• VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 day ago

    I feel like we shouldn’t copy the American flag waving and blind patriotism. I believe we’re much better off with a Federation of EU States than without it, and I see Schengen as a huge accomplishment, but the EU as an institution has many problems we shouldn’t be blind to.

    • bampop@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Still, I think that what you often see in Europe is almost complete indifference to European identity, and there’s a huge amount of middle ground between that and the ludicrously excessive blind nationalism that you see in the USA. I personally think it would be a good thing if we embraced an identity as Europeans a little more. Being proud of European identity, and even waving a flag once in a while, isn’t a bad thing. Patriotism gives you something to fight for. A common identity is needed for people to achieve more collectively. The important thing is to not be blind or arrogant. You have to base that identity on reality, and work to make sure that identity stands for something good, rather than assuming it will automatically be so. Too much success and empire building causes rot to set in, but the EU is uniquely positioned to be a post-imperial entity. What comes after empire building is up to us.