i think a lot of countries would benefit from being absorbed into the united states. specifically, citizens of those latin american countries who suffer from US interference in their domestic affairs would at least get a vote. i would not like to see the UK involved in such a scheme however, because we’re doing ok as we are ,and also because i’m a fan of democracy. and from where i’m standing, we appear to have more of it than you. i don’t know if this is by accident or design, but it seems that in the US only the fabulously wealthy have a chance of running for president. in our system anyone can become prime-minister, which gives us a better chance of getting the right person for the job.
Were Canada to be invaded, I would do my personal best to turn Montreal into another Ho Chi Minh city.
Nothing personal, Yank, but I’m going to shoot/blow up/ambush as many of you as I can.
If you want my opinion (which you probably don’t), I think nations are a pretty crazy idea in the first place. I mean, who the heck decided one day to say “Hey! Everybody on this side of the line will pay taxes to that guy and follow his laws and you guys can pay taxes to a different guy and follow his laws and we can get weapons and stuff and fight each other!”? But then again, I’m a wacko. Plus the same thing could be said about the guy who said “Hey! Let’s try all the mushrooms in the forest and see which ones we can eat, which ones kill us and which ones make us think we’re eighty feet tall!” and I think nobody disagrees that mushrooms used in cuisine is not a bad thing. Either way, we’re members of an odd, odd species. As I was going to say-- ATTENTION! The poster of this thread has just been apprehended by the IAAPGOT (International Association Against People Going On Tangents) and no longer presents a threat for tangents on this board. Please resume normal posting procedure.
Northern Piper, I think you’re right about accession to the US requiring consent of the provinces. I’d forgotten some of the provisions of the amending formula, and after I read that cite from the University of Alberta, I got to thinking that it probably was a situation where unanimity was required. Plus, I think any attempt at joining the US wouldn’t be pretty if there wasn’t overwhelming, consistent support for it.
Palve, I guess my memory is going… I can’t remember the name of that treaty any more. But it may have been at the end of the “thirty years’ war” in Europe, that the warring leaders decided to establish physical borders for nations, and that within those borders, the leader would decide how to govern, and who to worship. And from this, the concept of nation-states arose. But this is just something I heard on the CBC radio. I’m sure the name will come to me, but I’m pretty tired right now…
Of course. The Treaty of Westphalia. When fatigue claims your memory, Google is your friend.