Comment by Fluda3 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Fluda3 | Hacker News Reader

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First, I didn't call it a burden so you can't exactly quote me as having said that. But it's cool, it is a pain in the ass so go for it.

Second, I don't think America is a "homogeneous mass that behaves that way" and neither did I say that. I said that this (getting to hear long-winded rants about political views, religion, social issues, etc.) occurs constantly when I'm in the US. You've confused my statement of anecdotal evidence as a statement of all encompassing truth. It isn't. I don't believe the majority of Americans are like this. I just think (note that word: think, not know, it's my opinion) you have a significant portion of people that are like this, are quite vocal about it, and aren't overly tolerant of differing opinions.

Third, I'm not confused and no simultaneously differing viewpoints are rolling around in my brain either. I didn't state my own opinions on the matter of Obama, capitalism, universal health care (bet you can guess where I stand on that one though), I merely stated MY experiences with the opinions of Americans I had ran into while traveling. Yes, you relected Obama. Cheers. 48.97% of people that voted didn't vote for Obama. Maybe the people I'm referring to are a subset of them, no?

My point is that I highly doubt you've met that many Americans, not enough to state an opinion on a "significant portion of Americans" at least -- hence my statement about judging us as a homogenous mass. Perhaps I should have been clearer: I suspect you are over-extrapolating. I also believe there are plenty of people from other countries with similar (and equally vocal) beliefs as well.

I visit Canada frequently, Nova Scotia to be exact, and in my time there I have run across some interesting viewpoints, but I would not pretend to have a firm grasp of any significant portion of Canadians. I understand it is one fairly isolated region, it is small, and I don't have full context.

Now, to give you some perspective, there are 310 MILLION Americans, which is 10 times more than Canada. I think people often don't realize this. There are as many people in California alone as all of Canada (more actually). Within the span of 9 hours we could drive and visit cities within California with such different ideologies you'd not understand how they can all operate together.

So excuse me for being highly suspicious of any person claiming they've met some Americans and thus reached some conclusion on how a significant portion of them think. Especially when normally something like this could just as easily be explained by confirmation bias and particularly vocal minorities.

I suppose my point is that I don't understand the need to bring "Americans" into this at all. You were having a discussion with one individual that you know little about, so what is the need to essentially say "I bet you are of nationality X for this negative reason". Outside of being a by the book presumptive and prejudicial position, it will also serve to alienate people that may otherwise agree with you.

Good points.

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