Whenever I hear an American say this it's usually followed by "Who's flag is on the moon". I always answer French. Because solar radiation has made that flag white.
I legit read an American article about school shootings that tried to reassure the reader by saying "shootings only happen in X of X schools". Like, that's got to be an overdose of Copium...
To be fair the US has shitloads of Walmarts and football fields so I feel like this number probably isn't all that high.
On the flipside I think Walmarts are mostly found in the US so I wouldn't know another country with less football fields that also had Walmarts.
Americans always find ways to discount older democracies for some technicality or other to make themselves the oldest. Don't discount themselves for literally being a slave state though. Who cares if your master can vote if you're a literal slave?
Apparently Iceland doesn't count because it "wasn't a country until after the US," despite having a democratic system well before the US was even 'discovered'...
right,with something like this for example:
San Marino because it was under the control of the Fascist Party between 1923 and 1943. The Fascists had banned all other political parties in 1926, turning San Marino into a one-party state rather than a democracy.
Yes like since your country have changed its constitution in the past it doesn't count. I found burgers telling me that France is younger than the USA because the current constitution was written in 1958
And the USA is still a slave state. All those old slaves did so much populating, they don't need the international trade anymore and they just keep that whole demographic of their citizenry at arm's length and continue indenturing the descendants.
Any country today that automatically disqualified 50% of the population from the franchise because of their sexual organs would not be called a genuine democracy, so you could argue that New Zealand's democracy is older than the US's by virtue of getting there first on women's suffrage.
> Americans always find ways to discount older democracies for some technicality or other to make themselves the oldest
It's always daft things as well, like claiming any change to a country makes it a new country, yet not applying this same logic to the US only being as old as their newest state.
According to the Democracy Index the US doesn't even count as a full democracy anymore. So if we're only counting actual democracies, the answer would be Japan.
Isn't this the exact same thing that Americans will have a go at leftists for when they say "the USSR wasn't technically communist", like, discounting the difference in the validity of the statements the hypocrisy is huge
“Oldest existing democracy” he does realise that buildings in Europe where part of government have been held in the past are older than the US itself right?
I was conceived in a building originally built in the late 1400s. My parents said the roof and doors had been replaced, but not much else and it was quite cold and draughty. Which might explain why they were cuddling in bed.
If it wasn't for buildings far older than the USA, this comment wouldn't exist.
Iirc they themselves are pretty harmless (tho you have a type that likes to live in books and can eat the paper) but are often a sign of humidity, which can mean other more serious problems, such a mold, can be present
They can actually be useful to humans, as they eat dust mites, which can cause allergies for some people. They are similar to most spiders, in that they are pretty harmless and can also be helpful in some circumstances, but people find the disgusting so want them gone.
I personally have a silverfish problem in my apartment building, but basically everyone has them in my building (I suspect someone fucked the pipes up during construction, as the building is quite new) and I really only care about that they don't go into my room so I just bought a few traps for 5€ and set them up in the dark corners in my room.
They’re a sign of damp and general nastiness due to that dampness, so more unhygienic than anything else. Old pipes, badly ventilated bathrooms etc. If you get silverfish you might want to check those things.
I hate the thought of that .
Of course I'm Canadian so I'm not okay with any bug bigger than my thumb , and if it flies, bigger than the tip of my thumb.
Only really get dragonflies and honeybees and caterpillars at that size though
Funny enough I thought the same thing of ~~spruce~~ birch trees. One day I saw one show up in a movie and I was like "woah it's those weird zebra trees from Minecraft! But why are they so thin?"
Saw an American in a pub on holiday elsewhere in England. He was concerned that the beam in the pub was almost 400 years old.
I laughed like hell when he said "but it might have woodworm!" And someone replied "yeah, what do you think's been holding it together for the last 200 years?"
From the UK, the only time I've ever heard of termites here is when my parents brought home a Kenyan wooden statue of some description that began to eat their way out and into the house. To try to combat this, they took it to a freezer place (apparently they exist) where the statue was frozen at like -30°C for around 3 months, to ensure all the termites would die.
