How to Divide N. America and Europe

[Gusington]

Interesting article on re-thinking N. American and European borders:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/kohr-principles/

Smaller countries may work better, according to this writer and researcher.

[mirth]

No way I'm living in a state named 'Atlanta'.

[Gusington]

^You may already. When I was studying this in school the popular word for it was 'balkanization.' It's similar to the article I posted a few weeks ago on the EU. Is it on the road to irrelevance or to being a superstate? Tough call. And as the US gets bigger and bigger (population wise) how long will it be able to stay united? I also enjoyed the comparisons of the EU and the US, which, summed up simply, said that they cannot be compared at all :)

[TheCommandTent]

Interesting article.

[Centurion40]

No way I'm living in a state named 'Atlanta'.

And why call it Atlanta??!!

[Gusington]

How about 'Fred?'

[Centurion40]

Interesting article on re-thinking N. American and European borders:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/kohr-principles/

Smaller countries may work better, according to this writer and researcher.

Breaking down Yugoslavia didn't seem to work out so well, at least initially. My initial thoughts are that there have been fewer wars (in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries) fought between larger nations than there have been between smaller nations.

[mirth]

No way I'm living in a state named 'Atlanta'.

And why call it Atlanta??!!

How about 'Fred?'

I was thinking of Mirthlandia.

[Gusington]

Hmmm...but the wars fought by the larger nations have been the worst wars ever seen in history. So do you want more less-badder wars or less more-badder wars? Isn't it both the same thing?

Does Mirthlandia have a coastline?

[mirth]

Isn't the line of thinking that for internal politics smaller states work better because the 'state' is more in touch with the needs/wants of it's people?

Mirthlandia does have a coastline and all the beaches are nude beaches.

[Gusington]

^Gah even for old curmudgeons??

[bob48]

Isn't the line of thinking that for internal politics smaller states work better because the 'state' is more in touch with the needs/wants of it's people?

Mirthlandia does have a coastline and all the beaches are nude beaches.

Oooh, I so want that to be true. Please can I have the job of checking out the credentials (cough, cough) of any young ladies who wish to take advantage of these said beaches?

[Bison]

Isn't the line of thinking that for internal politics smaller states work better because the 'state' is more in touch with the needs/wants of it's people?

Its called States Rights.  10th Amendment of the Consititution.  Often ignored by the Federal government, see any lawsuit brought by the current DOJ against the state of Arizona.

[meadbelly]

The question of States Rights/Balkanization is going to be a unique answer for America.

No other country, democracy or otherwise, is composed of such diverse ethnicities and cultures. This has been a great strength of our nation, but it also comes with a cost. Some of that cost can be seen in the current culture wars (fwiw, I believe there are far more potent and direct causes of our culture war than culture or ethnic diversity). And it is entirely possible that a return to a more state-oriented government is going to be a better solution for coexistence than the federal system.

That sounds like a bit like the "goals" of balkanization -- i.e., reduce the size of the state to a more congenial majority, and therefore produce a better government for that smaller population. And if that has failed in Europe, we do have one huge mother of an advantage over the deliberately-referenced Old World. Ethnic and cultural groups in America do NOT have the same relationship with geography that an ethnic or cultural group has when the last 20 generations have grown up in the same geographic location. In other words, we have the ability to create an overarching set of ideals for our nation (the constitution), and the option to have population-specific laws within that nation (states rights), and a population far more willing (at least in theory) to relocate to the the population-specific areas with the laws they support.

Now, having said all that, I can sympathize with a theoretical Spaniard wanting to remain a Spaniard first and a European second. But that's largely because I like the governing philosophy of Mirthlandia far better than Atlanta!

[mirth]

Isn't the line of thinking that for internal politics smaller states work better because the 'state' is more in touch with the needs/wants of it's people?

Mirthlandia does have a coastline and all the beaches are nude beaches.

Oooh, I so want that to be true. Please can I have the job of checking out the credentials (cough, cough) of any young ladies who wish to take advantage of these said beaches?

Lifeguard duties for the beaches of Mirthlandia will be apportioned to the various Groghead members.