It was difficult for our Founders to separate from Great Britain and Europe because they still had some affinity for their cousins across the ocean. We shared certain cultural, linguistic, and religious connections. We still venerated Shakespeare, Vivaldi, Bacon, Martin Luther, and a host of other connections too long to list here.
But over the successive generations those ties weakened and became strained. The American way of life has grown distinctly different from our ancestral moorings and today we might occasionally think of our distant ties there, but not enough to change our way of life.
My family came from Scotland (father's side) and from Wales (my mother's side), and I have visited those places. I don't speak Welsh, and I found that I couldn't understand many of the Scots I met. Their ways were quaint but I probably couldn't live there because I hold way too many unpopular opinions, and a propensity to voice them, unsolicited.
So I think that almost 250 years since our founding, cutting those tenuous ties might not be such a bad thing. I would hope to still be able to enjoy Stilton Cheese from England and other luxury items, but my life wouldn't end if it suddenly became unobtainable.
It was difficult for our Founders to separate from Great Britain and Europe because they still had some affinity for their cousins across the ocean. We shared certain cultural, linguistic, and religious connections. We still venerated Shakespeare, Vivaldi, Bacon, Martin Luther, and a host of other connections too long to list here.
But over the successive generations those ties weakened and became strained. The American way of life has grown distinctly different from our ancestral moorings and today we might occasionally think of our distant ties there, but not enough to change our way of life.
My family came from Scotland (father's side) and from Wales (my mother's side), and I have visited those places. I don't speak Welsh, and I found that I couldn't understand many of the Scots I met. Their ways were quaint but I probably couldn't live there because I hold way too many unpopular opinions, and a propensity to voice them, unsolicited.
So I think that almost 250 years since our founding, cutting those tenuous ties might not be such a bad thing. I would hope to still be able to enjoy Stilton Cheese from England and other luxury items, but my life wouldn't end if it suddenly became unobtainable.
EDIT: Speaking of a distinctly American culture, I am reminded of this meme I saw recently and shared with all my friends: https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aXP95x6_700bwp.webp
Approved except for the lack of Bacon
tasty crispy bacon