Well, if you say so.
I might be coloured by the fact that I live in a somewhat neutral country. When my parents were young during the cold war, people didn't really talk about the spread of communism but the fact that we might be nuked to hell.
I do have one question for the Americans, were taxes really very high in the colonies? I thought the issue wasn't so much that there were high taxes but that the colonies weren't adequately represented when it came to creating those taxes.
The Stamp Act of 1765 (short title Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12) was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.[1][2] These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money.[3]
...
The Stamp Act met great resistance in the colonies. The colonies sent no representatives to Parliament, and therefore had no influence over what taxes were raised, how they were levied, or how they would be spent. Many colonists considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant
Despite WildCat's humor, there really was an issue with taxes, but it was not so much the absolute rate, but that often they were seemed as punitive (and possibly were). The rallying call behind no taxation without representation was that the colonists felt that new taxes like the Stamp Act of 1765 were tools of oppression.

We forgot to apologise for Shania Twain too.![]()
I'm posting this here because I think it might be of interest to people who do not necessarily visit the US Politics sub-forum.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0104/Could-you-pass-a-US-citizenship-test/
My result: "You answered 81 of 96 questions correctly for a total score of 84%."
I'm packing my bags and heading off to Florida for some of those great housing bargains.![]()
I almost feel like composing a Canadian citizenship test along similar lines because I'd bet more Canadians would fail that one that the US one. Most Canadians wouldn't have the faintest idea who Major C H Douglas was, for example, or be able to identify the political party associated with his crackpot "theories".
I think the point is that new citizens should take the time to learn basic facts about our country. Otherwise they'll become Occupy Wall Street squatters.I got 62 out of 66 before giving up and only got that far because many of the questions intrigued me by seeming so irrelevant. What good or importance do question like "Where is the Statue of Liberty", "Which state borders Canada", or "Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States" have? Wouldn't even an absurd question like "Can you punch your neighbor for being obnoxious" be more beneficial? I respect and understand that history is important, but having newcomers demonstrate a knowledge of the law seems more important to me than if they know what the thirteen stripes on the flag stand for.
