Do you feel a tie to the people of your national background?

Let’s see, my maternal great-grandparents were thrown out of the Czar’s Russia for being Jewish.

My paternal grandparents escaped Germany just before WW2; some of the family were killed in Concentration camps.

No, I feel no kinship to either Russia or Germany.

One set of my grandparents emigrated from Mexico. The other set emigrated from Scotland. We were raised to understand that being in the U.S. was preferable to being in either country of origin.

And I feel little connection to either country Despite having lived in a lot of places from New Brunswick to Panama, I identify most as a Californian.

No.

@ragingloli What is your family’s national background? If I remember correctly you live in Germany now.

All I know is that my parents and grandparents were german.
And I could not give a toss about germany or the “german people”.
In fact, the more things develop the way they are right now, the more I would welcome another carpet bombing.

@ragingloli Have I got a President for you….. He may grant your wish, He is not real fond of Merkel, she won’t kiss his ass.

Lol.

Lets see, about a ¼ Catholic Irish tenant farmers who were subjected to English oppression. ¾ working class English (both Catholic and bleedin’ C of E) probable descendants of serfs, people who fought and died in various wars to support a class of Nobility.

No particular tie to the British ruling class but for certain an affinity to those who have to struggle with their hands to make a living. The underdogs who actually make society possible while being afforded the absolute minimum necessary from keeping them from rising up and overthrowing their masters. Probably why I detest the Republican wing and for that matter the present day Democratic wing of the Corporate Party.

If I was over seas I would feel a tie to anyone who was American. But here I just have friends, family and acquaintances.

If I go out of state and meet someone who is from Kansas, then I feel a tie.

Somewhat yes, in terms of some personality aspects. And very much not, in other aspects.

Similarly, I feel a tie to Americans, and also a dissatisfaction and alienation with some aspects of the culture. I feel like I’m American, but I like many of the aspects of European cultures more than American ones – i.e. I identify with the individuality, and priciples of liberty, freedom and justice, and feel very alien towards the US anti-intellectualism, stigma against introversion, money/greed-orientation, xenophobia and Puritan ethics.

I think my core identity is most aligned with my pre-Christian and pre-Roman-Empire ancestors.

I live in my native country as my ancestors have for hundreds of years. It is mostly peaceful these days and I can’t imagine war breaking out anytime soon.

I have ancestors who came to this land tens of thousands of years ago, and were grateful for the beautiful bounty they found here.
I have ancestors who probably owned slaves. They came from far away places, and assumed that because they liked what they saw they could just take some of it.

I am who I am, and live in the land left to people of my generation by those who had it, those who took it, and those who fashioned it how they saw fit, for better or not.
Some of my ancestors invented corn, and I like that a lot.
I would like an opportunity to visit other lands, but I don’t feel any sort of attachment to them.

Well, they didn’t invent corn. They genetically modified the wild maze into modern corn.

You just love to pick a fight.
That is invention, taking something, and making it what will work for you.

Cross-cultivation is an invention, whether you want to call it genetic modification or not, they used it to create the strains of corn with the most food value. Modifying the genes wasn’t their intention, they didn’t know anything about genes, their intention was making better food by combining plants with desirable observable traits.

Do we have any information about how they came about this knowledge? Were they herding animals and saw how traits were passed from parents to offspring?

If she wants a fight, she can try asserting that they “genetically modified” the wild maize in a way comparable to the way modern GMO’s are genetically modified.

Well I am an American born Puerto Rican. Even if Puerto Rico wasn’t an American Common Wealth and if they weren’t American, I would feel a tug. I would visit as a child and I still have family there, so I would worry for them. I also have a good understanding of how Puerto Ricans are as a culture and it would be sad to see them go through a war that they would never be ready for. There is already a lot of poverty so you would simply be talking about the slaughtering of many innocent people. People on the island do not go out of their way looking for a fight so it would basically be attacking people who have no interest in fighting and also have no means of defense. Now if Puerto Rico were attack as a Common Wealth of the USA, I don’t hold out hope that the United States would do anything to defend them. At least not with this President and not with this legislative Branch.

It makes me sad to know you feel such vulnerability about Puerto Rico.

It is nice though, that you feel the tie to a place a peace and beauty.

