[Erlangolem]

Just one point: there is no, “The US” as I’ve learned over time. The US is geographically vast, and full of hundreds of millions of people from wildly different backgrounds. Those poeple have politics ranging from Ghengis Khan, to Ghandi. They seem to agree, as a nation, on very little.

[maxxxxx]

That is true for every country so it doesn't add anything to the discussion.

[Erlangolem]

Have you ever been to Iceland? Sweden is remarkably united in their politics as well. Japan is much less politically and culturally diverse than most US states. Few countries are as geographically large and populous as the US either, even before you work in hundreds of years of immigration.

I don’t appreciate your shallow dismissal.

[maxxxxx]

I have lived in Germany and the US each for years and for months in several other countries. From the outside or on a short visit all countries look homogeneous. Only after a while you see the subtleties. From that perspective I don't think the US is any different from other countries. Maybe other countries are in agreement on things that are contentious in the US but then they have other issues that never get discussed in the US. In short, the US is nothing special. It's a country like every other country and should be treated as such.

[Erlangolem]

I disagree, but I can’t see the value in pitting anecdote against anecdote. If you want to believe that the US’ history, geography, and demographics make it essentially the same as (to use my examples) Iceland, Japan, and Sweden, I doubt that I could change your mind.

[maxxxxx]

Look at where this discussion started. It started from someone talking about the Viet Cong and the US. Then you said there is no such thing as the US because it's so big and diverse. In this context the US has to be seen as one unit or how else can you describe a war?

As far as Sweden goes I bet the people living north of the Arctic circle have little in common with people living in Stockholm.

[Erlangolem]

To this day, many are maimed and killed by US land mines in the region, and the US does not give a shit.

My point is that’s it’s incorrect to speak of 330 million diverse people as collectively not giving a shit. I stand by that.