3 ms·

Replying to kinda everyone at the same time: I was talking more about feeling European in a cultural way, rather than political. A "national pride" kind of feel

Replying to kinda everyone at the same time: I was talking more about feeling European in a cultural way, rather than political. A "national pride" kind of feeling, just transnational. Nothing to do with a shared army or fiscal policy.

thefounder 7y ago
I think Europeans have always felt close in a cultural way(more or less) but that alone doesn't make us united and part of a bigger thing(i.e like the Americans feel in the US). Of course you can talk about a common cultural transnational pride but how much does it help? Without a close political union there is no reason to be more proud to be European than is for any random Asian citizen to be proud of being part of Asia or for an African to be proud of being part of the African continent. History shows us that this cultural pride / union is weak and pretty useless when money/business/power is involved.
- navaati 7y ago
  Fair enough ! Though you raise a point: I'm curious if such a thing indeed exists in Africa and Asia. Africa (and South America actually) I suspect yes, Asia I've got no idea really. And I still think this belonging feeling is stronger in Europe due to the open borders, and the sheer number of your fellow Euro-citizen you interact with in your day to day life in some cities (but I probably have a twisted view because Dublin is crazy in that regard).
  - thefounder 7y ago
    There is an Asian culture[0] so I'm pretty sure Asians relate more to themselves than to residents of a foreign continent though the bond is definitely weaker than in Europe as they have no "pan-asian rights". >> And I still think this belonging feeling is stronger in Europe due to the open borders That's indeed the case and the open borders, free flow of capital, labour etc exist because we have a political union. That's why you can't really talk about transnational European pride without talking about federalisation and sovereignty . The financial crisis, Brexit and Trump put EU in a tough spot. Greece shows us that we need a fiscal and banking union if we want to talk about financial solidarity, Brexit proves that some countries don't want to be states of a United Europe, Trump made it clear that US's protection will not last forever. Even worse, it sees a United Europe as a foe and threat to its supremacy. Now the question about how European you feel is not just an abstract question. You can vote for closer or lesser integration or a total exit. You have to give some national sovereignty to get transnational sovereignty. I believed the European dream, that in time EU cohesion policies lead to a single stronger and united country but now I'm not so sure...looks more like everyone for themselves. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Asia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Asia

thefounder 7y ago

I think Europeans have always felt close in a cultural way(more or less) but that alone doesn't make us united and part of a bigger thing(i.e like the Americans feel in the US). Of course you can talk about a common cultural transnational pride but how much does it help? Without a close political union there is no reason to be more proud to be European than is for any random Asian citizen to be proud of being part of Asia or for an African to be proud of being part of the African continent. History shows us that this cultural pride / union is weak and pretty useless when money/business/power is involved.

navaati 7y ago
Fair enough ! Though you raise a point: I'm curious if such a thing indeed exists in Africa and Asia. Africa (and South America actually) I suspect yes, Asia I've got no idea really. And I still think this belonging feeling is stronger in Europe due to the open borders, and the sheer number of your fellow Euro-citizen you interact with in your day to day life in some cities (but I probably have a twisted view because Dublin is crazy in that regard).
- thefounder 7y ago
  There is an Asian culture[0] so I'm pretty sure Asians relate more to themselves than to residents of a foreign continent though the bond is definitely weaker than in Europe as they have no "pan-asian rights". >> And I still think this belonging feeling is stronger in Europe due to the open borders That's indeed the case and the open borders, free flow of capital, labour etc exist because we have a political union. That's why you can't really talk about transnational European pride without talking about federalisation and sovereignty . The financial crisis, Brexit and Trump put EU in a tough spot. Greece shows us that we need a fiscal and banking union if we want to talk about financial solidarity, Brexit proves that some countries don't want to be states of a United Europe, Trump made it clear that US's protection will not last forever. Even worse, it sees a United Europe as a foe and threat to its supremacy. Now the question about how European you feel is not just an abstract question. You can vote for closer or lesser integration or a total exit. You have to give some national sovereignty to get transnational sovereignty. I believed the European dream, that in time EU cohesion policies lead to a single stronger and united country but now I'm not so sure...looks more like everyone for themselves. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Asia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Asia