3867

I always thought of WASPs as Northeastern blue bloods. Might be factually true but it feels out of place.

3868

New Mexico and Minnesota have NOTHING in common? Really? I can’t believe how many this comment scored on the ol’ bingo..

3869

Well the imperial system is more intuitive and natural.

3870

Of course race matters. If the kid isn’t white it doesn’t count, because it’s just those non-whites causing trouble again.

3871

Um… I said “basically”. Seriously go to NM and go to MN and tell me if you can tell the difference. Or just google them. Or watch Breaking Bad and then Fargo.

But you know, paint me into whatever corner you want since we disagree on one issue tangentially. That’s the best way to win minds and have a discussion: lose your shit over nothing and call people names.

Maybe you could join the Freedom Caucus.

3872

If only people brought guns to theaters, they could prevent a theater shooting.

Said the guy who shot himself accidentally in a theater.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/oh-my-god-i-just-shot-myself-newly-licensed-concealed-carrier-shoots-leg-in-kansas-theater/

3873

If only his leg had a gun to defend itself with.

3874

NM and MN have more in common than they have different. I guess different kind of pizza topping. It’s not as if they have drastically different anal cleansing techniques, described by different holy books, or anything.

3875

The two examples you chose wouldn’t separate the United States from Russia.

3876

Having spent time in many areas of the US, there are certainly vast differences across the country. New Mexico is going to diverge greatly in things like cuisine, decorations, music, and more. In many ways New Mexico is going to be culturally closer to, say, Mexico than Minnesota. Now certainly the cultural differences may be less than the differences between either area and China, but they are not to be overlooked.

Admittedly those two areas probably fall pretty close to the poles of American cultural diversity. Oregon/ Alabama would be another pretty extreme pairing. I would venture to say the cultural differences within the US have greater potential deviation than anywhere in the UK, largely due to the size, composition, and population level.

3877

And those differences run deep. It isn’t just a mode of dress, or what we prefer to eat - it’s how we see the world, and what we value.

3878

Santa Fe, New Mexico to Saint Paul, Minnesota is roughly 10 degrees in both latitude and longitude. What do you get if you go from one to the other, factoring in all of the places in between? A whole lot of basically-the-sameness! Even if we take them as the poles of American outlook on things (or Utah->California or something), they’re still basically the same place. For a start, they’re both full of Americans ;)

Now think about:

Vienna, Austria -> Tunis, Tunisia;
Moscow, Russia -> Tirana, Albania;
Australia -> Indonesia
Thailand -> Bangladesh

which is a similar separation of 10 degrees in both latitude and longitude.

3879

And of course, London is no different from Glasgow right?

Pod, I’m not sure how familiar you are with North America, but as a whole, it’s diverse. Not England versus the German level of diverse (well, actually, not that different, since your royalty is German, and before that it was French) but as different as you’ll see if you compare Northern Ireland to Southern England, and probably more so.

3880

I’m not so sure I’d agree, legowarrior. Certainly fifty or sixty years ago that was the case, but I don’t think so much anymore with people becoming so mobile in their lives and their communications. State populations are far less homogenous than they once were. I think self-identifying by state is now more tradition than any sign of significant difference. What I do think we have are striking differences in outlook and culture from urban vs. rural areas, instead. Areas with larger, more defined and entrenched rural populations will have similar trends with each other. Also, the areas where those populations are stronger will have more of a spillover to some of the urban centers.

3881

Actually I would argue they are every bit as diverse as England to Germany, except for language. Perhaps even language in many ways too (New Mexico will have a ton of native Spanish speakers).

Yes, in general, the differences will tend to be less than the same geographic distance in Europe. How much would a Dutch person have in common with a Serbian? Probably somewhat less than a Bostonian has in common with a Texan. But that is only taking the averages of those areas, if you start going own to narrower communities, say the San Francisco Japanese community to the Louisiana Creole, you can get the same type of differences. America is a far more diverse country internally than you are like to see anywhere else, except perhaps China or Indonesia. There is nothing you can compare diversity wise to any European country. And depending on how you frame it there is more in common with people from other countries, culturally, in Europe than there is across the U.S.

Take a Swiss national from Zurich and compare them to a Berliner. Much closer culturally than you would have between Louisiana and Washington. Or how about a Portugeese and Spanish person? Belgian and French or Dutch (depending on the region)? how about Latvia and Lithuania?

Obviously we can adjust criteria any way we wish to draw a conclusion. The whole point I am trying to make is that the United States is far more diverse than, Pod, I feel you were giving credit for. Sure you may find McDonalds and Burger King in both places, but you also find those in Amsterdam too.

3882

In my own experience, it’s less about states in particular than it is about the traditional regions within the US. Midwest to California, the Southwest, the Mountain West, the Pacific Northwest, and the Northeast is quite a cultural difference indeed.

3883

I think one thing all Americans have in common (no matter what the state) is one-up-manship. I get it, American is far more diverse than anywhere else, whether we’re comparing diversity across inches, miles or states! America is number one (in diversity!). USA! USA! USA! etc

;)

3884

Well a giant nation of all immigrants is going to be diverse.

3885

But we are united in our hatred of NEW immigrants, once WE are here.

3886

Well naturally, it’s an American tradition.