What is the dumbest thing you've been asked about your country? (2015, home)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To be fair if he was English then I'm guessing his grasp of the US geography would be similar to an average Americans grasp of UK geography, ie would an American know where and how big Shropshire is? Probably not but there again its not really surprising.
Not surprising and totally acceptable. I hope you're not insinuating that an American 'should' know where and how big an English county is are you? Would you know where and how large American counties are? Most Brits couldn't point out where American states are even, let alone counties, and certainly not in any in any other countries.
UK "geography" just isn't important, other than where the "UK" is on the atlas..
The 'Queen of England' is not just the 'Queen of England', she is also the 'Queen of Canada', the 'Queen of Scotland' etc, your post is nonsense, if the Canadians stopped wanting their queen then they will simply get rid of her, Canada is NOT owned by the UK, Canada is not ruled by the UK, Canada does not belong to the UK. Canada and the UK share a Commonwealth (along with other countries) the Commonwealth is NOT run by the UK, the Commonwealth may not the greatest organisation on earth but I like the fact that the UK shares its Queen with Canada, I like to have a 'link' with Canada, I like to think of Canada and the UK (and all other Commonwealth countries) as a 'family' of countries.
Yes, of course, the laws passed voluntarily by Canada, Australia, NZ, Jamaica, etc. make Queen Elizabeth II the "Queen of Canada", "Queen of Australia", "Queen of New Zealand", "Queen of Jamaica", etc.
You can pass a law saying an elephant is actually a jelly doughnut if you want as well...
But that doesn't change the optics of having someone as a foreigner as the head of state of a country. Many people will still view that as a colonialist set-up of some kind. Regardless of what your laws say.
Other than that, you're right that the Queen exercises ZERO real authority or power over Canada.
Because of that, none of this is really a big deal to me personally.
But other people will still think what they think.
Queen Elizabeth's image is on the currency of all of these places:
Canada, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, East Caribbean States, Jamaica, Turks Caicos, Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, South Africa, Rhodesia, East Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Malaya British Borneo, Australia, New Zealand, Tokelau, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, United Kingdom.
.
Several of those places aren't even countries anymore. Are you looking at a map from 1960?
Rhodesia? Most people posting here weren't alive when this state fell. "Zimbabwe", anyone?
The East Caribbean States? Fell apart several decades ago. Yet you name "Jamaica" as well..
East Africa? Since when is this a country? Perhaps you mean British East Africa, which hasn't been British colony since most people writing here were born.
British Borneo....?
Malaya? It's been Malaysia for decades and "British Borneo" is a part of it.
Others do exist but simply don't have the British monarchy features on their currency at all. Papua New Guinea? South Africa? Nigeria? Jamaica? Belize? Mauritius? About 3/4 of the list is flat out wrong or disingenuous. Isle of Man? Guernsey? Jersey? Gibraltar? They don't even pretend to be independent.
That phenomenon you're talking about is called the Canadian Inferiority Complex™.
BS
So when an American claims that Ford built the first car ( and yes I've read that claim on CD ) and a German corrects them that it was a German that did, that German now has an inferiority complex?
Lots of people all around the world don't look at Canada or Australia as "real" countries equal to the UK, US, France, Japan, Singapore. If Canadians want to stop being mistaken as a colony then they should take their land. You can get mad and call people ignorant but maybe the joke is actually on Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. You don't get to sit at the grown up table when someone from England literally owns you.
"All physical land in Canada is the property of the Crown, Queen Elisabeth 11. There is no provision in the Canada Act, or in the Constitution Act 1982 which amends it, for any Canadian to own any physical land in Canada. All that Canadians may hold, in conformity with medieval and feudal law, is “an interest in an estate in land in fee simple”. Land defined as ‘Crown land’ in Canada, and administered by the Federal Government and the Provinces, is merely land not ‘dedicated’ or assigned in freehold tenure. Freehold is tenure, not ownership. Freehold land is ‘held’ not ‘owned’."
Yes, of course, the laws passed voluntarily by Canada, Australia, NZ, Jamaica, etc. make Queen Elizabeth II the "Queen of Canada", "Queen of Australia", "Queen of New Zealand", "Queen of Jamaica", etc.
You can pass a law saying an elephant is actually a jelly doughnut if you want as well...
But that doesn't change the optics of having someone as a foreigner as the head of state of a country. Many people will still view that as a colonialist set-up of some kind. Regardless of what your laws say.
Other than that, you're right that the Queen exercises ZERO real authority or power over Canada.
Because of that, none of this is really a big deal to me personally.
But other people will still think what they think.
In my experience the only people I've ever met that thinks Canada is governed by or a part of the UK have been Americans.
I've never met anyone from Asia, Europe, South America or Mexico that has thought that. I'm sure they exist, but I certainly don't get the impression it's an issue.
well honey, most people are uneducated and not travelled... it's ok, not everyone can be cosmopolitan!
80% of Cocaine worldwide comes from Colombia.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
