Epcot 2: More Countries

[agingerbugg]

Though, I'll admit, I've felt that World Showcase would better accommodate its current "peace on earth" theme if it was less divided into countries and more of a seamless community. Just a thought, though.

And if it wasn't so skewed to the West.

[pixiesparkles]

I would have to say Greece (yummy food), Russia (imagine the architecture), or Australia (just to represent a completely different continent for one thing).

[djginsberg]

Wow -- those are all great ideas!! I'd love to see some more countries represented at Epcot (and taste all their foods)!!!

[Jacca5660]

We had a tread like this before viewtopic.php?t=3593&highlight=countries

Here is what I thought in it:

"After reading through all the ideas here. I've come up with some conclusions and ideas of my own. When thinking of adding a new country to world showcase, I have a short list of criteria for what would make an acceptable country.

1: It would have to be a country that likes us (I mean the US)
2: It would have to be politically stable
3: The socio/economic situation would have to have a minimal impact (A lot of jobs are being shipped overseas and causing resentment here).
4: It would have to actually be a country and not just a territory.
5: It would have to be economically viable (It would be hard to show a third world country in a good light)
6: It would have to be safe. (there are countries out there that would be lightning rods for terrorist attack.)
7: We as Americans would have to have an over all favorable opinion of said country. (It would be a hard sell if Americans didn't like a country over all.)

That stated, let's look at what's been mentioned here. Antarctica and South America are continents, not countries. I would dare to say with all the people here from various South American countries, you would get a lot of people upset with a continent-wide pavilion. Antarctica is a continent also, and has no culture or population of it's own. Right now, if you keep up with current events, it's becoming very disputed. There are varying countries trying to stake claims to very large areas of the continent and surrounding waters for mineral and oil rights. It was set up as a non territorial free zone. That's not working out too well. So, I have rejected these two out of hand.

Next, political stability. I'd have to reject India, Ethiopia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Russia, and except for a couple of countries, South America. Most of these countries are fighting ongoing wars (mostly civil). Yes, I know we are fighting on several fronts. Russia is fighting a couple of the old USSR territories. Ethiopia and Zimbabwe have internal conflicts. India is constantly at odds with most of it's neighbors, and it seems about once every couple of years it threatens to bomb Pakistan (I remember it's even threatened to NUKE them). Thailand, which used to be the most stable country in Southeast Asia is, well, let's just say their conflicts are internal and on their boarders. From what I've read, their boarders move..A LOT.
As for Socio/Economic situation. There is a lot of resentment for India in this country. I'm a technician and know technicians. There are a lot of people who get very upset that our jobs are being sent to India. It may not be of India's doing, American companies have gone to India and told them what they needed to do and what training they needed to give their people so our jobs could be sent there. I just don't feel there would be a real good reception for an Indian pavilion. I feel /think you might also have the same problem with a few different South American and Southeast Asian countries. These are starting to become hard economic times for certain sectors of our population and that would have to come into consideration when choosing a new country pavilion.

I would have to also say that some countries, either perceived or real, are thought of as third world countries. India, Ethiopia, Puerto Rico, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Argentina, and Chile are thought of by a lot of Americans as third world countries. I didn't say they were. I just said they were perceived as such. Yes, I did put Puerto Rico on this list. I've been to PR and once out of the tourist areas, living conditions are ghastly. In some areas, running water is thought of as a luxury. I don't think I have to explain too much on how I put India, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Thailand on this list. The vast majority of the people in these countries are still living in the 18th century. Yes, I know they have some very modern big cities. All you have to do is get on the outskirts of them and you go back a couple of centuries or worse. Personally, I don't think of Argentina and Chile as third world countries. I am talking about over-all perception not mine.

Yes, they would have to be safe. I feel Israel would be a lightning rod for attack. Yes, I know Israel is one of our staunchest allies, politically and economically stable. If you look at our world today..well I feel you can get the Idea. On this subject, I'm not too sure if I would add Egypt here. I would not have any problem taking my family there. You don't hear about many attacks in Egypt. They most likely have the strongest standing army on the planet. They are also (internally) very tightly controlled. I would only question how much protection their pavilion would need. I feel that if you have to talk security risk, it most likely would not be a good Idea to add a pavilion to the EPCOT world showcase.

As to addressing if they like the US. Now lets face it, we do not get high marks around the world when it comes as to how people perceive us. So I feel a major factor would have to be "How do they feel about the US". To this end India, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia all get low marks. Don't get me wrong, they love our money and jobs, but I don't think they feel warm and fuzzy when they think about the US. For that matter I'm not really sure how the people of Egypt perceive us.

Now who does that leave? By the way, I've just compiled this list of countries from what people have suggested on this string. Australia, Greece, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Holland (Amsterdam is a city in Holland!), and South Africa. All meet my stated requirements. I wouldn't put Ireland on my personal list because we already have one called Great Britain. That is inclusive of Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. I feel any of the others that are left would be great additions to the world Showcase. It would be very hard to choose which one. My personal favorites would be Australia (You could do this one with New Zealand), South Africa, Brazil, and Holland (As was stated in an earlier post. I would want one or two of their laws at the pavilion).

This is all just my opinion and I could be wrong. With that said I do expect several of you to take this apart and rip it up. You know who you are!"

I believe this still stands up!

[js3901]

good catch on the previous thread, Jacca. I had totally forgotten that it was there.

as there is a thread already open at the following link:

viewtopic.php?t=3593

this thread will be locked. please post any/all responses to the previously opened thread.