What if all the North American countries became one country?

[CosmicHooves 2,705]

You have Mexico, the USA, and Canada.

Now think about it.

What if in the future, these very countries decided to make an agreement to combine and make one colossal country?

Now keep an open mind.

 

What could happen to cause this unity of countries?

What would this country be called?

What would be the system of government that would run such a large country?

How would the rest of the world react?

How would people within the countries react?

How would you react?

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

You have Mexico, the USA, and Canada.

Now think about it.

What if in the future, these very countries decided to make an agreement to combine and make one colossal country?

Now keep an open mind.

What could happen to cause this unity of countries?

What would this country be called?

What would be the system of government that would run such a large country?

How would the rest of the world react?

How would people within the countries react?

How would you react?

Bigger is better

It would be called 'Camerixa'

Not sure

'omg'

'yay'

'cool'

[EddG 554]

As long as we keep watching each others backs I won't mind.

<3 England

[Silver Letter 1,830]

Even if one changes the map, the peoples of these three lands will always see each other as foreigners. To eliminate sovereignty is not likely to be a good idea and I am against expansion of the US as it is. It would also be an imperial government, inherently a system of inequality and unfairness. To expand would promote instability and chaos.

[Mephala 2,633]

What could happen to cause this unity of countries?

I don't think anything really could. We all have very different cultures and customs, and trade between them is important to all three economies. Canada's would pretty much collapse with our reliance on selling the States primary resources like lumber and minerals, and people in the States are pretty much wholly ignorant of our culture (in Canada, at least) and would probably do something stupid like taking land from Aboriginal/First Nation groups. Also, Quebec would flip shit because the States and Mexico would probably get pissy about our law that French needs to be on the majority of our items and try to remove that, and almost half of Quebec already want to leave Canada so becoming one big family would make them even more upsetti. I don't know all that much about Mexico, unfortunately, but I doubt they'd like it either.

So that's the major problem - each country would probably still want to do their own thing, but they'd be treading on toes unless we made a HUGE new consitution. In general, it's a terrible idea politically, economically, and culturally. No offense, but I don't want to be one country with the States and Mexico. I don't like either all that much.

Oh not to mention we'd all have all our debt pooled together and there is NO WAY I am paying off any for the States and Mexico too LMAO

What would this country be called?

IDFK LMAO

HOW ABOUT "NORTH AMERICA"

WE'D BE LIKE AUSTRALIA THEN AND AUSTRALIA IS COOL

What would be the system of government that would run such a large country?

I imagine we'd all stay with elected democracies, but there'd be way more power struggling.

How would the rest of the world react?

"lol u dumbfucks"

How would people within the countries react?

"I don't like you lol gtfo my country"

"this is one country now"

"wat when did that happen"

How would you react?

"GG, no re, I'm moving to Europe permanently this time, byeeee have fun collapsing"

[Hidey 2,836]

American empire.

I like it. 

[Jammo 986]

Hmm.... How would the government work? Would it be under American rule or would it be like a council from all the different regions? Unlike many Canadians I have very little beef with Americans. But we already have an alliance. There's no place to go to get us closer. Plus President Madison eyed our land before... Didn't work out.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Jammo

[AlbaTross 1,581]

As a Canadian, I'm neutral on the idea. On one hand, the U.S. expanding its empire would not be welcome in my book, since we all know which country would come out on top if this were to happen. On the other hand, as a BC resident I identify more with Seattle and California than I do with the rest of Canada, and probably would identify more with Oregan too if I had been there more than once. Also, there would be no need to use Amazon.ca, and I could get free shipping from what is currently the U.S., plus depending on where packages ship from, delivery might be faster. For obvious reasons, a package shipped from Cali arrives sooner than one shipped from Ontario.