Anyway cut a long story short, the statue is sitting on the mantelpiece and we begin to notice more sawdust on the floor and we had to have it destroyed with fire
I've had termites in what used to be a hardwood floor in a rental apartment I was staying at during my studies. That was in Greece and before I discovered them I wasn't aware there were termites in Europe either. The floor already had heavy water damage and I'm guessing that at some point they made their home there but as the rest of the house was brick and reinforced concrete and because they never ventured out of the floor neither me nor the landlord gave a shit.
I don't know, but my grandma's house is full of antiques. She bought it probably 60 years ago already antique and spent 2000 euros just to get it restored. It is honestly the most gorgeous piece I have ever seen, and she said it's probqbly the most valuable thing in her house. It's from the esrly 1700s, by a designer called maggiolino.
Also all the walls in most houses are half a meter thick of masonry, not flimsy wooden houses like the US, so probably no termites because of that
Yeah. Cabinets and chests of drawers were most typical of his woodwork. They have always esquisitely inlaid wood.
Usually a piece is referred as "il Maggiolini", because of the name of the marquetry maker who made them, Giuseppe Maggiolini.
Yeah, adding to that, my dad has a 400 year old decorative chest lid in his attic.
He knew an elderly couple who were collectors and they planned to restore it but were too old and didn't see the point . They asked him (he is a skilled multi tradesman and intellectual) if he would like it.
Oldest democracy in the world. Have they heard of Ancient Greece?
You might be right, I just googled it and Iceland has the oldest \*parliament\*, which is what I was likely thinking of. Either way it's very much not the US lol.
I've never seen a termite in the UK before, although I'm admittedly not the most outside person.
If you look at wood around here you generally only find wood louse and other harmless insects.
Well if we loosely define "democracy" as a "republic with some sort of limitation of governmental power over its people" then San Marino and Switzerland would be older than the US (though you could argue Switzerland was "interrupted" during the Napoleonic era and the new Confederation is not the same as the Old one...)
If you want to be even looser England (and UK) post Glorious Revolution could count, and thus beat the US by more than a century. Ironic.
You can also make the US look pretty bad if you focus on what democracy means and argue that the US on its inception, where only a limited class of landowners of a specific ethnicity could yield political power, was not a democracy. This of course is valid for many other countries, but depending on your "democracy" metric, the US is not going to be leading in many of those.
He does realise Athens was running a democracy 2300 years before America even existed right?
Edit: I get it now, he said ‘continuous’. How about everyone comments that a few more times for good measure? God forbid you read some replies first.
Are you implying that the US elections at the inception of the country, where only white male landlords could vote, are democratic, while the Sammarinese elections, where every family head could vote, were not?
If the US is a democracy since 1776, then San Marino is a democracy since \~1200.
Depends how strict you are with the term democratic, considering most countries had voting systems dependant on landholdings or family heritage to determine suffrage.
And to be fair, with the electoral system currently in use in the US and its Electoral College, a president can be elected even when most of the popular votes in the nation where for a different candidate.
So, is it actually a real democracy yet?
Assuming full universal male suffrage that was not reversed - Switzerland (1848).
Assuming full universal suffrage - New Zealand (1893) or Norway (1913).
To be fair, many ancient cultures had and accepted or at least ignored gay people, in areas where it was later outlawed. The US sucks and is way behind in various human rights issues, but it isn't like nearly the entire world hasn't gone through periods where it was accepted then later was outright vilified. We barely made gay marriage legal in the US, I still fear they'll overturn that ruling, but it's illegal in Egypt still. This is a weird comparison lol.
Greece has fallen out of democracy multiple times. The US is legit one of the oldest CONTINOUS democracies. I still don't think oldest as the UK never fell in WWII, but it depends how you define it.
> as one of their sacred documents
It's *referenced* in US history classes as an *influence* and a predecessor to the US legal system and an important moment in European history, but it's not considered "sacred" or *legally* relevant in the US (that is, it's not "part of" the US legal system). Common law *was* foundational to the early judicial systems of the individual States, but that diverged as states and the federal government established their own statutes and precedent.
Maybe what they mean by that…is that the US is unique because most other countries have rewritten their constitution to cope with modernity while the US has mostly lagged behind? Only lags behind San Marino in this regard; and even then it’s on a technicality.
