For America’s 250th birthday, Tim Hirschel-Burns listed 25 times the United States has been a force for good in the world. I agree with most of this - particularly the US’ place as a creedal nation.
You can go to the US and if you avoid ICE you can become a US citizen. But you can also go to Nicaragua and become a Nicaraguan. The US is hardly unique in this respect.
I think my more serious reply is that being English can also be an ethnic identity, in a way being American is not. (We are only starting to see the emergence of Americanness as an ethnic identity in Appalachia.) Being English can either be an ethnicity OR a nationality; being American is only one of these.
I think I disagree? Post-WWII population transfers ensured this was true in Europe and most of developed Asia has a single dominant ethnic group. It’s less common in colonial states (most of the Americas, Africa).
You can go to the US and if you avoid ICE you can become a US citizen. But you can also go to Nicaragua and become a Nicaraguan. The US is hardly unique in this respect.
+1, this may have been distinctively American once but it surely isn't any longer. Screw Reagan if he thinks my parents aren't British
well he is fairly dead so I doubt he has many thoughts
I'm a political philosopher, arguing with dead guys is what I do.
I think my more serious reply is that being English can also be an ethnic identity, in a way being American is not. (We are only starting to see the emergence of Americanness as an ethnic identity in Appalachia.) Being English can either be an ethnicity OR a nationality; being American is only one of these.
I think most nations don't map neatly onto ethnic identities? And those that used to in (Western?) Europe are rapidly moving away.
I think I disagree? Post-WWII population transfers ensured this was true in Europe and most of developed Asia has a single dominant ethnic group. It’s less common in colonial states (most of the Americas, Africa).