@Pandora Interesting perspective and question. I wonder if the US would fight to keep PR, or what is the alternative? Let it be taken over by another country? I think we would fight. Just on principle I don’t think America would want to lose land.

@JLeslie I think if it did, it would only be because it’s too close to the US. Like the way Cuba is too close for comfort during the cold war. But unless Donald Trump owns some Golf Courses and he would stand to lose big money, he wouldn’t give a rats ass about Puerto Rico.
@Patty_Melt When I would go on vacation to Puerto Rico, I would instantly feel at ease and feel at home. It is a place I can go and never feel like I’m being judged for my race. If there is any judgement its on who I am and how I behave. Till today, I still feel uneasy in my actual country. I never noticed it. I thought it was for other reasons. But when I’ve visited as an adult, I realized I could put my guard down. I wasn’t looked at as an outsider. Even my husband who isn’t Puerto Rican felt the same way. He loves going there. It’s not an island life thing either. We’ve been to other tropical places and we felt more relaxed because we were on vacation but their is still a bit of uneasiness. No society is perfect. There are fights, there are crooks and theives and even murder, I am sure. But no matter where I went, I was met with respect and decency. No one ever went out of their way to treat me like I didn’t belong. My husband even made friends with some strangers and they bought him a beer and gave him a bunch of tips of where to go that regular tourist don’t know about. He was waiting on a dinner order and even the cook gave him extra food when my husband told him I couldn’t decide what I wanted because I wanted to eat everything. So they gave him a bit of different stuff for me to eat and didn’t charge for it. These are not rich people but to them the thought of a Puerto Rican not enjoying everything they had to offer was reason to share. There are many more stories about our visits and welcoming gestures, but this is why I still feel so very attached to Puerto Rico. The people are like no other. Oh, and one other thing. They still respect their elderly. Again. I won’t say it’s everyone. But I’ve seen more evidence of these things in that tiny island than I’ve seen in my own country.

Nope. Maybe I would if I were less of a mutt, but I’m no more than 35% any given nationality.

My boyfriend on his dad’s side is 100% Italian – IIRC his paternal grandparents immigrated from Italy – so there’s some feelings of connection there. I believe he would even qualify for dual-citizenship if he were to ever want to pursue that.

As some folks here probably know from my previous talk about having my DNA tested, I recently found out I’m about 30% Ashkenazi Jewish, which I was completely unaware of until my recent DNA testing. I’m embarrassingly ignorant about Judaism and would like to take this as a wake up call to learn a bit!

@Mariah There are a few Idiots Guide to Judaism books, which tend to be easy reads. The one I have is history and culture I think. Parts are very funny, and explain why American Jews are how they are.

My husband and I went to intro to Judaism at a temple not far from where we lived when we were engaged. Half the people in the group weren’t Jewish, and it was not a class for conveying, it was just a class to learn about the religion. I think it was one day a week for 6 weeks. I like in person classes better than reading or self study. That’s just my learning bias.

I think you’ll like a lot of things about the Jewish religion, not that I think you’re going to become a practicing Jew or anything. Lots of crazy in Judaism too. Lol. Just focus on the good parts like any religion or culture is my opinion. A little here a little there.

Thank you, and I would love the name of that book if you have it!!

This is it. You can skip through chapters you have no interest in.

https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-jewish-history-and-culture-rabbi-benjamin-blech/1120020989/2677353229167?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Textbooks_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP164984&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7LWjs-KG2wIVRQeGCh3AFg_IEAQYAiABEgJVhvD_BwE

There is some religious information, but also funny tales, sayings, and statistics that are surprising. It also has a section with famous Jewish people, many were surprising to me. Like Dinah Shore, I doubt you know who she is. I guess now being Jewish isn’t so much of a thing, so actors aren’t changing their names and trying to hide they are Jewish.

Thank you! I just bought it on my Kindle.

@Mariah Let me know if you enjoy it. No pressure to read it though. I’ve thought about getting some sort of Idiots Guide to the Muslim religion, I know so little.

There is an Idiots Guide to Judaism, which I have never read. It probably has more details about the religious stuff. I think there is a Dummies Guide to Judaism too. The one I recommended pertains more to understanding Jewish culture in America, with some religious background and old country stuff thrown in.