Does it bother you how USA-centric this site is?
American? CD?
Side Score: 48
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Darn yankees!
Side Score: 37
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Another up vote for coming up with a practical solution. I like you problem solving attitude. It pleases the engineer in me. Hey, here are a few pictures and a video of something I've engineered for the backyard. You may like it. http://users.adelphia.net/~joe_cavalry/ http://www.dailymotion.com/joe_cavalry/ 638 days ago
It doesn't bother me at all that CD is so US centric, and its not because I am an American. It's because it's only US centric because the vast majority of the users seem to be American. If a debate was started to discuss UK politics, or Canadian politics or what have you I wouldn't mind a bit. But I'd also wouldn't be able to comment on it because I don't politics terribly closely in other countries. So all you non-Americans if you don't want CD to be so US centric, you need spread the word outside of the US and start more debates. 637 days ago
Users can create their own topics for debate, so there is no reason to complain about the lack of foreign issues being discussed. The debates that exist are merely a cross section of the population of this site. It happens to be mostly Americans, so the topic of the debates reflects that. 634 days ago
For about 15 years now there has been bipartisan consensus (at the federal level) that there will be no offshore drilling for oil. That changed this week when McCain & Bush announced that they now support lifting this so-called ban. This issue has traditionally been a 3rd rail in US politics because nobody wants an oil spill on a public beach. 638 days ago
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While it doesn't actually, actively bother me, there is a certain assumption by many users on this site that all the people reading their debates are au fait with American current affairs and are, in fact, American. And I'm not, I'm British! How would you like it if I asked for your views on the Henley by-election? The Tory candidate is obese and creepy; quick, vote Lib Dem! Aw well. Possibly the Canadians, Brits, Australians and all other forms of foreigners should just start obscure debates about what's going on in the world outside America and Iraq. 638 days ago
Totally agreed. I started a debate on Ireland rejecting the EU treaty (what I consider a very very big deal) and it basically flopped. The old stereotype that Americans don't know anything about any other part of the world is, in my opinion, kind-of justified (obviously that's a wide sweeping stereotypical statement, but I believe in the most part it is true). 638 days ago
I think it's because the majority of the folks on CD are from the US, so the topics naturally gravitate towards US centric ideas. We'd love more international users, and I'd love to debate the merits of Manchester United vs. Liverpool, or if Chavs are giving the UK a bad name, or any other international topic that you can think of (BTW, I hope you get your postal vote in for that by-election ;)). The fact is, since everyone drives the content here it really depends on what everyone is interested in. The more arguments a debate gets once it's created, the more likely it is to get to the front page where it will get even more eyeballs. If you have some friends in the UK that you think would be interested in the site, by all means please invite them so we can get more diverse points of view! 638 days ago
I think I have an ignorant explanation (nb4 joecavalry arrives) for why we don't see more debates that don't have to do with America... Americans are democratic... we love debate. The rest of the world is not really democratic. If they speak out they will be punished for doing so... but they try, so good job. 638 days ago
I will give that Americans are democratic. A large number of other countrie are also democratic and allow free speech too. Some with less censorship than America. I ask you who invented democracy? (I'll give you a hint it wasn't America). I hate when American's act like they own the copyright on democracy and freedom. 638 days ago
Yup, that was ignorant alright. I don't really begrudge Americans for the attention their country gets on the world stage. The USA is one the most, if not the most, powerful countries on the planet, and things that happen in the United States greatly affect the people who live outside of it. That's just a fact. If I was going to begrudge Americans for anything it would be listening to them call themselves the greatest country on earth. Now that is ignorance at it's best. 638 days ago
It's not just the debates, the "profile" is US based: date format, high school, college grad, Republican. The spell checker is US biased. Surely this kind of thing can be fixed depending on the locale specified? On the debate side of things, I care not for whether the debate is "US" or not, most don't interest me, but it would be nice to select debates depending on demographics. I think it would be nice to select all debates put forward by atheists, British or by users over 40 for example. P.S. there's no one on the internet over 40. 599 days ago
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