istinetz
2yr ago
A bizarre assertion, given that, according to my count, 13 of the EU's 27 members don't allow gay marriage.
you're right. I changed it to 'gay rights'.
Eugenics is not part of the traditional culture of any country. The reason it's not implemented anywhere is a lack of popular support; it has nothing to do with the EU.
It's an example of an edgy policy that would never be allowed by the EU. It illustrates that the allowed diversity is only surface level.
You're needlessly adversarial.
What the EU doesn't allow is protectionist restrictions that are meant to benefit one country's companies over those of another.
Which is exactly what I meant (and said). Your point about protecting local cheeses kind of proves my thesis.
Finally - why are you doing this?
istinetz
2yr ago
you're right, I overextended with 'marriage'. Changed it to gay rights.
Though the ECJ does not care a lot about Romania's definition of marriage
I will defend the opposite view.
Out of the roughly 8.5 million people who live there, 37% are foreign-born. With over 800 languages spoken there, it's also the most linguistically diverse place in the world. [...] Walk around long enough and you'll bump into a wedding or funeral or some other celebration that's done in a beautiful traditional style. [...] The city is a patchwork quilt of hundreds, maybe thousands, of groups, some taking up a single block while others, like the Chinese or Hasidic Jews, basically run whole neighborhoods. Walking in a straight line for maybe an hour feels like traveling through half a dozen countries.
Yeah, you have the language, the foods, the music, but those will eventually melt together. Even you provide a constant stream of new immigrants, and they willingly self-segregate, the million small markers of culture will eventually disappear. Only a few larger ones will remain, as a symbol of identity, like some Americans celebrate St. Patrick's day.
Now, all these people, at least most of them, enjoy the fruits of globalization. They drink coke. Eat pizza and sushi. Browse reddit. But overall, their primary cultural identity is unaffected.
Which brings me to my second point. The larger empire will tolerate the harmless and meaningless traits of the constituent cultures, but not anything meaningful. You can keep the foods. You can keep the songs (most of them). You cannot enforce a community with your norms.
While the EU is nominally in favor of cultural diversity, it means they will subsidize folk dresses and bland exhibits with 27 flags. It does not mean they will allow an Eastern European country to be against gay marriage rights. It does not mean they will allow a country to practice eugenics, or protect key industries. You might agree with these decisions, but my point is that the EU and ANZAC allow only surface level diversity.
Because culture is downstream from economics and politics. Japan's building codes make it very easy to make tiny restaurants on the first floor, so their streets are alive with such restaurants. In the Middle East, the climate is dry and the laws forbid alcohol, so they have cuisine with figs and shisha bars everywhere.
Yes, you have a constant stream of immigrants that self-segregate in neighbourhoods, and that slows down the integration. It might take generations to melt them, but it is happening nonetheless, because the laws are the same, the economics are the same for everyone. The first generation will do everything the same as back home, the second will adjust, but their children will eventually meld.
istinetz
2yr ago
What do you mean "strip it for parts"? It doesn't apply for a social media company. What parts of twitter could you possibly sell?
istinetz
2yr ago
When casting a family/clan/isolated society, people usually pick actors who look the most alike.
WoT casting would like to have a word with this racist notion.
istinetz
2yr ago
I keep noticing people using the word "democratic" in place of "socially left". E.g.: if a middle eastern country, after elections and with parliamentary majority, passes a law forcing women to wear hijabs or whatever, that is democratic. If Slovenia votes in 3 separate referendums that they don't want gay marriage, and it still legalized, that is undemocratic. Yet people use the opposite labels to describe such events.
I don't know how you made that jump.
There are no ways to enforce these shared norms. Imagine you live in an imaginary, hypothetical world where heroin, or murder, or dumping your garbage from the balcony is legal and normal. You and a group of friends agree that this should change, and you "form a group" and "promise" not to do that. So what? Your kids are still hooked on heroin, there is still garbage on the streets, and there is still a chance of getting murdered, because there are others who didn't agree and defectors.
You need a method to enforce that new norm. "Form a group" and "promise" is insufficient.
Gayness, specifically, was an example, of something the larger culture will impose on the sub-communities. You don't need to argue if it's good or bad.
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