 

Having the same currency would be nice too, and we could hopefully enjoy better prices on things. A trip to Cali would be a domestic flight. I would be ok with that. Come to think of it, maybe merging NA wouldn't be such a bad idea. Then again, people would have the right to carry guns around here, and that can only be bad news. Ok, there are pros and cons.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Tross

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,732]

If all of North America united then the country would be extremely geopolitically secure and will have increased capability to exert their power towards the rest of the world. I expect much of the rest of the world will either cooperate with the country in fear or form an alliance to counter the country's power. I know I would fear such a country and definitely would want another superpower to balance the power. Otherwise the world is waiting to be exploited by the hypothetical country.

[Countess Noodle 607]

This is kinda like a Code Geass situation. I don't know about Mexico though, who would want to form with a country that unstable? Not saying that the U.S doesn't have it's problems,but forming with Mexico is just a bad idea. 

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Post 5 and 8 are basically my view points.  our cultures mix to much and would not work.  I can see the states being hostile to take over cause I may be wrong here but they do have this stuborn nature and 'superiourity' complex.  Really I get pissed when united stated people say "i love livingi n america!"  yeah do you mean north america or united states OF america, ugh sorry off topic.

[Pinkie-Guy 563]

The economies of the Mexican states are too weak to integrate into the United States, their politics too unstable and the current drug war too dire.  Canada could integrate with the United States and if I'm not mistaken, the Articles of Confederation had a clause in it that basically gave Canada pre-approval to join the United States, but I don't think there's any need or desire to.  The Canadian provinces would probably all become states, though they would have to renounce the Queen of Canada for sure.

 

Having a currency union (like the Euro in Europe) with Canada could work, but the Canadian Dollar is generally weaker than its American counterpart and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's all part of a theory called Optimum Currency Area.

 

I imagine that much of the world would see it as American imperialism.  Most importantly, I don't think it would give the new country any major increase in power or influence abroad, at least from the United States perspective.

[sweetolebob18 724]

Looking at Europe, it would probably be an economic union before it became a political one.  NAFTA was supposed to be a start in that direction.  A common currency & trade laws would be an economic help to all.

 

On the other hand, I see some BIG political problems.  USA, we take freedom of the press a lot differently than Canada or Mexico does, we've got the death penalty & they don't, Canada has better health care & education, Mexico has less strict environmental laws (& I can see $8/hr minimum wage not going down too well w businesses).  Not to mention US gun laws.

 

All 3 have representative democracies, but USA has over 2x the population of the other 2 combined.  This means a straight representation by population would result in the USA calling the shots & I don't see that being very popular outside the US.

[Mephala 2,633]

Having the same currency would be nice too, and we could hopefully enjoy better prices on things. A trip to Cali would be a domestic flight. I would be ok with that. Come to think of it, maybe merging NA wouldn't be such a bad idea. Then again, people would have the right to carry guns around here, and that can only be bad news. Ok, there are pros and cons.

Having the same currency would NOT be nice. Tourism is huge in Canada - especially BC, your province - and our weaker dollar encourages people to come from the States and abroad in general because of that, not to mention encouraging Canadian products (particularly primary resources) to be ordered and exported by other countries.

 

If our dollar was on par with the United States, there'd be no reason for them to buy our products like oil. With the tar/oil sands in Alberta, we're extracting and selling around 1.8 million barrels a day. However, the States is now beginning to find its own supplies - it's just cheaper for them to buy from us than to build the infrastructure required to dig for it or the process of getting shale, which is the majority of what they've found. We KNOW fracking is horrible for the environment, too. So it's great for us if they're still a customer.

 

And not only that, but we wouldn't have a defined culture anymore. People wouldn't see reason to go to Canada anymore, because it's not cheap; we'd just be "a part of the US". And Canada has been mocked as trying to be the United States for a very long time; if we ever exceed them in something, you can expect some snarky journalism about how we're "tryhards", etc. Merging with a superpower like the US would totally overwhelm our culture. I can't see them being too friendly to Aboriginal groups if they somehow get to call the shots, and having lived close to many Inuit tribes while I was in Nunavut, I see it as exceptionally important that we respect them and their culture.

