What do we consider different, while looking at people?
There are people who call themselves a citizen of the world, which is obviously true.
That is the fact that makes us all equal; we're on the same planet, in the same mess.
Then again, my hometown is a small town in the southern part of Netherlands.
So yes, I already divided the Netherlands in north and south (which most dutch people do).
Then, in the south, there are 3 "significant" regions to split in, being the western, middle and eastern part.
I live in the eastern part, close to Germany and Belgium.
Every 5 kilometer I bike (yes, every dutch person has nothing but a bike), there is a different dialect or accent, so there is a difference.
If you have no clue what the Netherlands is, it is the real name of Holland.
Holland is but a part of the Netherlands, which does include Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam etc so it is understandable that the Netherlands does get mentioned more like Holland. Also, it's just easier to say.
Moved to Sweden and back a while ago, I drove through southern Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Netherlands, and, yes there is difference.
It would be easy for a European citizen to start complaining about "dumb America".
While first and foremost, it will be mentioned towards United States, not Canada.
Every non-American probably has seen multiple video's about people from United States giving answers on which a 7 year old would know.
Then, you get the people who actually do know some states in the U.S. so they start mentioning the redneck Texans etc.
There most likely are enough Americans interested in "overseas" and actually know more history then only their own.
How many people have you caught INCLUDING yourself, to call any Asian person; Chinese?
I can come up with more of these "stereotyping" of people.
- Dutch people talk German.
- America = United States.
- Asia is China and some other poor countries.
- Africa is a big desert with poor, diseased people.
- Scandinavia is one big happy family.
- Portugal is Spain with a different name.
So yes, people see difference, only if it is just about the location of the country.
Then, within that country, there will always be difference in people, based on location.
And even there, on a smaller scale, there will be difference.
And this only, by location.
People judge people in this way as well.
As a Dutch young-adult, I get the following question in every country I've been;"Do you got weed with you?"
Germans scream. Italians sweat. English people drink tea, Americans barbecue everyday, Australian people wrestle alligators and other "woildloife", Chinese people earn gamers gold, and maaaaaaaaaaaaaany more.
Do you listen to certain music, wear certain clothes? You're a [Fill in subculture name here]!
I try to force myself to get as much knowledge about other people's countries, histories etc so I don't "insult" the inhabitants with my ignorance. Most likely, and almost certainly I still make these mistakes, and won't stop doing this until the world is one country, or I die.
A thing which I started noticing when I visited Minsk (Belarus) is the difference in opinion about own country.
Perhaps in the Netherlands we don't show a lot of pride of our little country because within it, you get painted as a racist or patriot.
Though I am not too proud that I consider my country better then any, I am not willing to say we are less then any.
-History-wise, we have been everywhere.
Names like VOC and WIC ring a bell. A force to be reckoned with in trading, the Netherlands had settlements in regions like: New Amsterdam (perhaps better known now as New York), South Africa, Indonesia, Suriname, Dutch Antilles (Aruba, Buenos Aires, Curacao) and I will be forgetting more.
-Art-wise the Netherlands was home to: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Mondriaan, Escher and more.
-Sport-wise the Netherlands produced soccerplayers like Cruijf, Van Gaal and some young-guns these generations. Within hockey (how it is called in the Netherlands, not icehockey) the dutch teams are known, same for baseball. In the Olympics we are quite high for a country "as small as us".
Business-wise we are known for good communications, water management and more.
So you get the deal, we did quite a lot concidered the size of our country.
Still, nobody wants to be proud of any of it.
So yes, The Netherlands is a country different then any other, so is Sweden, Mongolia, New-Zealand, Angola, Serbia, Alaska and any other country in the entire world.
But none is better or worse then the other.
Is it worth fighting wars over this word which goes "difference" ?
Is it not better to learn from each other, living in peace and harmony, but still letting people do their thing.
While looking at a situation where everybody would live in peace, though every country is their own, I see no possibility this situation will take long without causing a war.
There will always be people who think it is worth fighting to prove they are "better" then the person next to them.
Just accept somebody else is different, so you can be different too.
But still live in the same world, under a different name.
We really are citizens of the world, so let's start acting like it.
