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Why do authoritarian states have 'Democratic' or 'People's' in their names? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] 51 points 2 months ago (25 children)

Same reason the USA has 'United' in its name.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (20 children)

    Or america, it's just a tiny part of it (and other parts are united too).

    Some "americans" are unhappy with the fact it seems 😋

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  • [–] 34 points 2 months ago (6 children)

    Leg of lamb is a dish where one serves a leg that comes from a lamb. The name does not claim that the entire body of the lamb is served.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (5 children)

    Yes but when you say leg of lamb, most people don't give a shit which leg you're referring to.

    There are multiple sets of states that are united under a single national government and are part of the American continents (Mexico and Brazil, for example) but only one of them claims to be THE United States of America.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Was the USA the first set of "united states"?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    In the Americas, and in the modern period yes, but the concept was not totally new. Switzerland was a kind of federal state since 1291: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Charter_of_1291

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    I suppose it was. Good point.

    Come to think of it, what bothers me isn't our name so much as the attitude of so many of my fellow citizens that the rest of the world is of no consequence. Our name puts a fine point on that narrow world view, regardless of whether it was intended that way.

    So yeah, I'd rather see the culture change than the name.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago

    Only one of them IS THE United States of America. That's how names work.

    Nothing anywhere says "There are no other states that are united in any geographic region that you can refer to as 'America'". That's just silly.

    For example: Mexico is Estados Unidos. I like how they actually refer to the US as EEUU to differentiate. See? It works. You can make things work.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    "Of" being the operative part of the name. United States OF America. Derivative of the land name given by the European explorers. While it's incorrect to just say "America," you'd probably just be considered annoying if you went around reminding people or pretending not to get it.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    While it’s incorrect to just say “America,”

    No. It is not incorrect. It is simply that "America" can refer to the USA, or it can refer to a continent if you consider NA/SA to be a single continent. Similarly, "Georgia" is a US state but also a country.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    Watch (edit: some) Americans get angry when you ask

    • "you mean the united states of Mexico?"
    • "no, NORTH America!
    • "so, Mexico?"
    • ... 😠😡🔥
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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    If I said "estados unidos" it would be fair to assume Mexico. You're just being belligerent because it's currently acceptable to be openly bigoted toward Americans.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    You’re just being belligerent because it’s currently acceptable to be openly bigoted toward Americans.

    I can be belligerent with or without USians present.
    I don't know what you mean by currently, but I have been critical of US American exceptionalism for a long time. And that includes feeling attacked when someone says "there's more united states than just the USA".
    I don't think calling me bigoted is applicable here.
    And people downvoting me and even feeling the need to berate me kinda proves the point of my previous comment.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    I gave you an upvote because while i'm USian, I firmly believe that "American" is a proper term for people of the United States of America.

    I also am fine with the folks (mostly Brazilians in my experience) who want to use "American" to refer to people of the Americas (or the continent of America for those that consider it a single continent).

    Both work fine.

    It's usually pretty darn clear from context which is meant, just like with Georgia (a US state and the English name for a country).

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    It's always clear from context. In English "American" means a denizen of the USA. Spanish and Portugese have different words for that.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    You sound like you think you're disagreeing? Because we agree

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Just not leaving wiggle room for contrarians.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    OH yeah? Wanna bet? I'm a contrarian and I have LOTS of wiggle room.

    Just sayin'.

    (Just being silly because I have long described myself as a contrarian and so rarely find anyone who knows the word, so it's quite pleasant and gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. lol)

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