 

In addition, our dollar makes it possible for us to maintain our healthcare system. If our dollar raised, we were paid the same amount, and taxes remained the same or even rose, then you're paying more than you did before for healthcare on top of your tax bracket. And Canada has a lot more social programs and a different taxation system, not to mention a different parliamentary system...imagine how much it would cost taxpayers to integrate and update to whatever government we choose.

 

Mexico, as far as I know, would not be happy. Their low minimum wages and lack of protectionism laws makes them a great target for outsourced/offshored labour from the United States if they aren't willing to go as far as Indonesia or Vietnam or India. Giving up that source of income and the inflow of taxes from the United States because of a more powerful dollar isn't something I can imagine flies very well.

 

Oh, and the Commonwealth! That's something I haven't even touched on in this huge post. Basically the only big positive I see of this. That's something we pay for; flying the royals over, entertaining them, etc. Since the US is quite patriotic in general, as far as I know, they'd probably want to cut off ties with the royals. Even as a kid born in the UK, I'm perfectly okay with that.

 

We have to remember, also, that we'd have a common bank to control money supply and interest, inflation, etc. How would this common bank work? It's more than likely going to be headed by a US citizen. Canada's GDP is what, maybe 1/12, 1/13 of the United States'? And Mexico's is even tinier.

 

And that's another cultural thing (not related to the dollar); it would take a long, long time before people would stop saying or thinking "I am American" or "I am Mexican". It'd be extremely difficult to accommodate so many different languages - primarily English, French, and Spanish - equally, and I know Mexico and the US aren't as fond of immigrants as we are in Canada (likely because we have a declining birth rate, so immigrants help boost the economy as long as they aren't underground workers or temporary foreign workers. BUT THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER KETTLE OF FISH).

 

But I think one of the things you mentioned, more specifically, was this.

 

I could get free shipping from what is currently the U.S.

we could hopefully enjoy better prices on things.

I see you said "hopefully", and that cheers me up somewhat. But besides that, NO NO NOOOO. Two BIG issues I have with this point. (I shouldn't be getting this into it, but I love talking about economics, sorry, LMAO.)

1.) The country is huge.

2.) Monopolies.

 

To start on my first point, this hypothetical new North America would be extremely, extremely large. In fact, it would be the largest landmass in the world by a significant amount, giving the fact that Canada is already the second largest after Russia. The cost of transportation for goods and services would likely not change; in fact, with a singular dollar, it's far more likely that it would get more expensive. Smaller companies likely would be disheartened by this and possibly lower their range of export unless they know they can turn a profit margin over a break even

 

To be fair, trade is very much north-south already, so it might not be too bad - in your case, BC trades the most with California and Mexico. But it'd still be extremely costly and likely would not bump down prices much if at all.

 

The larger problem I see is monopolies. You're Canadian, so I assume you know the Big Three - Rogers, Bell, and Telus. Now, they're in an oligopoly - several very large companies maintaining the most control on a market. Canada has laws that protect these companies from being eaten up by huge ones like Verizon or Virgin, but at the same time offers a rather unfair market advantage.

 

In an oligopoly, a company cannot lower their prices to attract consumers. Lowering prices means that people will flock to your store - until the other companies lower their prices too, to keep any kind of advantage. In the end, you've all lowered your prices, and everybody but the consumer loses because your products are essentially the same in telemarketing and have no defining features. A modified Prisoner's Dilemma, in a sense. However, if they collectively raise their price, then people are forced to pay that too.

 

Now if something huge like Verizon rolls in, we can kiss Rogers, Bell, and Telus goodbye. Verizon is big enough that it can afford to take a minor price hit for a while, and it would monopolize the market - be the sole provider. That means that they can set whatever price they want without having to worry that competition might lower theirs. People would be restricted heavily to this sole provider of telecommunications. Very little price choice. If other companies do this in other industries, there's a lot of lost jobs.

