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[Neonivek]

The Romans were very tolerant of other religions and cultures... so long as they admitted that theirs was the best and strongest.

Though that does make the Roman religion interesting when you think about it. Very... African-esk

[apiks]

That all sounds a lot like the USA.l when you think about it. What with the elite and all.

[scriver]

The Romans were very tolerant of other religions and cultures... so long as they admitted that theirs was the best and strongest.

Though that does make the Roman religion interesting when you think about it. Very... African-esk

"African"?

[Shadowlord]

The obvious answer is that Rome was both cosmopolitan and nationalistic. So is the USA (at the very least we try to steal culture from immigrants). So, they aren't opposites, really.

[Neonivek]

The Romans were very tolerant of other religions and cultures... so long as they admitted that theirs was the best and strongest.

Though that does make the Roman religion interesting when you think about it. Very... African-esk

"African"?

Some African tribes would conquer one another and the victor would absorb their tribe including their gods.

[Gigaz]

Those modern concepts apply only crudely to ancient Rome.

Nowadays, we want immigrants to learn the language of their new home. They should try to fit in, they should adopt the new culture and not live in isolation inside an immigrant community.

The preferred way of the Romans to deal with a million immigrants would have been to give them some available land where they could live, pay tributes and support Rome with soldiers. They cared preciously little about active Romanization and they would not have bothered teaching those immigrants Latin. The Romans were perfectly happy with isolated immigrant communities.

[Neonivek]

Heck the USA used to force people to change their names (unless that is a myth)

[BorkBorkGoesTheCode]

Heck the USA used to force people to change their names (unless that is a myth)

I thought that was informal and sporadic, if it happened.

[Lord Shonus]

It's a myth. Anglicized names were common among immigrants in an effort to fit in, but there's no evidence to suggest that forcing it was ever part of official policy or large-scale action by immigration officials.

[Neonivek]

I think it is possible the actual criticism at the time is that the anglicized names immigration officers would give you suck.

[Harry Baldman]

Can confirm; family changed pronunciation of our name because no one in Canada (or the US, for that matter) would ever get it right and it just wasn't worth the time. Hell, my dad even made up his first name since no one could pronounce the actual thing.

No longer could Mxzpsywcwll Rhzywcyw bear his name proudly in this strange and alien nation.

[misko27]

Can confirm; family changed pronunciation of our name because no one in Canada (or the US, for that matter) would ever get it right and it just wasn't worth the time. Hell, my dad even made up his first name since no one could pronounce the actual thing.

Can confirm my girlfriend had hers respelled for the same reason.

Meanwhile my grandfather didn't bother and I just accept the fact that almost every single person and institution I've ever been to misspells my name. It's not even that hard, which makes it especially impressive how bad it gets: It's one thing when everyone and their mother confuses me with Russians, but sometimes it's like I was from a totally different part of the world.

[Rolan7]

No longer could Mxzpsywcwll Rhzywcyw bear his name proudly in this strange and alien nation.

Ha!  Speaking of Alien Nation (hush you), I love the names the aliens get.  Basically famous people from our history, like Al the janitor actually being Albert Einstein.
Sorry, just been watching that show a lot.  It's... actually a pretty cool look into immigration, racism, stuff like that.  Through a lens of sci-fi which makes everything a bit less uncomfortable.
https://youtu.be/W9o4gbXgv9c?list=PLAPGcD5LGrp57x4cBiZNbjPyBZpgfqvPR

Sorta like District 9 but I found District 9 boring and blunt.
The aliens seem absurdly well integrated at first, but that's sorta explained or at least handwaved eventually.

[Guardian G.I.]

I've heard that their two-stage election system is well suited to block extremists from taking power by ultimately requiring them to win a majority of voters, so at least that's an advantage in our favor.

That depends on who's running and the overall situation in the country. If the people are really fed up with the establishment politicians, than it won't help.  In that case, you'd need to go full authoritarian and ban the opposing political forces, as well as the media supporting them.

[smjjames]

I've heard that their two-stage election system is well suited to block extremists from taking power by ultimately requiring them to win a majority of voters, so at least that's an advantage in our favor.

That depends on who's running and the overall situation in the country. If the people are really fed up with the establishment politicians, than it won't help. You'd need to go full authoritarian and ban the opposing political forces, as well as the media supporting them.

Their two stage system looks a lot like the US's own two stage system, the primaries and then the general. Probably the only real difference between France and the US is the Electoral College here in the US.

Also, in that election, which is tomorrow, apparently the French Left (or some of them) are planning on voting for Alain Juppé to block LePen and Sarkozy. http://www.politico.eu/article/french-lefts-complex-operation-to-stop-marine-le-pen-conservative-primary-france-sarkozy-juppe-fillon/ I know basically nothing about how their election system works, so, I don't really know what's going on over there. Sounds like it's to the effect of Democrats switching parties, voting someone not-Trump, and switching back.

I don't know much of anything about Alain Juppé either, other than that he did commit a Marie Antoniette-like gaffe.