# North American Union: Fact or fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 3, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718 "2007-12-03T22:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rixlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rixlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rixlan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/1 "2007-12-03T22:41:56Z")
My house recieves a lot of junk mail and begging letters from conserative groups. One of the most popular causes is preventing the “North American Union”. Supposedly this is the fusion of the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a single country. Since Mexico is a “lawless country” and Canada a “socialist state” this can only result in the subjugation of Americans. They claim that it will mean the loss of U.S. soverenty, the replacement of our currency (with the Amero) and the construction of a huge (as in several football fields wide) highway straight through the middle of the country. First of all it’s hard to imagine such a thing happening durring our current uber-conservative administration. And I’m sure most of Canada and Mexico have no desire to join with the U.S. I’ve checked aound the web but most the information I can find is by the same groups sending me the letters. So, is this just a money making scam (they all ask for money) or a real threat? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/2 "2007-12-03T22:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Rixlan] So, is this just a money making scam (they all ask for money) or a real threat? [/QUOTE] As I recall this has been discussed before; it’s just right wing paranoia. Neither Canada or Mexico is interested in joining a union where they’d be dominated by America, which is what would **really** happen. This isn’t any different than the “The UN is going to take over America ! !” paranoid fantasies you get from the same sort of far-righters. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/3 "2007-12-03T22:56:15Z")
It’s racist piffle. For one thing, what would that highway be for? What possible sense would it make? If people want to drive from Mexico to Canada now, they can do with existing roads, and there isn’t some giant logjam to do so. There’s also the minor point that neither Canadians nor (I assume) Mexicans want to join their countries to the US (some want to emigrate, sure, but most are happy where they are). ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/4 "2007-12-03T23:04:10Z")
Here’s the [previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=425816&page=1&pp=50) that **Der Trihs** mentioned. LilShieste ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/5 "2007-12-03T23:15:44Z")
The [NAFTA Superhighway](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070827/hayes) is a myth, too. (But the Trans-Texas Corridor is a real proposal.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/6 "2007-12-04T01:00:05Z")
I read that Ron Paul said during the last Republican debates that he believed in all this. I wonder if that’s going to help its spread? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/7 "2007-12-04T01:04:59Z")
[QUOTE=Rixlan] My house recieves a lot of junk mail and begging letters from conserative groups. One of the most popular causes is preventing the “North American Union”. Supposedly this is the fusion of the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a single country. Since Mexico is a “lawless country” and Canada a “socialist state” this can only result in the subjugation of Americans. [/QUOTE] Canadians would vote against a political union with the U.S. any day of the week that ends in the letter Y. The margin would be at least ten to one against. It’s totally inconceivable, absolutely impossible, that this could happen. ---
**Author:** ![aptronym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@aptronym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aptronym)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/8 "2007-12-04T01:55:22Z")
[QUOTE=Rixlan] My house recieves a lot of junk mail and begging letters from conserative groups. [/QUOTE] It is now your patriotic duty to scan the crazy ones and post them on the Internet for our amusement. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/9 "2007-12-04T02:48:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The [NAFTA Superhighway](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070827/hayes) is a myth, too. I live and work near the NAFTA Superhighway ([See map in PDF here](http://www.cfpmidweek.com/weeks/IssuePDFs/vo5i18web.pdf)), and drive on it every day. That’s gotta mean money for me, somehow. So I, for one, welcome our Mexicanadian overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/10 "2007-12-04T03:19:51Z")
Contrary to popular belief (being strongly opposed to illegal immigration) I think it’d be great to merge with Mexico. Canada not so much, but I think Mexico and the U.S. could do great things for each other. Although I’d miss running down for pharma… Um, I’d miss the fun of traveling to another country. No, I’ve not thought it out very far, but that’s ok since it’s not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/11 "2007-12-04T03:32:31Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Canadians would vote against a political union with the U.S. any day of the week that ends in the letter Y. The margin would be at least ten to one against. It’s totally inconceivable, absolutely impossible, that this could happen. [/QUOTE] Well, it would be, if it were up to them. The Canschluss **is** coming. Resistance is futile. Prepare to be USsimilated. