Monday, March 10, 2008

The united states of "America"

Here is a thought that was wandering around lost in my head. Take it for what it is worth:

North America (the continent) contains the countries of Canada, America, and Mexico. It also contains the countries of the Central America region as well as many island countries.

Saying "The united States of America" was originally just a way of saying something similar to"All the parts of my car". Only after the states were defeated by the federal government in Lincoln's War did the "name" of the country start being mistakenly thought of as "The United States of America". I realize that once again, the dictionary will disagree with me.

Thank you, and remember to be a fully-informed juror.



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4 comments:

  1. Huh? I don't get your point on this one.

    The name still means that the states in the Americas are united under one common government. It always meant that.

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  2. There is no such thing as a "fully informed juror." Anyone who's fully informed wouldn't want to be a juror in the first place.

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  3. I'm not sure I really had a point, just that the states were originally supposed to be more important than the feds. All government other than self government is still bad, but consolidated federal government is the worst.

    I have no problem with being a juror. I still think it is one of the best ways to strike at the roots of unwarranted governmental power and oppression. If I were on trial, I would want 12 people like me on the jury. Not that they would ever survive the court's tampering process.

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  4. elf,
    One thing that it appears that Kent is trying to remind us of is that this country started out a lot like the European Union. A loose group of reasonably aligned nation states.

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