Is your country's culture being affected by the formation of the European Union?
This week, my first line manager at work(Paul) came back from England. We sat down and had a nice chat about England and it's similarities and difference with America. Knowing that Paul spent the first 25 years of his life in England, I naturally asked him if he missed home. Immediately, Paul went on and on about the European Union and how it was erasing his English heritage. He told me a story about trying to find a restaurant in his home town (forget the name) to find fish and chips. He searched and searched but all of the old cafe's (as he called them) have been replaced by Indian restaurants. He blames the European Union because it basically has left England, and all other participating countries, borderless. People are free to travel from country to country without the burden of passports, visas etc. Paul believes that the influx of persons not born in England are erasing its culture.
Personally, I know little about England and even less about The EU. I may be splitting hairs but..Where I come from, if a restaurant closes down in my neighborhood, I generally think it is due to shitty food. I do agree though, that an influx of immigrants does change the cultural topography of a region.
Is the EU bad for Europe? Could those of you living in Europe be desensitized to the whole thing because you have been there and the changes have been gradual? I know that Russians born into Communism were less up-in-arms about it than the generation before them that experienced the shift.
I appreciate any and all input.
This week, my first line manager at work(Paul) came back from England. We sat down and had a nice chat about England and it's similarities and difference with America. Knowing that Paul spent the first 25 years of his life in England, I naturally asked him if he missed home. Immediately, Paul went on and on about the European Union and how it was erasing his English heritage. He told me a story about trying to find a restaurant in his home town (forget the name) to find fish and chips. He searched and searched but all of the old cafe's (as he called them) have been replaced by Indian restaurants. He blames the European Union because it basically has left England, and all other participating countries, borderless. People are free to travel from country to country without the burden of passports, visas etc. Paul believes that the influx of persons not born in England are erasing its culture.
Personally, I know little about England and even less about The EU. I may be splitting hairs but..Where I come from, if a restaurant closes down in my neighborhood, I generally think it is due to shitty food. I do agree though, that an influx of immigrants does change the cultural topography of a region.
Is the EU bad for Europe? Could those of you living in Europe be desensitized to the whole thing because you have been there and the changes have been gradual? I know that Russians born into Communism were less up-in-arms about it than the generation before them that experienced the shift.
I appreciate any and all input.