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While we're doing scientifically-unsound polls, might as well do this one too!

[Poll #1636721]

Only separated out the major/predominantly English-speaking nations because there are probably way more of even one of those than any of the others combined.

This isn't about politics, it's about geographical, physical location. You don't have to identify as an American to be from the US! Chill!

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I'm from England. The only way I would ever identify as European would be geographically; the culture is so different from mainland Europe to Great Britain!

...I'm trying ignore the implications here that the rest of Europe is just one big blob wherein all of the countries have the exact same culture, with Great Britain being the only outlier.

Not who you were replying to, but I'm almost certain they didn't mean it like that.

Each individual country on the continent have their own cultures - but the UK, because of the island separation/empire thing I assume has always been a bit "other". (and now judge that sentiment ;)

/identity politics, how does it work

ayrt

True. They were big on the whole "isolationism" thing way back when. I've just had bad experiences with British 'friends' who consider themselves above any other European country (including my own, and have very explicitly stated so), so comments like that just instinctively raise my hackles.

Ugh, I hate people who behave like that. I promise you I do not share that attitude, and I'm sorry if I led you to believe that way. In fact, I admire a heck of a lot more about the Scandinavian countries' internal systems than I do about our own.

*er, that should be has*

We're not all like that! Lots and lots of people don't feel superior, in some cases all that's left over is a vague feeling that we're somehow not European!

*nod* Something like that, yes. Thank you, anonymouse.

You're welcome!

The UK is absolutely not in no way never at all the only country in Europe that had an empire.

The rest you might have a point with, but the UK is thoroughly in line with the rest of western Europe in its inclination to empire-build.

I know, I was just hypothesizing. I think it's a combination of many things - the geographical separation probably plays into it quite a bit,

I think the idea is that a lot of English history in specific has involved actively fighting with countries that were part of mainland Europe, which is probably a lot of what set up the vaguely isolationist culture. Rather than the empire thing.

My dad, who tends toward xenophobic, has said in my presence before this something that might give you an idea of a lot of people's residual attitudes (it isn't mine, not really. I have different reasons.) -

"We kept the French out for centuries, then Maggie [Thatcher] goes and builds them a bloody tunnel!"

Meh, most European countries have been fighting each other for centuries. Doesn't usually stop them from acknowledging that, while there are huge cultural differences, they are part of the same region.

Sorry, I phrased that rather badly. But to be fair, it is past midnight and I'm a bit stoned. But my point is, the overarching cultural ideas that are shared by various groups of countries are, in fact, different in sort of blobs between here and western, eastern, northern and southern European country groups, in my experience. And I've travelled a good bit. Obviously individual countries have their differing cultures, and so do we "internally", which is why I hate the term "UK". I don't pretend to think that all mainland European countries' cultures are the same, but so many seem to assume that about England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

the only way I would ever identify as European would be geographically

... which was the sole point of the poll

MTE.

That's the thing - it didn't say that when those comments above were made. The comments were up to page 2 before that edit was made to the post.

oh, didn't know that. ok then.

There's also other kind-of-remote corners in Europe than UK, that as a nation do not feel all that connected to Europe.

Living in rural Norway, I promise you this: the UK is far more "European", culturally and geographically speaking, than us. When you're eight hours of travel away from Vienna and Milan and two hours by car to the closest town with a population above 500, the closest ties we have to the rest of the world is that we've got the same Hollywood films on DVD and frozen pizza for dinner. When we talk about the rest of Europe, we talk about "the Continent". In common understanding, that includes Britain and Ireland.

Britons can insist on their Special Snowflake status until they're blue in the face, but it looks silly from the periphery.

Exactly. Same goes for several corners of Finland, for example. Plenty of people still associate Finland with Russia, and for that reason Finnish people often try to cling to the "but we're Europe!" thing, but at the same time if one just takes a look around in many ways it's really different from Western/Middle Europe. Maybe British Isles are a special snowflake but they better accept they aren't the only special snowflake there is =P

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