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231 points rntn | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.526s | source
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ghusto ◴[] No.35413937[source]
On the one hand: If your culture needs a preservation movement, it's not a culture, but a relic. Culture is defined by people, not some sacred thing that needs to be preserved. How much of the Italian cuisine they're trying to protect would exist if they had the same attitude in the 1500s, when the tomato was introduced to Italy?

On the other hand: I think countries should resist global cultural homogenisation. No offence meant to the Americans here, but I detest the exportation of American culture to Europe. I don't mean music and films, but rather the way of thinking about the world. I suspect this is where things like these proposals are coming from; it's the pendulum swing reaching too far before it settles in the middle.

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seydor[dead post] ◴[] No.35414075[source]
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1. schroeding ◴[] No.35414228[source]
What is "european culture"? :)

Honest question in good faith, as even some individual EU countries don't have a consistent culture (think e.g. Germany) and at least for my very tiny slice of Europe, the culture and regional customs are still very much alive! :D

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2. whitemary ◴[] No.35414248[source]
It’s the aggregate of culture(s) in Europe. Delineate them as you wish, or not. It’s irrelevant to their point.

I sympathize with concerns of mythologizing culture into existence, as is usually done in the process of nation state formation, but that only succeeds because culture is such a crucial component of human life. This sort of pedantry can get in the way of engaging with its importance.