This is because you lost the Revolution.

Why is it referred to as a revolution? A revolution tends to refer to the overthrow of a govt within a single nations border, whereas one country splitting from another tends to be referred to independence.

I don't really see the cause and effect either. Surely the USs love of FORTRESS walls would be a reason they won?

Anyway, you say lost. I say we got rid of the tea wasters. Sounds like a win to me.

Please avoid nationalistic flamebait on HN. It leads to nationalistic flamewars, which we're eager to avoid - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

I realize some of this is lighthearted banter but sadly Mr. Internet can't really do that for very long.

I wouldn't say it's flame bait.

It just seemed to me a very good example of '2 nations divided by a common language'

But I'm more a celebrate the differences kind of guy.

But point taken about the internet being the internet.

As the janitor who has to put out these fires (mixed metaphor, but accurate) I promise you it's flamebait. That's a question of statistical outcomes, not personal taste.

It would be nice if it were otherwise but for that you need a much smaller and more cohesive group. Large internet forums can't work that way - the long tail is too big, and there's always a supply of triggerable commenters.