 

...and because this is getting extremely long, I won't even START on job loss.

 

tl;dr IT'S A REALLY BAD IDEA TO HAVE A SINGLE CURRENCY OKAY YEAH THERE ARE MAYBE TWO OR THREE ADVANTAGES BUT THE NEGATIVES OUTWEIGH IT BY A LOT

 

All 3 have representative democracies, but USA has over 2x the population of the other 2 combined.  This means a straight representation by population would result in the USA calling the shots & I don't see that being very popular outside the US.

LOL U GOT THAT RITE

[Derplight Sperkle 1,013]

This wouldn't be the best idea for any of the three countries. Sure US will get more resources, land, and people, but we also get their problems as well. Mexico is is flux because of the drug cartels and war while Canada has been able to stay happy the way they are. The only thing the three primary North American countries (yes primary since we still have some nations in Central America and Caribbean that is included under the North America continent) should be doing is to stay the way we are.

[spits 70]

That would be awesome!  Then I can legitimately live every where without having to be worried about a passport!  Maybe just an ID card would be great.  Makes great sense too! 

[ChikaChan 7,323]

Then we called it North American Federation if that ever happens xD

[Silver Letter 1,830]

 

 

And not only that, but we wouldn't have a defined culture anymore.

Can you define it right now?

 

 

(yes primary since we still have some nations in Central America and Caribbean that is included under the North America continent)

That too. They aren't even half of the nations in North America.

[Firehearted 120]

What could happen to cause this unity of countries?

Nothing... Nothing at all... This would never ever ever happen...

What would this country be called?

North America? Maybe?

What would be the system of government that would run such a large country?

Democratic Republic

How would the rest of the world react?

"Does NATO still work?" "Who gets that UN security seat now?" "Are you guys still going to go to war?" "Now how we tell the difference between US and Canadian tourists?!"

How would people within the countries react?

Canada: We got noticed! Sorry about it though, eh.

US: Does this mean we can still arrest the illegals?

Mexico: We won't be poor anymore! 

How would you react? 

I hear England's nice this time of year.

[Side Bird 565]

Well in Fallout Canada was annexed and look how that all turned out :/

 

Seriously though I agree with Sage, it wouldn't be much a good idea to merge Canada, the U.S.A, and Mexico.

I don't think anyone in any country would even be happy. Think of all that would change. Would Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians all be happy with a new flag? What would the flag be? The national anthem? UN seat? 

Sure, there could be -some- positives, but all in all it's a bad idea. 

Let's just call it the United States of Mexicanusa, and we can have a big white flag with a stared maple leaf with a big green stripe on the left side with an eagle on it. And hey, lets just make the national anthem all three put together, so no one is unhappy And while we're at it, lets just merge all the current governments together, three presidents! Hey, lets also just give the US three UN seats and all of the Caribbean, cause why not? 

[Mephala 2,633]

Can you define it right now?

Yup!

To me, at least, Canada's identity lies heavily in our plethora of natural beauty and natural resources, something that many of us are very proud of (despite government pushes for privatization of resources).

In addition, unlike many countries, we are proud of our cultural diversity and welcome immigrants and new ideas to us with more acceptance than others. We are widely supportive of human rights globally, including homosexual rights (holla @ gay marriage being legal across the country)!

We're on good terms with most places, too; unlike the US, we're more open with trade in China and Cuba (though Cuba's new capitalist-focused system may attract others)? So the rumours about Canada being liked are true.

In general, I would describe many Canadians as being more focused on global issues than other places in the world that are very focused on themselves. Not that it's a bad thing, but I think the government here is far more open to international stuff. If you look at the amount of international news we see as compared to Americans and Mexicans, it's a pretty big gap! And I like that a lot. I'm glad I'm a Canadian citizen now, it's by far my favourite place that I've lived.

