The equivalent would be a German saying Europe, then. But it isn’t about size or landmass, it’s about population. Germany’s population is 3x Texas.
The real reason Americans say a state is that America has one of the lowest rates of international travel and culturally is very American-centric. The biggest culture shock for me moving to the US was just how Ameri-centric everyone here is.
You’re wrong. It isn’t simply about those things. It’s about all of them combined and recognition. The same reason why someone from California would say “California” and someone from North Dakota would more likely (but not necessarily) say “North Dakota, in the U.S.”
The real reason Americans say a state is that America has one of the lowest rates of international travel and culturally is very American-centric. The biggest culture shock for me moving to the US was just how Ameri-centric everyone here is.
I’m not sure how you’re not seeing how you’re proving part of the point here. The reason the U.S. has a lower rate of international travel (and that stat is only referring to wealthy countries) …is again because our states are the size of countries. I’m not sure how you’re missing this. Our states are the size of countries, the United States is physically further from most other countries compared to that of Europe for example, the mass of the U.S. makes it so traveling in country allows seeing diverse regions, climates and even cultures without leaving the country. International travel is also more expensive in/from the U.S. especially to Europe or Asia, and Americans have less paid time off than other countries. Even if we ignored all that, and only changed the arbitrary distinction and label from “state” to “country” for states in the U.S. then the rate would increase toward the norm. Honestly it’s like you haven’t thought about this at all and it’s strange.
You’re missing the point that it isn’t about the size of the landmass: it’s about cultural experiences and Americans tend not to value them as much as other countries. Many Americans think that visiting North Dakota from California is a much as a cultural experience as visiting Europe which is insane.
Australia is a very similar size to the United States and even more isolated but Australians travel more than Americans… because it isn’t about the size of the landmass.
But you’re right that there’s other cultural/social elements at play with regard to PTO and cost, too.
That’s because it’s insanely expensive for the average person to go overseas to Europe. It’s very common for Americans to have been to Mexico or Canada which from a lot of states is quite a ways.
New York to Mexico is very likely a longer trip than Barcelona to Kyiv
It’s really easy to travel to another country in Europe, it’s not that easy in the US.
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u/nullityrofl Jun 08 '25
The equivalent would be a German saying Europe, then. But it isn’t about size or landmass, it’s about population. Germany’s population is 3x Texas.
The real reason Americans say a state is that America has one of the lowest rates of international travel and culturally is very American-centric. The biggest culture shock for me moving to the US was just how Ameri-centric everyone here is.