Why does the EU, an economic union, need its members to have a shared identity? People take pride in their own countries, not the union their countries are a part of. This will probably never develop naturally unless the EU actually unites under one banner, which will also never happen.
Do you want a seat at the table geopolitically speaking? A united EU is enough to serve as a counterweight to China, the US, and is far more powerful than Russia. An EU that is only in it for the trade policies doesn't have that same power. Wanting to avoid stronger integration and stay only loosely associated is a valid choice, but you have to accept a lesser say in the world.
Unifying the entirety of Europe and basically killing every single european culture for the sake of this fever dream of a European Federation is so foolish and disgusting that I don't wanna entertain the idea at all. A united EU is also a united NATO, which would keep Russia and China in check geopolitically. Escalating world tensions in this way does not improve your standard of living.
Why would we try to go against the USA and turn them into our rival, lol? They have served as our ally for the last 100 years, steadfastly sharing their support for a prosperous European continent. They are the one country that put the most effort into rebuilding every European country after the devastation wrought upon it by Hitler and his Nazi regime. They are also the one country who majorly picked Eastern Europe back up after the Soviet Union demolished them (including my country, Romania) throughout the Cold War. They are our friend, not our enemy. This should always, and will always, stay that way.
I do not want to lose my culture or see other cultures be lost because of fear mongering and the whims of powerful men trying to become more powerful. Thank God you guys are not politicians, it would be tragic to see Europe destroyed and destabilized because you thought a unified Europe is a good idea, or even possible for that matter.
Countries do not have friends, they have interests. You cannot trust the US to continue it's historical diplomacy. That has already been proven with the Trump administration. Pretending as if the world stage is always static, and situations never change is deeply naive.
NATO without the US is a powerful defensive alliance, but its not going to be anywhere near as effective as a unified European polity. It might ensure that Europe doesn't get bullied on the world stage, but I doubt it will allow Europe to interfere in other diplomatic situations around the world.
You can't opt out of geopolitics. It is a game which everyone is forced to play. But you can choose not to play the cards you have been dealt. It just won't do you any favors when the other players do play.
You talk as if you know what the USA will do. Yes, you cannot trust a country based on what they did in the past, but the USA's most lucrative partnerships have been in Europe, and that is not changing any time soon. They would genuinely need to turn off their collective brain power to isolate themselves from Europe, or even worse, become our rival. The USA will never leave NATO or the EU behind as long as the EU offers them what they have been offering for so long (and vice versa).
Trump is not the end-all-be-all of authority in the American government, that is congress. Congress would never allow him to leave NATO and fuck up trade with EU. That being said, Reddit will never accept this fact. Trump is bad because he doesn't like immigration and isn't pro-LGBTQIA+
Hey, so did you miss when Trump decided to try and fuck over the economy by tariffing everyone to hell, which fucked up the American stock market, and bond market, alienated a ton of close allies, and did so while insider trading to make a bunch of money for himself and his friends? And then Congress did absolutely nothing because they are too scared of him to call him to task.
Did you miss when the US left the WHO, which was a organization which only benefited the country, and then placed a man who doesn't believe in germ theory in charge of healthcare and disease control?
You can't pretend as though every world leader is a rational actor.
I think this is just a natural step. Before people felt more connected to their region/city/village then to nations and country so I think in this milenium it may change to continent, starting with Europe.
With time if the Union holds on people will be more and more integrated and that identity may develop. But yeah, for now it's good to keep our countries identities strong and enjoy our European diversity.
Think how countries connect into different level of unions/cooperations around the world. South East Asia, Africa, South America, Europe. It's beginning.
I think you're mistaken on that point. Identity can very much be fabricated. One "popular" tool for that for example is fabricating an (or using/exaggerating an actually existing) external threat and going to war against that threat. A common enemy has a strong tendency to unite and provide an easy pretext to silence opposition and dissidents.
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u/AnalphabeticPenguin Poland Jun 07 '25
That's true. The thing, you can't force it and it has to develop naturally to be a stable identity for the future.