Of course, everyone has different ideas about culture and identity, but to me, the United States seems more aggressive about personal wealth and are further on the capitalist spectrum with fewer social programs and First Nations protections. So I'd say that's a fairly big difference? IDK. XD

 

Canada: We got noticed! Sorry about it though, eh.

It's a fairly big misconception that Canada is "looking for attention" from the States and/or other places (England's another big one). I'm not sure why people in the States think this is true, it's kind of bigoted and ignorant, haha. I'd like to think it's because Canada is more interested in understanding the United States and being friendly, which you guys see as clingy and needy. It makes me really confused when I see 3/4 of American publications about Canada are mocking it rather than providing any actual information about what is being discussed. Why is this the case? I've always wondered. :?

Same with the "eh" thing. I've never heard anyone use it excessively; in fact, most Americans I've met use it the same amount (which is very rarely).

Edited January 12, 2015 by Sage

[Steel Accord 6,658]

What could happen to cause this unity of countries?

 

Well it happened in Mass Effect. Not sure what would cause the three to consolidate like that other than drastic economic or military need.

 

What would this country be called?

 

*shrug* The North American Union?

 

What would be the system of government that would run such a large country?

 

I imagine it would be similar to how the U.S. and Mexico are run now, seeing as how they based their charter off of ours. Canada would have the most growing pains in this regard.

 

How would the rest of the world react?

 

Not sure. I can't really say indifference but seeing as how the three countries are allies already, I'm not sure how it would change relations globally that much.

 

How would people within the countries react?

 

Probably loudly and possibly violently. That kind of political change doesn't come without some growing pains and this actually is what caused the Second American Civil War in Mass Effect's backstory! On the calmer side, I think it would smooth relations with some of the southern states and Mexico a bit more. What once was contested territory is now a walk from Texas to Chihuahua.

 

How would you react? 

 

Honestly, I don't know. I guess it depends on how much of U.S. ideals remains after this change. If this new nation still stands for freedom in all things for all people of the world; then I'd be happy.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Silver Letter 1,830]

 

 

In addition, unlike many countries, we are proud of our cultural diversity and welcome immigrants and new ideas to us with more acceptance than others.

It probably wouldn't make sense otherwise since Canada and the US were certainly created under a multitude of cultures from the beginning, not under a singular or even a closely related group like how Italy or Germany were created. There aren't any natives in the US or Canada. Just children and descendants of immigrants. Save for First Nations of course.

 

 

Of course, everyone has different ideas about culture and identity, but to me, the United States seems more aggressive about personal wealth and are further on the capitalist spectrum with fewer social programs and First Nations protections.

I think those are mostly government issues you are addressing which includes supports for civil and human rights. It just means that Canadians have a better government.

 

 

If this new nation still stands for freedom in all things for all people of the world; then I'd be happy.

It wouldn't even be a real nation. It would be a giant super empire. No one in the world should want that. It would be a step towards global government which would be the next step in that nightmare.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

It wouldn't even be a real nation. It would be a giant super empire. No one in the world should want that. It would be a step towards global government which would be the next step in that nightmare.

 

Part of why I said I don't know how I feel. You're absolutely right though, anything that moves closer to a monolithic global government is best avoided.

[Mirror Silver Spoon 125]

What could happen to cause this unity of countries? Maybe the three countries decided to be part of an continental empire, or something.
What would this country be called? Maybe the USNA, United States of North America.
What would be the system of government that would run such a large country? Democracy, I will hope.
How would the rest of the world react? The rest of the world might be surprised, but I doubt they will have hostile relations with the new colossal nation. I mean, it will be bigger than Russia, right? Russia will be the second biggest nation, and the new USNA, or United States of North America will be the biggest, right?
How would people within the countries react? I think they will like the union. I mean, it will mean peace for the three nations, right?
How would you react? Me, personally, won't mind much. If the whole world could be one big nation, that will be great. No more wars, right?