Identity in America and in Europe

Identity in America

In America there is so little issue with borders because fundamentally there are nothing that truly divides the people.

As much as Canadians like to assert that they are not Americans, this is a purely identity issue.

That is Canadians speak the same language as Americans. More or less believe in the same set of Chirstian denominations. Have more or less fundamentally same world view, manners and idea of how to interact with each other. 

It is not like Canadians are so different from Americans that cannot readily coexist. It is simply that Canadians choose to be different. In choosing so they created several cultural rituals to differentiate themselves from their neighbors.

On fundamental level there is very little that divides the two. Culture in North America is more akin to an outer layer of paint, painted over the fundamentally same 

All of that makes it very easy to simply switch to a different culture or simply move to a different location. Then change again when you get bored.

The same is true for each US State. Many of them have ever expanding rostrum of additional State Symbols, such as State Animal, State Gem, State Bird, State Rock. All of these are just outer layers of identity, painted over the same basic nature underneath it. 

The very desire to think of something like a State Rock and then make it an official symbol is a fundamentally American and Canadian thing. It is somewhat copied in Australia, or perhaps introduced by Americans who came here. Though I saw few people who actually care for something like that. Other countries do not bother with something like that.

People with fundamentally different cultures in North America are Mexicans for example. However, Americans like to think that that is due to Mexicans being of a different race rather than a culture. Same as they think of Blacks.

In general, thinking that there are but 3/4 races, that are different in skin color is erroneous in itself. 

Dark skinned people from India and Pakistan are nothing like those from Africa. People from different parts of Africa are also different from each other. Even Ethiopians are nothing like even their immediate neighbors in Sudan for example.

In contrast while skinned people from Spain and tanned Latins from Mexico do share a language and many fundamental cultural characteristics.

I would even argue that a white American from New England has a lot more in common with a Latin from a Mexico or Venezuela, than a white Finn from Helsinki has with white Italian from Naples.

Identity and races in Europe

Europeans may be all white, but differences between them go much deeper than those between Americans.

They are different races rather than just cultures. Nazi did called German a race rather than a culture. Such claim in itself did not puzzle people around them. Instead, they had issue with them planning to genocide other races in Europe to make way for geographical expansion of German race.

People in Europe are very different from each other. Some more so than the others.

I however would not say that these differences will prevent them from ever able to work together. After all these races lived side by side on the same continent for such a long time, they are definitely able to understand each other. 

In fact, there were plenty of cooperation between them in the past. Common self-interest allowed people of different races and religions of Europe to work together. The same common self-interest will be able to not only keep, but also expand European Union. 

So common future is very much possible for Europe. Though it will be built on much different foundations. 

Actually, the US originally was built on common self-interest as well, even if people nowadays like to boil it down to identity.

Unlike Americans who not only think but also divide themselves with strict boundaries. European divisions are much more diffused. 

There may be firm lines that demarcate boundaries between nations. However, when it comes to actual identities and characteristics of the people, it is much more nuanced.

While people in national centers are close to pure representation of culture and identity of the said nation, people who live in the border areas are much less so. In many cases border people have a lot more in common with people across the border than with those in the national center.

Southern French has a lot in common with Catalonians in Spain or Lombardians in Italy. Back in the days they even spoke a language that is similar to Catalan.

In contrast north Italians are rather different from those who live in the south.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. In some places boundaries are very clear.

However overall Europe is much more diffused compared to the US.

Conclusion:

I good metaphor to illustrate these differences will be a color wheel and gradient.

Americas is like color wheel:

Europe is like gradient:

There are some areas of concentration of one particular color and a lot of diffusion as one color gradually morphs into another.