Europeans think of any European country as an equivalent to America as a whole. That’s simply stupid. America as a whole is equivalent to Europe as a whole, and American states roughly equivalent to European countries. States are on average half as big as countries in Europe, but America as a whole is roughly equivalent to the EU. So, yes, a European should know what the capital city of Florida is if they expect an American to know the capital of Poland. (Only Germans and people from Montana can reliably tell you the state capital of Montana, though.)
I tried to make a very similar point in one of the European communities on Lemmy earlier this year (in response to a post about Americans being bad at European geography) and basically the whole community jumped on me for it. Watch your back. They’re rabid over there if you dare suggest that a US state is comparable to a European country. :P
They’re like states, if the states each spoke their own separate languages and had spent the bigger part of the last 2,000 years constantly at war with each other.
Appreciate the warning! I think the real problem is that Europeans never accepted they are becoming a single political entity and still don’t necessarily consider themselves European. I think that’s sad, as Europeans are extensively closer to each other than to nations outside of Europe. Also, the EU is a decent model for how smaller entities can work with larger ones without being suffocated or absorbed.
I tried to make a very similar point in one of the European communities on Lemmy earlier this year (in response to a post about Americans being bad at European geography) and basically the whole community jumped on me for it. Watch your back. They’re rabid over there if you dare suggest that a US state is comparable to a European country. :P
They’re like states, if the states each spoke their own separate languages and had spent the bigger part of the last 2,000 years constantly at war with each other.
I’ll explain. People get annoyed because you are proudly ignorant of 2000 years of history and tons of cultural differences.
Appreciate the warning! I think the real problem is that Europeans never accepted they are becoming a single political entity and still don’t necessarily consider themselves European. I think that’s sad, as Europeans are extensively closer to each other than to nations outside of Europe. Also, the EU is a decent model for how smaller entities can work with larger ones without being suffocated or absorbed.