The US constitution has 27 amendments which is ironic for such a perfectly created document. It could be adapted over time but we will never again see the consensus needed to make it happen.
My favorite part is when they start getting all hot and flustered when anybody suggests changing the constitution in any way.
Apparently you can't change the it because it's the constitution, you can't "amend" the constitution. You can't ammend the ammendments. Nothing in the constitution has ever been ammended, so why start now?
/s
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This glorious land of liberty
Shall long be ours.
Though new her name,
Great be her fame,
And mighty be her powers,
Though new her name,
Great be her fame,
And mighty be her powers,
And mighty be her powers,
And mighty be her powers,
In joy and gladness
With our hearts united,
We’ll shout the freedom
Of a race benighted,
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
In union strong success is sure
We cannot fail!
With God above
Our rights to prove
We will o’er all prevail,
With God above
Our rights to prove
We will o’er all prevail,
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With heart and hand
Our country’s cause defending
We’ll meet the foe
With valor unpretending.
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
The Althing was completely disbanded between 1800 and 1844, and prior to that its legislative powers were given up in 1662 after which it functioned as a court. It is by no means credibly the longest functioning democratic legislature.
Tynwald has only truly acted as law-making body since the beginning of the 17th century, and even then it was sporadic and not continuously operating.
*Article 1 of the Constitution refers to Russia as a "democratic federal constitutional state with a republican form of government."*
on paper at least
Republic and Democracy aren't mutually-exclusive. There are democratic republics, and they are almost the exact same thing. America just isn't doing the democracy and republic thing right.
They're good at pretending that freedom means "freedom as long as you're rich", and pretending like they have basic human rights, like education and the right to not die of preventable diseases because you dont have to go bankrupt for a medical bill.
They have a very specific parameter of what "democracy" is. Under the American reasoning (something like over 50% of population being able to vote or something like that) then they are. It's just in a specific and limited way.
So you're saying they're cherry-picking their definition to fit a preconceived notion? The exact thing they're accusing the previous commenter of doing? Classic.
Our education system is shit, college is entirely unaffordable for most, and the majority of the country live paycheck to paycheck. The only reason I'm slightly less stupid than my countrymen is because I was and am a nerd who likes to learn random shit, especially about the rest of the world.
Technically that democracy was ended by Macedonia, if I remember my history correctly, and was more specifically limited to Athens.
The post does specify existing, which could be interpreted to be continuous.
However, this still doesn’t eliminate Iceland, so you’d have to add in a few more qualifiers to make OP correct
Of course you can. If the majority wants the war, or if you're invaded, for example.
It's a bad argument, because despite their huge military, on which they spent all the money that would be needed elsewhere, they haven't won a war since WWII.
Recently I have been thinking about how it's got to be a tactic to teach us, Americans, that our country is SOOOOOO OLD! It's a HUGE point made in American schools. They never mention Iran is 3,000 years older than Jesus or that Budhism has been the official religion of Thailand for 1,500 years. They WORK to make us believe that America is OLD and therefore PERMANENT. We are fully propagandized in school. We think America is OLD because we are TAUGHT America is old.
Yeah, they teach it like it's the oldest country but then you look at countries like Greece or Iran, hell you don't even have to go so far, you can just say Spain or the UK , even Germany
How is being "the oldest existing" a positive thing? The fact that the US hasn't had the opportunity to reboot and redesign their system to account for the massive changes the world has seen over the past centuries is *the* root of many of its major issues.
Britain has had a Bill of Rights guaranteeing a parliament and free elections since 1689 (and large parts of that bill were copied and put into the US Bill of Rights) but let's not let facts get in the way of things.
We dont determine largest by the *largest* anymore?
No no, largest refers to hamburger per 1000 people.
Football fields per moon landing.
That just means a lot of countries are infinitely above the US
In fact every other country that has landed on the moon is ahead of the US
Whenever I hear an American say this it's usually followed by "Who's flag is on the moon". I always answer French. Because solar radiation has made that flag white.
That's a better one
Surely that would be Germany then, they have a city full of them!