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/12 "2007-12-04T03:41:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Prepare to be USsimilated. [/QUOTE] Duz this mean thet afterwords, I kin finally gets me sum decent guns cuz a that constitutional thingie? Ahwrite, I wants me a few AR-15s an some RPGs a H&K something… Be careful what you wish for. You just may get it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/13 "2007-12-04T06:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=Rixlan] My house recieves a lot of junk mail and begging letters from conserative groups. … They claim that it will mean… the construction of a huge (as in several football fields wide) highway straight through the middle of the country. [/QUOTE] Well this particular story is supported by a lot of democrats who drive trucks. I’m thinking of the August issue of Teamster Magazine (The teamsters have donated 22.5 million dollars to democrat politicians since 1990) > [@](#): > > U.S. Transportation Department officials will say privately > that there is a NAFTA highway being built. It’s Interstate > 69, an incomplete freeway that already accounts for > more than 63 percent of truck traffic between the U.S., > Canada and Mexico. When finished, it would connect the > industrial eastern region of Canada with the U.S. heartland > and the maquiladora industries along the Mexican border. > > Trucks already rumble along I-69 between Indianapolis and > Port Huron, Michigan, one of the busiest land ports in the United > States. Since 1991, the federal government has backed a plan to > add another 1,600 miles to I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville > through Memphis to Houston and Laredo. > Each of the eight states through which I-69 travels are working > to widen, reconstruct and relocate some existing roads. Though > it has already received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal > grant money, the project won’t be completed for several decades. > The North American SuperCorridor Coalition, or NASCO, > wants to expand the International Mid-Continent Trade and > Transportation Corridor, which comprises Interstates 35, 29 > and 94 from the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit through Kansas > City to Laredo, Texas. NASCO takes pains to point out that the > route, often described as the “proposed NAFTA superhighway,” isalready built. The group’s mission is to promote intermodal transportation > along the existing corridor. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/14 "2007-12-04T06:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] The [NAFTA Superhighway](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070827/hayes) is a myth, too. (But the Trans-Texas Corridor is a real proposal.) [/QUOTE] A myth? what about [this](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27842) ? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/15 "2007-12-04T08:01:51Z")
I don’t think closer ties would be a bad thing. Something similar to the EU. I’m really tired of paying more for things like vehicles just because I live North of the border. And I’d like the ability to get a job where ever the job is and not be hassled by having to prove I’m worthy enough in the eyes of some immigration department drone. ---
**Author:** ![Rixlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rixlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rixlan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/16 "2007-12-04T11:42:17Z")
[QUOTE=aptronym] It is now your patriotic duty to scan the crazy ones and post them on the Internet for our amusement. [/QUOTE] What gets you is the sheer venom in these letters. As far as they’re concerned their liberal opponents absolutely _hate_ America (and God, and freedom, etc…) are are intentionaly doing everything in their power to destroy it. Like I said, I only get stuff from conservative groups but I’d be surprised if liberals weren’t returning the complement. There’s plenty of crazy on both sides of the political spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/17 "2007-12-04T12:37:27Z")
Am I missing something? These people are scared of a big road? Don’t we already have big roads in this country? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/18 "2007-12-04T16:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=Rixlan] the construction of a huge (as in several football fields wide) highway straight through the middle of the country. [/QUOTE] Dang, I live about a quarter mile from I-35. And my house just went up for sale. Must get it off the market. Once this project goes through, that house will be worth MILLIONS!!! Hmm, just what do these people think is going to be shipped up and down I-35, that isn’t already, that is going to require a freeway that is that big? Are we going to be moving the factories instead of the end product? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/19 "2007-12-04T16:28:14Z")
I think the fear is that trucks could zoom from Mexico to Canada without having to stop in the US. So the superhighway would be a benefit to Mexico and Canada allowing them to trade with each other and cut the US out of the picture. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718/20 "2007-12-04T17:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] I read that Ron Paul said during the last Republican debates that he believed in all this. I wonder if that’s going to help its spread? [/QUOTE] Not quite. He’s sort of an isolationist, so he’s afraid that our sovereignty is being eroded by lose border controls and such. He doesn’t think there is some evil cabal trying to foist a NAU on the US. It would be impossible to do, at any rate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718.md?page=2)