i don’t think there is a group of humans with a shared identity that is truly and completely welcoming to people outside of that identity.
which is why i don’t enjoy making country a part of my identity.
The EU is actually trying very hard to facilitate moving betwen member nations, but it faces a lot of headwind from people in all countries who would prefer staying in their bubble. Brexit is probably the most impactful result of this tension.
Funny enough since quite a few EU member nations have not existed 150 or 200 years ago, and the nation concept has the additional third reich connotation especially in Germany. This is in stark contrast with the UK, which has existed as a nation for a much, much longer time.
which gives us an estimate for how long it might take until those differences disappear. the EU in it's current form (with freedom of movement within, promoting a shared identity) has only existed for a few decades. so maybe another half a century, give or take a decades or two.
i meant differences as in disagreements. those differences that make us argue and fight.
we should not be proud to love our country, but to love the whole world.
and that indeed requires to accept and embrace all of human diversity. the european union is possibly a step towards that goal.
Amusingly, Russia is one of, if not the youngest European state if we consider this kind of continuity.
Prior to that it was a couple of kingdoms, each of which changed allegiance between the various middle-European empires many times, every time there was a war or someone noble married.
Parts of Germany were occupied over long stretches of time, e.g. by the Swedish, the French, more recently the British and Americans, every time leaving an impression in the culture.
Culture in various parts of Germany in diverse, most striking is the difference between Prussia and Bavaria.
Cultural development in Germany was regionally diverse and subject to huge outside influence all the time.
If there was legal continuity then it was because the whole of Europe was governed by the same bunch of emperor families since the fall of Rome.
But this was totally decoupled from culture.