dustyData comments on US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

Americans frequently overestimate how large their own country is. The US is about as large as all of the European union. But the US fits inside Africa nearly 4 times. Australia is roughly the same size as the US. So is China. Rusia is about 1.5 times the size of the US. The US is not special in any way, quit the exceptionalism.

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[–] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

This was super interesting

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Texas is bigger than France. Europeans. Specifically have little concept of that fact. "We know so many countries" is because of how small they are.

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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 1 point 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Yeah, But the US is a federation of States. It's not that deep to understand. A member of the EU can move freely from country to country just like people can do the same from state to state in the US. The difference is that you can cross France and reach Barcelona from Paris in the same time it takes to drive the distance of Los Angeles to Las Vegas, roughly 6 hours by train. Except Paris and Barcelona (1000 miles) are 3 times further apart than those two US cities (300mi). Infrastructure has a great impact in perception of space and distances. The US is not that big, but it can seem to be when the most common transportation method is the least efficient. Each state is about the same average size as most countries in the world. It's just that their transportation infrastructure (including highways) suck ass.

Even driving the highways let you do the distance in 10 hours. Twice the time but three times the distance.

Even then, being a small country doesn't stop the French from knowing that Africa is not a single country.

"Texas is larger than France" means nothing. My country is larger than Texas, and one of my states is larger than Switzerland but also larger than North Carolina. That's a non argument, that's just physics. Again, size is not some exceptional property of the US.

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

I've driven across France - it's not uncommon. I've also taken the train, it's much more expensive. In the US people fly because it's too big. Coast to coast is 4-5 hours by air.

It's not about travel efficiency, it's about distance in general. People are more knowledgeable about areas near them. People on the West Coast usa don't know about the East Coast as much.

Your argument depends on people being fundamentally different across the world, and they're not. It's racist.

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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 1 point 3 months ago*

It's not racism to point out that a flight from the east coast of the US to the west coast is the exact same as a flight from Lisbon to Oslo. Physics don't bend according to flags. I'm just pointing out that this idea is the product of US exceptionalism and the arbitrariness of the human conceptualization of what a country is. France is as large as California. But being in the US doesnt mean California is magically larger. You're just deciding to compare different political and demographically distinct concepts.

Again, I'm not comparing people, I'm comparing transportation infrastructure. Of course people choose to fly or to drive on Europe according to distances. Just like in the US. It's you who are xenophobically insisting on portraying the US as special, when it is not.