I voted no based on a scan of the thread which showed no reasons for it. Do you have any arguments in favor of doing this? I don’t know what the Commonwealth of Nations is really, but I seriously doubt we would give up any sovereignty for any reason, so why would we bother?
The only good reason I can see for joining the Commonwealth would be that it might make it easier to work in other Commonwealth nations (and vice versa). Not sure if there’s a uniform set of rules for this, but I do know that Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders (at least) have an easier time getting permits to work in the UK than Americans do.
As an American who’d love to work in London, that might sway me to vote “yes”.
Only fourteen of the current fifty states* were ever really under English control, and that was long before anybody had any concept of this “Commonwealth” thing. That constitutes less than 30% of the current US population. The geopolitical ties of, say, Arizona to a island off the northern coast of Europe is less than compelling.
*: plus D.C. and parts of Vermont and West Virginia.
Politically it would be a bad move. It would risk aligning the US with the UK in any given political situation (and vice versa).
In some parts of the world the US tries to portray an image of an impartial honest broker eg Palestine. In other parts of the world the UK portrays itself as an impartial honest broker eg in Africa. Both roles can be useful in bringing about peace.
If the US joined the commonwealth it may harm the ability of both countries to act as honest broker in various parts of the world because it would make them seem aligned in some way. In some parts of the world people trust America but don’t trust Britain, in other parts of the world people trust Britain but don’t trust America.
It may not mean they are actually aligned in any way but perceptions can be important.
Isn’t the “Commonwealth of Nations” just the current name for what used to be known as the “British Commonwealth”? I believe they’re the same thing, although if I’m wrong someone fight my ignorance!
Did you notice how carefully I chose my words? “tries to portray an image of”
And they are seen as the only ones who can broker a deal - that’s why it’s always the US that is involved in peace agreements rather than any other country or organisation.
Heh, the word for Communism in Chinese is formed from characters that can be literally translated as “common wealth”. To avoid this, the Commonwealth of Nations is translated as “The British Federation” in Chinese.
Maybe the shelterers of our dear English words should become part of the commonwealth.
We could even americanise (Ameicanize) the name, in honour (honor).
Commonwealth could become comonwelth, just because its easier (or should that be izier?)
And technically, America never fought with the British, as the colonials were British at that time