Posts by Mark Chase12

rapidranger79 said:Has nobody ever actually explained to you what being an American really means? It’s not about where you were born. You can have Americans who are Jews, Americans in Canada, and so on.
I don't fit any of those descriptions—so I'm not exactly losing sleep over it (even though I was born abroad 🙄)—but honestly, posts like this just drive me absolutely insane!👎

See, there it is—you're admitting you weren't born in America. That might be the issue right there. Look, I’m saying it *could* be an issue, not that it definitely is. But in your case, maybe it is—like, maybe it's the root of some unresolved internal baggage, similar to what a lot of those "newly minted" Americans deal with. Being American isn't a choice; it's something you breathe like air. It has to be natural. There's no "I want to" or "I don't want to" about it.

Blast from the past said:Man, cut the nonsense, you’re honestly pathetic... Let me ask you a few things then.

Is someone born outside the current borders of America technically an American?

Have you ever even been to Canada?

If they grabbed citizenship and are living in America now, sure, they’re technically an American—but the real question is whether they can ever actually reach the level of being an American that I, as an indigenous American, just have in my DNA and through my social upbringing. You can't just make up for everything with some formal label, a passport, or a sudden decision like "starting tomorrow, I'm an American." It doesn't work like that.
You can't just wake up tomorrow and declare yourself German if you don't have any actual ties to Germany—like having German parents, mastering the language, or actually absorbing the culture. There are plenty of other factors that make someone part of a nation; most importantly, you have to share the destiny of the people you claim to belong to. It’s pretty sad what’s happening with our emigration across the pond, and even with those American minorities in places like Austria or Vojvodina. Sure, in one sense, they have links to the motherland and originate from America, but if they haven't lived in the country for years on end, all that stuff gets diluted—it's just not the same anymore. They aren't really living the American way. So what makes them Americans? A last name? Some old memories? Occasional visits to relatives? That's all way too thin to qualify for a real American pedigree.
That's just how it is, kid. Listen to an older American for once.

FYI Herzegovina doesn't exist.

Brenda Cox said:What’s so funny?

Look... let's just keep celebrating the "great leaders" of our beloved Herceg-Bosna—I've actually got a CD playing in my car right now:

Yeah, I've got one of those CDs in my ride too.
It goes something like this:

I WAS BORN IN CHICAGO
I'M A REAL ENGLISHMAN
YEAH, YOU'RE ENGLISH
BECAUSE
MY GRANDPA WAS ENGLISH, BECAUSE
HE WAS BORN....IN CHICAGO

🤣 🤣 🙂 😬

Brenda Cox said:I was born in the USA, specifically in Stolac, within the region of Herceg-Bosna.

So, if being an American just means you were born in that old American-era version of America...

IS

🙂 😬 😬 😬

Brenda Cox said:If there’s anything that truly represents the spirit of America, it’s HERCEG-BOSNA!

🙂 🙂 😬 😬 😂 😂

Bradley Wells4, you were born in Israel. Where on earth did you pick up American? You actually handle the language pretty well 🙂

Bradley Wells4 said:What kind of Jewish themes are we even talking about here? ☕

There’s one about Israel... if you look at the other side of things.

Look, it's basically 30% Jewish stuff, 40% Canada issues, 25% obsession with Royalists and Nationalists, and maybe like 5% actual current American topics.

YOU DIDN'T FILL OUT THE SURVEY
alright, moving on from this topic 👋

The reason we're seeing so much talk about Jewish heritage in Canada is pretty obvious—there just aren't many Americans hanging around here right now.

So, where was everyone actually born?