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There is no point in having a European state if the people living in it don't consider themselves, at least up to a certain point, European.
I think this is happening with the 'younger' generations, but it will take a while before it becomes a general feeling amongst the people of Europe.
Towards an ever closer Union, one small step at a time.
I agree that Sweden,Norway and Denmark are quite similar languages.But in scandinavia there is also one crazy little people:Finish.I know that the Sweds,Danes and Norsemen know this,but Finish language is not even an Indo-European language.Its Finno-Ugrig.As the name says there are only Three nations in Europe who belong to our language group:Finish,Hungarians and Estonians.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldvs
If you guys like to check it up.Go to Taverns frontroom to talk your own language thread and try make some sense what im posting there.(Ok.I know i dont make any sense anyways ~D ).
No! The Europeans are too diverse. I mean, what does somebody from Slovakia have in common culturally with someone from say Cornwall? Not much. They only way a federal state would be possible is if traditional heritage and culture were gradually eroded in each country. Is that what you really want? For Europe to be just one bland state? Why is a federal state even needed? The Golden era of European domination is almost past. Few nations ever regain their power. Instead a vision of a European super-state is just clutching at straws, trying desperatley to hold on to a dead dream. Europe has to face up to reality. It will never be able to compete with the likes of India and China. Today the whole of Europe only amounts to HALF the population of India. And within fifty years, unless their is a mass immigration flux, Europe (because of an ageing population) will have a smaller population whilst India and China will probably have a larger one.
Also, would you like to be ruled from a capital so many miles away, which doesn't not always have your best interests at heart?
That's funny how vehement you are against the EU. If your profile info is correct you're living in Switzerland, right? Tell me why do you care about the EU and its cultural diversity? Do you fear that one day your country will join it and be swallowed, or that it will be a small land in the middle of a very large federal State?Quote:
Originally Posted by King Henry V
So ?Quote:
The Europeans are too diverse. I mean, what does somebody from Slovakia have in common culturally with someone from say Cornwall?
US were created through diversity. People who emigrated to the US were not all Irish or Anglo-Saxons.
And it's a well known fact that inhabitants of the Russian Federation are all russians. Or wait, they aren't, no ?
The list goes on for many Federal States.
A western german had probably less in common with a eastern german than with a french, or a dutch in the late 90's, yet they are living together now.
doc_bean, I fully agree with you. If a European State is ever created, I'll probably never see it. Some young people are now feeling as being european rather than french, german, italian, but they are only a minor part of the population.
In my university, I meet a lot of Germans, Italians, Spanish who already speak 3 or 4 languages, who lived for a while in all major european country and who are barely 20. I think they'll be the women and the men who will build a real political Europe, and not just an economical one.
http://img176.echo.cx/img176/9412/th...hempire7oc.jpg
This is my idea of a united Europe...
While the continental-types may speak a variety of languages, we people of these isles rarely speak our own, never mind foreign ones...
I'm English. Already in Switzerland there a moves towards Europe (the Schengen/Dublin agreements were voted through by referendum a few days ago). What I don't want to see is an adoption of the euro, which will increase prices in an already expensive country.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldvs
Yes but the immigrants arriving in the US were anglicised to a certain point. They had to learn English after a while and if they didn't then they could just go home. They had a choice: adapt you culture to ours or leave. People in a federal Europe would not have choice since they are their home. The Russian Federation was made by conquest not by integration. The only reason why the Fedration does not split is because an independant Siberia would not be a very rich country.Quote:
So ?
US were created through diversity. People who emigrated to the US were not all Irish or Anglo-Saxons.
And it's a well known fact that inhabitants of the Russian Federation are all russians. Or wait, they aren't, no ?
The list goes on for many Federal States.
A western german had probably less in common with a eastern german than with a french, or a dutch in the late 90's, yet they are living together now.
doc_bean, I fully agree with you. If a European State is ever created, I'll probably never see it. Some young people are now feeling as being european rather than french, german, italian, but they are only a minor part of the population.
In my university, I meet a lot of Germans, Italians, Spanish who already speak 3 or 4 languages, who lived for a while in all major european country and who are barely 20. I think they'll be the women and the men who will build a real political Europe, and not just an economical one.
What you say about the West Germans is just complete and utter crap. My father's German and I had family in both East and West Germany. There is hardly any difference at all between them. You can't say that 2 countries which were once one and have the same language and culture have less in common with each other than a neighbouring country which does not have the same culture or the same language.
The last time you were asked whether you'd like to join the EU it was pretty clear you didn't. Step by step, Switzerland is being integrated but I seriously doubt your compatriots will join the EU, in the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by King Henry V
Could you show me the link between a federal State and a common currency? We already have a common currency and we're far from living in a giant federal State, so I hope you may be able to explain that to me, for I fail to comprehend your logic.Quote:
What I don't want to see is an adoption of the euro, which will increase prices in an already expensive country.
What I mean is that certain Swiss businessmen are pushing for the euro so as to increase trade.