National or European

[HoreTore]

Statement:

One cannot be [insert nationality here] without being European, rather [your nationality here] is how you are European.

For example, I'm Norwegian. I am a European. I cannot be just one of the two, I am Norwegian only as a specific form of European. An Englishman can never be just English, being English is his way of being a European.

Thoughts?

[rvg]

There's this place called America... It's full of Swedes, Anglos, Norwegians, Dutchies. None of them are Europeans though.

[HoreTore]

There's this place called America... It's full of Swedes, Anglos, Norwegians, Dutchies. None of them are Europeans though.

Yeah... This is probably a rather dull thread for you yanks. Sorry 'bout that.

[Fragony]

I am not European I am a Dutchie. The Netherlands lies in Europe that's all.

[rvg]

Yeah... This is probably a rather dull thread for you yanks. Sorry 'bout that.

No, not dull at all. I find the European preoccupation with their ethnic backgrounds rather interesting.

[Fragony]

No, not dull at all. I find the European preoccupation with their ethnic backgrounds rather interesting.

They just happen to exist. America is a different place than Europe.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Europe is a continent, a geographic entity. It is not a mark of identity, for me anyway. Well, only in the sense that nations that are near each other are more likely to share some aspects of their culture. For example, I would share a lot of Christian heritage with a Polish person, that would be hard to find outside of Europe.

I also don't understand why a liberal lefty like HoreTore wants to identify as a European, isn't that just another man-made border? We are all just human beings, no?

No, not dull at all. I find the European preoccupation with their ethnic backgrounds rather interesting.

Surely that is more of a political issue in American politics than it is in [most of] Europe?

[Fragony]

Even within nations there are big differences, I can't understand the Frysian language they speak in the north of the Netherlands and the area's below the rivers that cross the Netherlands are really different, more like the Flemish. Europe is a very old place.

[HoreTore]

I also don't understand why a liberal lefty like HoreTore wants to identify as a European, isn't that just another man-made border? We are all just human beings, no?

The argument isn't mine. It was made by the Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide in a lecture on European identity I attended on saturday.

[rvg]

Surely that is more of a political issue in American politics than it is in [most of] Europe?

I'm not sure what you mean.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

No, not dull at all. I find the European preoccupation with their ethnic backgrounds rather interesting.

What you see as "ethnic" divisions in the US are actual divisions here - case in point, farming co-operatives don't work well in the UK because the rain (although we could make them work better) and as a result British farming works differently to in France.

Europe is a continent, a geographic entity. It is not a mark of identity, for me anyway. Well, only in the sense that nations that are near each other are more likely to share some aspects of their culture. For example, I would share a lot of Christian heritage with a Polish person, that would be hard to find outside of Europe.

I also don't understand why a liberal lefty like HoreTore wants to identify as a European, isn't that just another man-made border? We are all just human beings, no?

Surely that is more of a political issue in American politics than it is in [most of] Europe?

The idea of "Europeanness" is a political construct - just like the nation-state. Declaring Europe a superdentity is a way olitical statement - nothing more.