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PaperclipPerfector  23hr ago (text post)   675 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 27, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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In the first half of the 20th century the so-called Technocracy movement wanted to unite the countries in North America into a single "Technate" that would be ruled by an unelected coalition of preeminent scientists and engineers.

One Canadian-American supporter of this idea that was ultimately chased out of Canada for that was named Joshua Norman Haldeman. He had a daughter, Maye, who has the most punchable face you can find on the cover of a self-improvement book. She has a son, who is now the richest man on Earth and the future leader of DOGE and Mars.

Is it a coincidence that Trump, after becoming best friends with Elon, is now talking about annexing Greenland, Canada and Panama and replacing fat and lazy Amerimutts with the best people from every country? I think not, and if you try to convince me otherwise you're a technocratic sleeper agent!

I think the annexations of Canada, Mexico and the UK (please) would be in the best interests of all involved. I'd rather be a secondclass citizen in the States than a citizen in the UK.

I’ve read many of your comments over the years and you seem like a nice, respectable guy. Even so, reading this I cannot help remembering the conversation that @RandomRanger and others were having about the loyalty of immigrants to their host countries. Britain has a thousand years of history, and does not exist merely to provide you with a salary and social benefits.

I've never been a particularly patriotic person with my birth country either, the closest to a country I love is the US.

Now I sincerely do think it would be better for the natives of the UK to be absorbed into the US. But that being said, I would like the UK more if it was more likable. Tautologies aside, I have the right to live there because I provide them a service through my labor, and they pay me for it, and I pay for said benefits with taxes to boot. But I want the UK itself to be a richer, free-er country.

Is that disloyal? I don't see how. Right now it's trajectory is uninspiring to say the least! Even most Brits are profoundly unhappy about the state of the economy and the politicians that run it, and aren't delusional in thinking so.

Imagine that you loved the UK like you love the US. Wouldn’t you be dubious about importing: on the one hand people who don’t feel anything about their host country except pure mercenary avarice, and on the other hand people who feel so strongly about their homeland that they want to recreate it? From where I’m standing, it’s lose-lose.

Is that disloyal? I don't see how. Right now it's trajectory is uninspiring to say the least! Even most Brits are profoundly unhappy about the state of the economy and the politicians that run it, and aren't delusional in thinking so.

All completely true, and I agree with you. But because you feel no loyalty to Britain as Britain, the nation that my ancestors spent centuries building up, your response is to call for it to be annexed. That is actual, literal treason. Try it in the Ukraine, or really any other country, and see how that goes.

There are things that matter about Britain beyond money: history, honour, pride, manners; a sort of muddling, amateur spirit that is flickering but not yet quite gone. All things that would die if we became a mere appendage to America.

But the weight of that history is something you can only feel from the inside. From your perspective, without any historical ties, any familial loyalty, why on earth would you perversely try to build Britain up when the option of being a second-class American citizen is on the table? You’ve said yourself that you don’t even like the place.

This is why I keep trying to persuade people that importing millions of foreigners is a terrible idea even when their English is impeccable and they contribute much-needed services. They will abandon us the second it’s in their interests to do so.

“Second class citizen” is a very broad category indeed. The US would be worse off annexing poorer countries, the Brits don’t want it, Mexico would be a bad idea, and Canada would make little difference other than hopefully saving them from a lot of stupid recent policy decisions.

Are you currently an american or brit?

Neither? I have a residency permit in the UK, but I don't hold citizenship, yet.

What do you think being a second class citizen in the USA vs a regular citizen in the UK entails? Being able to open a bank account? Having a SSN?

Permanent resident with no recourse to public funds and no voting rights

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