Hamburg has significantly more than 1 Hamburger per person!
I find your use of 1,000 deeply unsettling and not very imperial at all. Surely it should be hamburgers per freedumbs
Hamburgers per Glocks?
Are we talking... hamburgers consumed in history or hamburgers currently in existence or hamburgers per 24 hour period?
Not if it doesn’t fit my narrative!
I can't believe we are just going to ignore "most people don't sort largest countries by land size anyways" Like wtf
What do you mean? Largest country is not a synonym of country with most guns?
No its most Walmarts per football fields
Depends tbh how many schoolbusses fit inside
School shootings per school is the way to sort
I legit read an American article about school shootings that tried to reassure the reader by saying "shootings only happen in X of X schools". Like, that's got to be an overdose of Copium...
The absolute mental gymnastics some of my fellow Americans pull would land them first place gold in the Olympics.
Hmm might be Canada then because we have bigger balls and a longer field
Some countries might get infinite on that if they have 1 Walmart and 0 football field.
Damn I thought it was bald eagles per Big Mac
To be fair the US has shitloads of Walmarts and football fields so I feel like this number probably isn't all that high. On the flipside I think Walmarts are mostly found in the US so I wouldn't know another country with less football fields that also had Walmarts.
Tbh I was trying to come up with an absurd unit there, for a high number let's go with school shootings per cops willing to go in
Nope, the largest country is the one with most people per capita.
That would be th-… I see what you did there
In Africa, every 60 seconds a minute passes.
It does quite often mean population wise, tbf. But the comment he was replying to had covered off that angle as well with India.
Americans always find ways to discount older democracies for some technicality or other to make themselves the oldest. Don't discount themselves for literally being a slave state though. Who cares if your master can vote if you're a literal slave?
Apparently Iceland doesn't count because it "wasn't a country until after the US," despite having a democratic system well before the US was even 'discovered'...
That sounded interesting so I was reading about it, but I can't find information on elections back then. Do you know how they were held?
It was referred to as the Althing if that helps
right,with something like this for example: San Marino because it was under the control of the Fascist Party between 1923 and 1943. The Fascists had banned all other political parties in 1926, turning San Marino into a one-party state rather than a democracy.
Well the people did vote for it...
People also listen to Coldplay
'citation needed'
As if USA isn't just a one party state disguised as a two party state
As if the two party system is even slightly democratic to begin with
Yes like since your country have changed its constitution in the past it doesn't count. I found burgers telling me that France is younger than the USA because the current constitution was written in 1958
By that logic the Current United States of America didn't exist until 1992, as that was the most recent time their constitution was ammended.
worry not my friend! they will be a Christian Theocracy in less than 20 years
And the USA is still a slave state. All those old slaves did so much populating, they don't need the international trade anymore and they just keep that whole demographic of their citizenry at arm's length and continue indenturing the descendants.
"Only rich white men can vote" is the pinnacle of democracy, don't you know
Any country today that automatically disqualified 50% of the population from the franchise because of their sexual organs would not be called a genuine democracy, so you could argue that New Zealand's democracy is older than the US's by virtue of getting there first on women's suffrage.
Unexpected fun fact: as is Turkey’s
> Americans always find ways to discount older democracies for some technicality or other to make themselves the oldest It's always daft things as well, like claiming any change to a country makes it a new country, yet not applying this same logic to the US only being as old as their newest state.
According to the Democracy Index the US doesn't even count as a full democracy anymore. So if we're only counting actual democracies, the answer would be Japan.
I mean surely the UK is older because that's what the entire revolution was about.
Isn't this the exact same thing that Americans will have a go at leftists for when they say "the USSR wasn't technically communist", like, discounting the difference in the validity of the statements the hypocrisy is huge
they also don't discount for the fact that they don't have direct voting, have only 2 parties in pratice, etc
“Oldest existing democracy” he does realise that buildings in Europe where part of government have been held in the past are older than the US itself right?
Hell, my italian grandma has furniture that's older than the US
I have a lamp made of Bog oak that's older than the planet according to a lot of Americans.
I stayed at a building built in 1300's in Tallinn.
