Talk:United States

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Current population (est.): 338,703,000 as of November 7, 2024. The USCB projects 439 million by 2050

Transportation section biased?

Why are all the transportation figures compared to Europe? If they were compared to 'the rest of the world', it would make sense, but Europe is just one continent. Europe's transportation statistics don't seem to have any relevance to the article. 162.136.193.1 (talk) 17:41, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree, and removed them. ~DC _{Talk To Me} 17:45, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

I disagree, and restored them. The brief comparisons are useful and effective at elucidating cultural differences between the United States and countries that are roughly similar politically and economically. Such comparisons are frequently made in both the mainstream press and scholarly writing, as indeed, our sources demonstrate. Speaking of which, your removal of references was completely inappropriate. Please keep in mind our policies concerning the verifiability of data.—DCGeist (talk) 18:45, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

July 4

Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

title

demonym

Should the slang demonym Yankee/Yank be included? It has its own wiki entry Yankee, but doesn't appear on this page. Perhaps this is because it is sometimes (often?) used disparagingly? I have noticed that some articles include slang demonyms, while others do not. For example, the slang demonyms for the UK/Britain has a wiki entry Limey, but (as with Yankee here) it does not appear in the UK wiki page. Perhaps for the same reason? Moretz (talk) 12:29, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

I think the demonym here is for the most commonly used word (or words). I don't think "Yankee" is used enough, especially by Americans. The fact that it's used with negative connotations (like "Gringo") probably is an issue too. ~DC _{Talk To Me} 14:42, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

This is a weird case in which the term is virtually never used by Americans to describe American citizens, but is sometimes used by some citizens to mean people from the "north", namely, the northeast part of the US. However, the term is very widely used outside of America to describe Americans. However, seeing as it has a negative connotation and isn't used within the country the way it is outside the country, it seems that including the term would be more problematic than helpful.LedRush (talk) 15:56, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

How is it used in a negative connotation? Ive never heard of someone being offended by being called a yankee,except perhaps some folks from the south. Yankee is not a deragatory slur in the same way Gringo would be.XavierGreen (talk) 23:45, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Yankee has been a derogatory term since its inception, even if nowadays the negative connotation is much less than before. Not everyone will be offended by it, but surely some will. Check out dictionary.com or the wikipedia article if you want a history.LedRush (talk) 05:18, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Im sure the New York Yankees are immensly offended when called yankees, there are tons of references to americans by americas using the term yankee that are in no way used as offensive. For example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_Arthur's_CourtXavierGreen (talk) 14:53, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Sarcasm and stupidity are no way to win an argument, much less discuss something constructively.LedRush (talk) 15:04, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Im not making sarcastic remarks, there are many examples of American published literary works that use yankee in a nonperjoritive term. I can provide more examples if requested. Theres no need to be uncivil sir.XavierGreen (talk) 00:29, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Religion section lacks citation

The very first sentence "The United States is officially a secular nation." has no citation.

My only legitimate grievance is that there is no intellectually honest citation backing up the claim.

I wish for someone to replace the uncited sentence with the following. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO OFFICIAL NATIONAL RELIGION.

If you were wondering, I am agnostic, former militant atheist.

Until someone bothers to actually back up their claim, I will continue to comment on this subject in order to weed out MISINFORMATION.

--HerrQuixota (talk) 09:55, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

How is it misinformation? What exactly do you take "secular nation" to mean? --OuroborosCobra (talk) 06:09, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Human Rights

It would be good to have a human rights section; not only is there a precedent for this as there is one on Russia and China, but also the U.S. has a controversial human rights record with extra-judicial prisons and use of torture. Also something could go in about the U.S.'s official promotion of human rights and democracy.

I agree, go for it if you feel bold enough. G.R. Allison (talk) 07:35, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Er, no. This has been raised and dealt with (see two threads near bottom of Talk:United States/Archive 37). We're not going to feed this.—DCGeist (talk) 07:46, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Military History

The military section refers to Afghanistan and Iraq but is incomplete in terms of contemporary military history. While I am here, I am requesting edit access to the page. It is semi protected at the moment. I have been on Wiki for years without any issue.