zlacker

Huh? The US has all of that. You can move freely between states.

>>CalRob+(OP)
Internal movement doesn't count. Only a real hell-hole like North Korea will prevent you moving around in your own country.

>>Stevvo+93
The EU and US are roughly equivalent in size. I’m not sure it’s fair to say that doesn’t count.

It’s (nominally) a union of states after all

>>Stevvo+93
The US economy is about 1.5 times larger than the entire EU.

The US is over 2 times larger by land.

Population is about a quarter smaller. Still, Massachusetts has more people than Denmark, New York has the same as Romania, California has more people than Poland.

Our original founding documents cite "these united states", interestingly and very tellingly "these", not "the." States are their own entities, and you'd find many to have very different cultures and laws — probably the same level of variance you'd find in the EU.

>>CalRob+y5
There is far more cultural diversity between the EU countries than states in the US - it’s not close.

>>thepti+Ud
Agreed, but in terms of moving around a similar land mass, an even bigger economy, integrated currency, etc the comparison seems reasonable. If anything the US has more freedom in that sense, at least on paper. I don’t need to register with the gemeente when I move interstate. (Though I’d likely need a new drivers licence)

Also, for better or for worse it helps that almost everyone speaks English everywhere.

>>lowkey+H6
I agree with your points. It's ridiculous to suggest Americans don't have freedom of movement. The US economy is actually roughly double that of the EU.

But European countries are much more different from one another than the States are. I think it's actually quite a challenge to doing business there - growing into another country means you have to appeal to a very different culture, deal with different laws, speak a different language.

The US states have their differences but there's a reason they're part of the same nation.