The Brazen Head pub in Dublin opened in 1198 and it's not even the oldest pub in Ireland. Decent pint too :D
I was conceived in a building originally built in the late 1400s. My parents said the roof and doors had been replaced, but not much else and it was quite cold and draughty. Which might explain why they were cuddling in bed. If it wasn't for buildings far older than the USA, this comment wouldn't exist.
the usa wouldnt exist either
Lmao
Before 1776? How can it last so long? Is termites uncommon there?
A lot less common in Europe than the rest of the world
I live in Italy and I've never seen termites in my entire life
Fellow italian here, the worst I've seen is the occasional silverfish. I thought termites lived in the jungle?
Idk man, all I know is that nothing has eaten my furniture yet
Maybe it's not tasty enough?! Don't shame the bugs for their food preferences.
Wait silver fish are not just a minecraft thing?
they're real and they're freaky-looking. only ever seen them in bathrooms for some reason.
They’re not dangerous tho right? They’re just kinda… there…
Iirc they themselves are pretty harmless (tho you have a type that likes to live in books and can eat the paper) but are often a sign of humidity, which can mean other more serious problems, such a mold, can be present
They can actually be useful to humans, as they eat dust mites, which can cause allergies for some people. They are similar to most spiders, in that they are pretty harmless and can also be helpful in some circumstances, but people find the disgusting so want them gone. I personally have a silverfish problem in my apartment building, but basically everyone has them in my building (I suspect someone fucked the pipes up during construction, as the building is quite new) and I really only care about that they don't go into my room so I just bought a few traps for 5€ and set them up in the dark corners in my room.
They’re a sign of damp and general nastiness due to that dampness, so more unhygienic than anything else. Old pipes, badly ventilated bathrooms etc. If you get silverfish you might want to check those things.
They like damp spaces. Could be a sign of poor ventilation.
I'm pretty sure they're one of the oldest living organisms on the planet.
I hate the thought of that . Of course I'm Canadian so I'm not okay with any bug bigger than my thumb , and if it flies, bigger than the tip of my thumb. Only really get dragonflies and honeybees and caterpillars at that size though
Silverfish are pretty tiny, no need to worry.
After googling it I think I have actually seen them before just never knew their name
Funny enough I thought the same thing of ~~spruce~~ birch trees. One day I saw one show up in a movie and I was like "woah it's those weird zebra trees from Minecraft! But why are they so thin?"
Think you mean birch but not 100% let me know if I'm wrong. That does make me feel better as they are common here lol (both trees)
I do indeed mean birch lol, sorry I'm still not super familiar with trees names in English and I tend to get them mixed up.
No problem wanted to check to be sure myself honestly
Wait until you find out that ladybugs drop End City loot.
Same with cockroaches, although I have seen them in a zoo.
I've never seen a cockroach and i don't plan on ever seeing one, zoo or not
I've lived in England and New Zealand and have never seen termites in my entire life
Saw an American in a pub on holiday elsewhere in England. He was concerned that the beam in the pub was almost 400 years old. I laughed like hell when he said "but it might have woodworm!" And someone replied "yeah, what do you think's been holding it together for the last 200 years?"
Thats funny that American wouldn’t survive Seán’s bar in Athlone
I don't think I've ever heard of termites being found in Europe. We get woodworm, but a basic varnish keeps them out.
From the UK, the only time I've ever heard of termites here is when my parents brought home a Kenyan wooden statue of some description that began to eat their way out and into the house. To try to combat this, they took it to a freezer place (apparently they exist) where the statue was frozen at like -30°C for around 3 months, to ensure all the termites would die. Anyway cut a long story short, the statue is sitting on the mantelpiece and we begin to notice more sawdust on the floor and we had to have it destroyed with fire
That's why you're supposed to declare these things at customs and have the necessary quarantine procedures.
I believe they did but they also managed to produce me and I'm an idiot
Oof
I've had termites in what used to be a hardwood floor in a rental apartment I was staying at during my studies. That was in Greece and before I discovered them I wasn't aware there were termites in Europe either. The floor already had heavy water damage and I'm guessing that at some point they made their home there but as the rest of the house was brick and reinforced concrete and because they never ventured out of the floor neither me nor the landlord gave a shit.
