# OK, joining the US . . . let's settle this once and for all **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2000, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839 "2000-09-12T00:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/41 "2000-09-14T18:32:53Z")
**I don’t know if you’re reading what it is I’m writing:** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zarathustra \* > But you did imply that nationalism is “more appropriate for an unsophisticated, teenage, inexperienced and naïve individual and has little resonance in the world we all now live in”, and you did dismiss problems of nationalism as something that “we all dealt with . . . a long time ago.” I’m not making any judgements, just saying that this belief might very well turn around and bite y’all in the ass one day. The gods seem to sit up and pay attention when people go around declaring “peace in our time” . . . > \*\* **I didn’t “imply” anything, nor did I address Nationalism - that seems to be your thing. I spoke of overcoming stereotyping by treating people as individuals:** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > The fact is, you deal with people as individuals not as examples of national stereotype. The latter perception is more appropriate for an unsophisticated, teenage, inexperienced and naïve individual and has little resonance in the world we all now live in. \*\* Of course, there will always be ignorance and it is there (as a kind of tribal **emotional** reaction under the surface- and probably always will be) but in the rational, reasoned world, I don’t think Europe is any different to the States. I’d agree that the variety of Nations in Europe makes the whole environment **potentially** more volatile but while affluence, democracy and capitalism (or at least a mixed econmy) are maintained, there is no problem. The European Union (socially and politically) and NATO (militarily) are designed to ensure that remains the case in **all** circumstances. The idea is to break down barriers, not perpetuate them by invoking drunken examples of Nationalism, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2000, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/42 "2000-09-14T18:51:43Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by goboy \* \*\* > [@](#): > > On the other hand, I think London\_Calling is being a tad smug. Certainly it was only half a century since WWII tore Europe apart, and in the East, we’ve seen ethnic hatred and concentration camps in just the past few years. The Serbs haven’t yet acquired “the ability of all people to employ their respective cognizant powers rationally in the cold light of the following sober morning.” And I notice that Africans in Italy and Algerians in France aren’t exactly embraced, either. > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2000, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/43 "2000-09-14T19:00:56Z")
Sorry about that, interrupted at the crucial moment………… That’s the second reference to gay Europeans I’ve read today. This morning it was the ‘hot’ London lesbians. Well, you learn something every day. **goboy** - smug perhaps, even naïve. I certainly feel a little more aware of how quickly things can fall apart after this week of petrol (gas) blockades. There is a thread at the moment that discusses (in part) the origins of WW2 and it seems to be accepted that the harsh terms laid out in the Versailles Treaty post WW1 created the unique circumstances that allowed Hitler to rise. The Balkans aren’t part of NATO nor of the EU and the particular problems of that region clearly lie in the break up of the Soviet Union. It was NATO in its first aggressive action, not the UN, that interceded – I view that as a positive step for European stability. Algerians / Africans – this isn’t either about how European nations interact. It’s old fashioned racism with a strong Nationalistic influence. Worthy of another thread but not, in my opinion, relevant to on going European security. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/44 "2000-09-15T00:40:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zarathustra \* > **Well, _someone_ here “doubts the intelligence” of my friends.** Hell yes. If your Dutch friends routinely refer to Germans as Nazis, then they’re as dumb as they come. If you wish to interpret this as some sort of elitarian statement, so be it. I’ll just rely on the fact that I probably know a few more Dutchmen than you do. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/45 "2000-09-15T01:07:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ipennington \* > \*\*hmmm… if we join, do we get free guns? \*\* You get your gun right after you pledge allegiance. “Cungradjulashuns, you’re a Merkin. Here’s yer gun.” They usually start ferriners off with a little .25 caliber and a learner’s permit. Once you’ve completed a year without either losing it or shooting yourself in the foot, then you’re allowed to move up to a .38. One more year and you can get a grown-up’s gun–say like a 44 Mag or a .45 auto. After five years (and a clean record) you’re then fully qualified, and you receive your certificate allowing you to purchase a fully automatic assault rifle. Also, at this time, you can participate in the national lottery for heavy weapons. The winners get their choice of either an anti-tank rifle or a grenade launcher. What, you may ask, do we need all these firearms for? Why, hunting, of course. Those damn pheasants and raccoons are tough little bastards. And who hasn’t heard what an enraged, wounded mallard is capable of doing to an unwary hunter? Ah, yes…nothing brings a family closer together than slaughtering a few dozen squirrels for Sunday dinner. I remember how it was way back then…my dad and I firing away furiously, little sis running to and fro scooping up the carcasses, and mom gutting the still-warm kills. We’re Merkins. It’s what we do. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/46 "2000-09-15T01:29:47Z")
I don’t know what you’re drinking, **Rysdad** but I’d like a pint of it. That was hilarious 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShakeNBake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@ShakeNBake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakeNBake)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/47 "2000-09-15T01:41:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zarathustra \* > \*\*What, you propose our reunification with the Mother Country at this late date? \*\* In this oedipal analogy, what would be Lauis? ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/48 "2000-09-15T01:52:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\*I don’t know what you’re drinking, **Rysdad** but I’d like a pint of it. \*\* Real Merkins never mix alcohol and firearms. It makes the sight picture blurry. The proper thing to do is smoke a few rocks of crack first in order to speed up your reaction time. ---
**Author:** ![Zarathustra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/898d66/32.png) [@Zarathustra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zarathustra)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839/49 "2000-09-15T19:32:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ShakeNBake \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Zarathustra \* > > \*\*What, you propose our reunification with the Mother Country at this late date? \*\* > > In this oedipal analogy, what would be Lauis? \*\* Well, I don’t know if they’re married, but England has been screwing Ireland for quite a while now . . . _whoops_, I don’t want to get myself in trouble again . . . pls forget I said that. Zarathustra [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-joining-the-us-lets-settle-this-once-and-for-all/32839.md?page=2)