultures out of any two nations on Earth.
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Fair enough. I still forgive the average American for not knowing a hell of a lot about Canada. Same way I forgive the average Canadian for not knowing a heck of a lot about any country not called America.
 
Habitants87 said:
Fair enough. My point simply is I don't expect Americans to know much about that small quiet country to the north that isn't bigger than their largest state.

The only reason we know so much about America is because they are ten times bugger than us, everything they do effects us in some small way and their culture is exported into canada daily with their tv, music, food, businesses.

Canadians aren't exactly more knowledgeable about the world, we just know a lot about America. Ask the average Canadian questions about great Britain, france, Italy, germany, Japan, China, Mexico and we would sound just as dumb.
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Compared to the average American, I can assure you that we are to a reasonable degree. Our news agencies and press have an infinitely more international and globally-outwardly focused than the largely domestic American mind-set.

You'll be lucky if the ordinary American citizen has ever been more than 100km outside of their hometown. Something like only 15-20% of Americans even possess a passport for travel abroad.

And in comparison, Europeans then subsequently put Canadians to shame when it comes to international knowledge and experience with other countires. But Canadians on the average are far more "wordly" than the average American.
 
MindzEye said:
What does that have to do with anything?

So yeah, the most populous and wealthiest state in the US has a large population and GDP than Canada. Newmarket Ontario has a higher population and GDP than Greenland.

Just a stupid, stupid line of thought you're following here.
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Listen, geography didn't give canada a lot of neighbors to compare to, I used what I had.
 
Habitants87 said:
Fair enough. I still forgive the average American for not knowing a hell of a lot about Canada. Same way I forgive the average Canadian for not knowing a heck of a lot about any country not called America.
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You need to re-read my post, I think, because I'm not faulting them for not knowing who the first five prime ministers are, or what the most populous city in northern British Columbia is. I was not overtly critical of Americans for not knowing minute details about Canada.

However, for a pair of nations that are as similar in many respects as any two countries in the world, especially culturally, and the fact that our two advanced economies are so thoroughly well-integrated and connected to the other, one would imagine that Americans would have a little more developed understanding of a neighbour who has 90% of its population living within a few hours drive of the border and who has frequent interactions with the other for many reasons (jobs, cross-border purchases, television shows, universities, sporting events, etc).
 
JaysCyYoung said:
Compared to the average American, I can assure you that we are to a reasonable degree. Our news agencies and press have an infinitely more international and globally-outwardly focused than the largely domestic American mind-set.

You'll be lucky if the ordinary American citizen has ever been more than 100km outside of their hometown. Something like only 15-20% of Americans even possess a passport for travel abroad.

And in comparison, Europeans then subsequently put Canadians to shame when it comes to international knowledge and experience with other countires. But Canadians on the average are far more "wordly" than the average American.
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I wonder if being in a multicultural metropolis changes your worldview on this because in my line of work, I've been to a lot of smaller less culturally diverse parts of the country and I'm not sure that's a claim that can be made.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
You need to re-read my post, I think, because I'm not faulting them for not knowing who the first five prime ministers are, or what the most populous city in northern British Columbia is. I was not overtly critical of Americans for not knowing minute details about Canada.

However, for a pair of nations that are as similar in many respects as any two countries in the world, especially culturally, and the fact that our two advanced economies are so thoroughly well-integrated and connected to the other, one would imagine that Americans would have a little more developed understanding of a neighbour who has 90% of its population living within a few hours drive of the border and who has frequent interactions with the other for many reasons (jobs, cross-border purchases, television shows, universities, sporting events, etc).
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Yep. I don't expect them to know the provincial Capitals, but you'd think they should at least be able to name a couple cities or provinces, or, I don't know, at least be able to find Canada on an unmarked map?
 
UWHabs said:
Yep. I don't expect them to know the provincial Capitals, but you'd think they should at least be able to name a couple cities or provinces, or, I don't know, at least be able to find Canada on an unmarked map?
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Thank you for providing me with this perfect segue:

[video=youtube;xlGhWS2D8tU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlGhWS2D8tU[/video]

:smilewinkgrin:
 
JaysCyYoung said:
You need to re-read my post, I think, because I'm not faulting them for not knowing who the first five prime ministers are, or what the most populous city in northern British Columbia is. I was not overtly critical of Americans for not knowing minute details about Canada.

However, for a pair of nations that are as similar in many respects as any two countries in the world, especially culturally, and the fact that our two advanced economies are so thoroughly well-integrated and connected to the other, one would imagine that Americans would have a little more developed understanding of a neighbour who has 90% of its population living within a few hours drive of the border and who has frequent interactions with the other for many reasons (jobs, cross-border purchases, television shows, universities, sporting events, etc).
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90 percent of Canadians live within 200 kms of the American border, it's probably the opposite in the states.

So depending on where you are in America that knowledge probably varies. I expect someone from Montana to probably know a lot more than someone from Georgia. But the average American probably lives nowhere close to our border so those interactions you mentioned are probably on a whole, pretty limited.
 
Habitants87 said:
90 percent of Canadians live within 200 kms of the American border, it's probably the opposite in the states.

So depending on where you are in America that knowledge probably varies. I expect someone from Montana to probably know a lot more than someone from Georgia. But the average American probably lives nowhere close to our border so those interactions you mentioned are probably on a whole, pretty limited.
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Between 30 and 40% of the American population lives within 300 miles of the Canadian border. That's a reasonable car drive. Over 40% of speakers in the upper-half of the state of Maine speak French. Alberta and Montana share national parks along their respective border.

Come on now. It's not like we're asking someone living in Atlanta or Tallahassee to have knowledge of Edmonton or Saskatoon. But it's reasonable to expect that someone from New York or Boston has made the trek up to Toronto or Montreal for a ballgame or hockey weekend once in a while, or that people living in the various border states (Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington) have some knowledge of the people right next to them.
 
You and I have very different ideas on what constitutes a reasonable car drive.

300miles=482 kms=reasonable car drive?
 
Five hours is nothing.

Do you actually think that's a long drive? It takes around that amount of time to get to Ottawa or Montreal from here.
 
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