I don't know, but my grandma's house is full of antiques. She bought it probably 60 years ago already antique and spent 2000 euros just to get it restored. It is honestly the most gorgeous piece I have ever seen, and she said it's probqbly the most valuable thing in her house. It's from the esrly 1700s, by a designer called maggiolino. Also all the walls in most houses are half a meter thick of masonry, not flimsy wooden houses like the US, so probably no termites because of that
*Maggiolini. He is famous for his marquetry work. I have one too. They are esquisite pieces of art.
Ahh, makes more sense. She referred to the cabinet as "il maggiolino" but that's not the name of the designer. And I agree! It is stunning
Yeah. Cabinets and chests of drawers were most typical of his woodwork. They have always esquisitely inlaid wood. Usually a piece is referred as "il Maggiolini", because of the name of the marquetry maker who made them, Giuseppe Maggiolini.
I probably misheard her then! It has beautiful inlaid wood patterns and a gorgeous marble top
Yeah, adding to that, my dad has a 400 year old decorative chest lid in his attic. He knew an elderly couple who were collectors and they planned to restore it but were too old and didn't see the point . They asked him (he is a skilled multi tradesman and intellectual) if he would like it. Oldest democracy in the world. Have they heard of Ancient Greece?
Pretty sure they mean the oldest still-functioning democracy, which is a actually Iceland, so they're still wrong lmao.
Iceland is only the oldest democratic nation isn't it? Iirc the longest continuously running democratic body is the City Of London council
You might be right, I just googled it and Iceland has the oldest \*parliament\*, which is what I was likely thinking of. Either way it's very much not the US lol.
I've never seen a termite in the UK before, although I'm admittedly not the most outside person. If you look at wood around here you generally only find wood louse and other harmless insects.
We have plenty of other wood-boring insects in the UK, as my old, crumbling downstairs floor could have testified until we tore it up.
Wait you guys have termites?
Absolutely. I'm from tropical climate and termites are big problem here.
I have never at all had problems with termites. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen a termite.
I have never seen or heard of someone having an issue with termites in Scandinavia.
"Oldest existing democracy" would require currently existing democracy.
Well if we loosely define "democracy" as a "republic with some sort of limitation of governmental power over its people" then San Marino and Switzerland would be older than the US (though you could argue Switzerland was "interrupted" during the Napoleonic era and the new Confederation is not the same as the Old one...) If you want to be even looser England (and UK) post Glorious Revolution could count, and thus beat the US by more than a century. Ironic. You can also make the US look pretty bad if you focus on what democracy means and argue that the US on its inception, where only a limited class of landowners of a specific ethnicity could yield political power, was not a democracy. This of course is valid for many other countries, but depending on your "democracy" metric, the US is not going to be leading in many of those.
He does realise Athens was running a democracy 2300 years before America even existed right? Edit: I get it now, he said ‘continuous’. How about everyone comments that a few more times for good measure? God forbid you read some replies first.
No. He has no idea. They don't learn about other countries.
"Oldest existing" implies continuous. Athens has not had a continuous democracy since then.
The oldest existing democracy would probably be San Marino.
No, San Marino might be the oldest existing republic, but they held their first democratic elections in 1906
Are you implying that the US elections at the inception of the country, where only white male landlords could vote, are democratic, while the Sammarinese elections, where every family head could vote, were not? If the US is a democracy since 1776, then San Marino is a democracy since \~1200.
Depends how strict you are with the term democratic, considering most countries had voting systems dependant on landholdings or family heritage to determine suffrage.
The US also had those regulations. Only landowning white men could vote for a long time. Voting rights for women and non white people came much later.
And to be fair, with the electoral system currently in use in the US and its Electoral College, a president can be elected even when most of the popular votes in the nation where for a different candidate. So, is it actually a real democracy yet?
Assuming full universal male suffrage that was not reversed - Switzerland (1848). Assuming full universal suffrage - New Zealand (1893) or Norway (1913).
Bold of you to assume that they get educated about history of other countries.
