Hi Ray
Odd that China should choose to do that as they lost around 14 million in WW2. They were already fighting the Japanese, and thank heavens they did , or I dread to think what could have happened.As an Ally they cannot be underestimated for what they did.Maybe it's because we only declared war on Germany after they invaded Poland, with whom we have an alliance, or they thought it was some kind of follow on from the Spanish Civil war. They will have a different set of nationally important facts from us anyway, differing priorities.
We refer to Mainland Europe here, always have done.Plenty of countries are not in the EU either, 27 out of 44, and I don't see Conflict ! There is a massive difference between 'unifying' and 'controlling'.But you are already in a federal country, no choice, and I know how much you love Mr Trump...This may sound brutal but America never had to live with being bombed flat night after night. You didn't grow up walking to school through bombsites. being on rationing until the 1950s, or growing up with war traumatised adults, lost family members, including mothers, school friends and all your possessions. It grounds us, let's us remember what price we paid for just being LEFT ALONE to live our lives.That's all the European countries, not just us.Of course we get on as people, but we know the realities of war, not just about welcoming home the returning troops.We still come across buried unexploded bombs.
I can't think of anywhere like Britain in the States. I see Irish in New England. To be honest, Ray, I know nothing about so many of your states and could point to even less on a map, including California. It was always the prominent state I think for my generation due to the entertainment and tech industry. It looked like heaven.My mother liked San Francisco a lot.Now it seems to me to be saying a lot of PC things whilst the infrastructure collapses around it.The forests burn, in part due to idealism,and the homeless crowd the streets.Maybe it's just going through a change, I don't know.Must be great having the Mexican influence adding all their centuries of history as well.
I can't speak for other people but I think of Canada to America like I do New Zealand to Australia.The Americans and Aussies are our cousins we think about but the other two go their own way and don't seem so inter connected BUT they would only need to ask once for help.Were we in an EU superstate it would be them, not us, you had to deal with.Countries you had/have no particular ties or history with, not even English speaking countries, just a foreign power as opposed to People.
We will all still be here tomorrow, unless Nature decides otherwise.
Yve