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Originally Posted by Swede
here are many levels to identity and culture, in the end MY identity is up to ME and when two cultures are two seperate cultures or merely sub-cultures is a matter of perspective and opinion. Even the "nation" concept is a social construct.
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Exactly.
I'm sure as hell that my mindset has more in common with an average urban young university student from most European countries than an average redneck from northeastern Finland.
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Me never ! Flemish & Belgian thats what counts for me.
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What exactly does it mean being Flemish? Are Limburgians of Belgium the same as the Limburgians on the Netherlands? If I take a walk down the Via Regia road and cross the Albertkanaal are the people in Veldwezelt extremely different there than in Maastricht, for example?
To find out that some people in Central Europe, a place where you can drive in three different nations in less than 40 minutes, harbour extremely regionalistic attitudes - many stronger than what I've come across in Northern Europe - was a big surprise to me. You would expect it to be the complete opposite. As I see it, there aren't really any borders at all here. It's so unique compared to any other part of the world and everyone here should understand to take full advantage of this special thing.
We're all Europeans and whatever we do also affects the rest of us and people elsewhere on this continent, be it better or for worse.