[удалено]
Isle of Man is the oldest existing
I just saw a post today about a gay couple in Egypt in 2400BC and even they were more progressive than USA today.
To be fair, many ancient cultures had and accepted or at least ignored gay people, in areas where it was later outlawed. The US sucks and is way behind in various human rights issues, but it isn't like nearly the entire world hasn't gone through periods where it was accepted then later was outright vilified. We barely made gay marriage legal in the US, I still fear they'll overturn that ruling, but it's illegal in Egypt still. This is a weird comparison lol.
Yes but it is not still existing.
Greece has fallen out of democracy multiple times. The US is legit one of the oldest CONTINOUS democracies. I still don't think oldest as the UK never fell in WWII, but it depends how you define it.
They literally use the magna carts as one of their sacred documents on democracy which got created centuries before America was colonised
> as one of their sacred documents It's *referenced* in US history classes as an *influence* and a predecessor to the US legal system and an important moment in European history, but it's not considered "sacred" or *legally* relevant in the US (that is, it's not "part of" the US legal system). Common law *was* foundational to the early judicial systems of the individual States, but that diverged as states and the federal government established their own statutes and precedent.
Except that the magna carta is frequently referenced and cited by the Supreme Court when discussing fundamental rights.
Fun fact: the oldest existing democracy is the Iroquois Confederacy at around 500 years old.
Maybe what they mean by that…is that the US is unique because most other countries have rewritten their constitution to cope with modernity while the US has mostly lagged behind? Only lags behind San Marino in this regard; and even then it’s on a technicality.
Some modern democracies don't even have a written constitution and manage perfectly well.
*perfectly well* or do they just manage?
Are we talking relative to the USA and its pseudo-religious written constitution?
Only if you want to set the bar that low.
Boom mic drop
Their whole constitution needs rewriting but they simply won't.
Agree
The US constitution has 27 amendments which is ironic for such a perfectly created document. It could be adapted over time but we will never again see the consensus needed to make it happen.
My favorite part is when they start getting all hot and flustered when anybody suggests changing the constitution in any way. Apparently you can't change the it because it's the constitution, you can't "amend" the constitution. You can't ammend the ammendments. Nothing in the constitution has ever been ammended, so why start now? /s
*laughs in Greek*
I mean San Marino is also a powerful contender for keeping it up for so long.
Iceland and the Isle of Man too
The Isle of Mann even has a holiday to celebrate it, on July 5th.
Yeah well Americas is 4th of July therefore making it older than the Isle of Manns 🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷
I’m pretty sure that, if there’s more than one Mann, it is Menn! I know because I english myself
All hail, Liberia, hail! All hail, Liberia, hail! This glorious land of liberty Shall long be ours. Though new her name, Great be her fame, And mighty be her powers, Though new her name, Great be her fame, And mighty be her powers, And mighty be her powers, And mighty be her powers, In joy and gladness With our hearts united, We’ll shout the freedom Of a race benighted, Long live Liberia, happy land! A home of glorious liberty, By God’s command! A home of glorious liberty, By God’s command! All hail, Liberia, hail! All hail, Liberia, hail! In union strong success is sure We cannot fail! With God above Our rights to prove We will o’er all prevail, With God above Our rights to prove We will o’er all prevail, We will o’er all prevail, We will o’er all prevail, With heart and hand Our country’s cause defending We’ll meet the foe With valor unpretending. Long live Liberia, happy land! A home of glorious liberty, By God’s command! A home of glorious liberty, By God’s command!
The Althing was completely disbanded between 1800 and 1844, and prior to that its legislative powers were given up in 1662 after which it functioned as a court. It is by no means credibly the longest functioning democratic legislature. Tynwald has only truly acted as law-making body since the beginning of the 17th century, and even then it was sporadic and not continuously operating.
Giggidy
Malaka!
I thought Russia is the biggest country by size?
Canada and India are both the 2nd largest countries by area and population respectively.
Yeah but no one sorts by land size! 🙄
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Is it a democracy ?
Depends on who you ask \\s
*Article 1 of the Constitution refers to Russia as a "democratic federal constitutional state with a republican form of government."* on paper at least
Every country except Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are democracies on paper
North Korea is also a democracy on paper. Its in their name.
