Quote:
Originally Posted by Nippom
I tried for a descriptive title, but what I'm asking is,
I often imagine in my mind and group the European nations such as England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, and so on, view themselves and each other as a sort of symbiotic whole made up of vaguely related but not identical parts,
and then compare this to the mutual relationships of China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Asian nations, that they view themselves much the same way as the first group do themselves.
Is the analogy realistic or supportable, or are there serious problems with comparing the two 'constellations' like this?
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I don't think you can really group together either set of countries, and this is very much for similiar reasons to what Ryzorian said. To start with each and every country in Europe (and Asia) has it's own language, history, culture, cuisine and so forth. There are many who consider themselves "European", but they still aren't comparable to other Europeans.
In regards to some countries - specifically the UK - there is a lot of antipathy towards Europe. Scotland and Wales are fighting for independence from the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom - whilst a part of the E.U - has never fully subscribed to all it's laws and rules, just look at the issues surrounding currency. Then there's all the bad blood already mentioned due to wars over the years . . .
So I would say your analogy isn't realistic or supportable, just because many of the countries
don't view themselves as you've suggested, and if they did I would wonder if it was even possible to compare Europe to Asia in mentality anyway. Sure, they might both see themselves as part of a 'group', but doesn't the very idea of a 'group' vary from culture to culture, and the concept of what duties one owes to any given group?