The most Unamerican state iyo.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


Not really. Much of the South has that same ingrained caste system.

Its not just the racial caste system, its the class relationships among the whites. Most southern states at least give lip service to the redneck majority, and have populist or pseudo populist ambience. So Car doesnt really bother with that. Maybe its cause actually having a black majority made being frankly undemocratic more important, but I think even Missippi isnt quite like that.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


Its not just the racial caste system, its the class relationships among the whites.

That's what I mean. I've been to NC, SC, GA, VA and FL

Of all of those, only NC and FL both lack the strong social hierarchy of the others. I imagine that Alabama has it too.

Even MD (outside Baltimore, obviously) has a strange aristocratic layer floating on top.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


You misunderstand the reasoning. Since the US is to the right of most developed nations on most issues, being right-wing tends to make you more American when other countries are considered. If most countries were to the right of the US then it would be reversed.

So the issue is not what the majority of Americans are, but what the majority of the world is relative to the US.

defining the national identity of parts of a country based purely on politics, and contemporary politics at that, is not a very deep approach. Considering the OP seemed to define such depth as "unamerican" I find this profoundly ironic.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


You misunderstand the reasoning. Since the US is to the right of most developed nations on most issues, being right-wing tends to make you more American when other countries are considered. If most countries were to the right of the US then it would be reversed.

So the issue is not what the majority of Americans are, but what the majority of the world is relative to the US.

I suppose it depends to whom the the poll is directed to. If it is directed to Non USAians yes the reasoning is valid (assuming they are in a position to understand state to state cultural differences).

If the poll was instead directed to US citizens (who we all know are extremely provincial and have never traveled outside the US so they could never evaluate US culture vs. world cultures ) then my view stands.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


That's what I mean. I've been to NC, SC, GA, VA and FL

Of all of those, only NC and FL both lack the strong social hierarchy of the others. I imagine that Alabama has it too.

Oh Virginia, historically, is more like SC, in that respect. (Although Id still say Va is more American - its difficult ot imagine a Jefferson emerging from the South Carolina aristocracy.) But Northern Va, and the industrial Hampton Roads area, have clout in virginia. The aristocratic style in VA politics has been in decline since the 1960s, and the decline of the Byrd machine.

Oh, and Alabama has a strong populist element, and Georgia has for a long time been less racially obsessed in its politics - it was the only deep southern state to vote for Truman over Thurmond in '48. and voted for JFK over Byrd in '60. Atlantas class dominance is more new south capitalist than aristocratic.

[Q Classic]

Hawaii.

It's a state that has the plurality of its population being those foreigner gooks, whom we all know are just here for school before heading back to the motherland, or whatever they call it in that squiggly language of theirs...

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian


I know what you are trying to do here, but read the OP again and ponder the point of this thread. Spec is the one who basically made the "unamerican = liberal" connection. The rest of us rolled with it (other than Ogie, who took a meaningless potshot).

-Arrian

If spec is asking what state is most unamerican, that has one answer, and if hes asking which state is most "liberal" (itself a complex question) thats a different answer.

[LordShiva]

Most un-American state? I'd say it's a tie among the following:

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar
5. Chhattisgarh
6. Delhi
7. Goa
8. Gujarat
9. Haryana
10. Himachal Pradesh
11. Jammu and Kashmir
12. Jharkhand
13. Karnataka
14. Kerala
15. Madhya Pradesh
16. Maharashtra
17. Manipur
18. Meghalaya
19. Mizoram
20. Nagaland
21. Orissa
22. Punjab
23. Rajasthan
24. Sikkim
25. Tamil Nadu
26. Tripura
27. Uttaranchal
28. Uttar Pradesh
29. West Bengal

[KrazyHorse]

defining the national identity of parts of a country based purely on politics, and contemporary politics at that, is not a very deep approach. Considering the OP seemed to define such depth as "unamerican" I find this profoundly ironic.

If you don't think that politics makes a very real difference in people's lives then you are wrong.

I'm not basing my analysis on history, because the question is on the current state of society. When a country has a much more significant polarization of wealth than other countries (as the US does), then this becomes a (if not the) major factor in comparisons. VT has a much more level society than do surrounding states. The feeling you get from common people is also different, and seems to me to be much more "Canadian" in some undefinable way. This might be a result of the previously mentioned measurements, or it might not.

Either way, the point is that in defining what is "American" it's going to be based on those things about the US which are different from other countries. Similarly, those places in the US where society more resembles much of the rest of the world are going to be labelled "unamerican".

[MRT144]

if you look at california they are actually like the united states in the future; they set the trends of the nation. one day we will all be californians but be accepted as americans.

least american? the whole traiterous south where people want to enjoy being jonny reb while claiming to be more american than the rest of the nation.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe



I suppose it depends to whom the the poll is directed to. If it is directed to Non USAians yes the reasoning is valid (assuming they are in a position to understand state to state cultural differences).

If the poll was instead directed to US citizens (who we all know are extremely provincial and have never traveled outside the US so they could never evaluate US culture vs. world cultures ) then my view stands.

Americans might not know much about the rest of the world, but they do know that the rest of the world is a bunch of no-good communist scum, so the point stands.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

(other than Ogie, who took a meaningless potshot).

Me????

I merely made an observation.

[MikeH]

Is West Bengal last because of the Cincinnati Bengals?

[Solly]

Calif.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by MikeH
Is West Bengal last because of the Cincinnati Bengals?

No, it's because of the Roman alphabet, viz:

1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. East Bengal
3. West Bengal