You can always cherry-pick incorrect facts too, yet still not bother to verify them.
Oh bless, he thinks America is a democracy.
It's not a democracy, it's a republic! /s
As long as the president is a republican, it's a republic. But right now the president is a democrat, so the country is a democracy.
Republic and Democracy aren't mutually-exclusive. There are democratic republics, and they are almost the exact same thing. America just isn't doing the democracy and republic thing right.
Are they doing anything right?
They're good at pretending that freedom means "freedom as long as you're rich", and pretending like they have basic human rights, like education and the right to not die of preventable diseases because you dont have to go bankrupt for a medical bill.
It is a democracy, with qualifications. A common qualification applied being "flawed"
Oh lord, child. What has that person spewed from their mouth? 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
They've probably never heard of San Marino, they've lived Democratically since 301 ad, 1475 yrs before the US even existed!!
Their constitution is from the year 1600, almost 200 years older than the constitution of the US.
They have a very specific parameter of what "democracy" is. Under the American reasoning (something like over 50% of population being able to vote or something like that) then they are. It's just in a specific and limited way.
That would disqualify the first one and a half centuries of US history as well.
So you're saying they're cherry-picking their definition to fit a preconceived notion? The exact thing they're accusing the previous commenter of doing? Classic.
>something like over 50% of population being able to vote or something like that Only when you don't count slaves as people
Of course they count. For political purposes each slave counts as 3/5 of a free citizen. It's even in the constitution.
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because education is socialist
Our education system is shit, college is entirely unaffordable for most, and the majority of the country live paycheck to paycheck. The only reason I'm slightly less stupid than my countrymen is because I was and am a nerd who likes to learn random shit, especially about the rest of the world.
Wasn't democracy invented by the ancient Greeks?
Yes. The name itself is of Greek origin as well: "dēmokratía" means "rule by the people". So this comment is a double facepalm.
Technically that democracy was ended by Macedonia, if I remember my history correctly, and was more specifically limited to Athens. The post does specify existing, which could be interpreted to be continuous. However, this still doesn’t eliminate Iceland, so you’d have to add in a few more qualifiers to make OP correct
I'm just shocked a yank would use the word 'metric'. He can't be a real seppo.
They’re barely a democracy at all.
'It'S nOt a DeMoCrAcY iT's A rEpUbLiC'
The "huge military" thing is also a bad argument. If you are at war you can't be a fully democratic society.
Of course you can. If the majority wants the war, or if you're invaded, for example. It's a bad argument, because despite their huge military, on which they spent all the money that would be needed elsewhere, they haven't won a war since WWII.
And they have never won a war on their own.
Spanish American? Mexican-American?
They had support from rebels in both , in the Mexican it was California and in the Spanish the Cubans and the Philippines
Weird, I had an argument with another American on that post who claimed “we ain’t a democracy, we’re a republic”…………..
Recently I have been thinking about how it's got to be a tactic to teach us, Americans, that our country is SOOOOOO OLD! It's a HUGE point made in American schools. They never mention Iran is 3,000 years older than Jesus or that Budhism has been the official religion of Thailand for 1,500 years. They WORK to make us believe that America is OLD and therefore PERMANENT. We are fully propagandized in school. We think America is OLD because we are TAUGHT America is old.
Yeah, they teach it like it's the oldest country but then you look at countries like Greece or Iran, hell you don't even have to go so far, you can just say Spain or the UK , even Germany
How is being "the oldest existing" a positive thing? The fact that the US hasn't had the opportunity to reboot and redesign their system to account for the massive changes the world has seen over the past centuries is *the* root of many of its major issues.
One of the problems with the US is that they, in fact, refuse to cherry-pick metric.
Britain has had a Bill of Rights guaranteeing a parliament and free elections since 1689 (and large parts of that bill were copied and put into the US Bill of Rights) but let's not let facts get in the way of things.
What about San Marino? The various citys in Italy? British fucking Parliament?
Who wants to tell him that the US wasn’t ever really a democracy?
By mass shootings, the United States. By declining women’s rights, the United States.