XPost: alt.folklore.computers   
   From: commodorejohn@gmail.com   
      
   On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 22:15:11 -0500   
   c186282  wrote:   
      
   > Other regions, even in 'blender' areas, still DO have a certain   
   > 'national character' and 'common history'. Turkey is NOT like Germany   
   > is NOT like England is NOT like France.   
      
   They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time.   
   England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 'til   
   the Germanic tribes rolled in; then it was a bunch of Saxons squabbling   
   with their Scots and Welsh neighbors 'til the Normans steamrolled   
   everyone - and the Normans themselves were Vikings "gone native" in   
   France (like the Rus over in Kyiv.) And the "native" French were just a   
   *different* blend of Gallic, Germanic, and Latin, way back when. Turkey   
   useta be Phrygia, back in the mists of time...   
      
   All of history's successive tides shaped the world we know today, and   
   all the things happening now will shape what comes after; that is, as   
   they say, the way of things.   
      
   It's just that prior to getting the facts kinda approximately more-or-   
   less straight-ish in the last few centuries, we had a *lot* less clear   
   of a picture of it - and a huge part of what's shaped *this* period of   
   history, for better and for worse, is the collective culture shock of   
   realizing that practically *every* modern-day culture* is a relative   
   newcomer standing in the ruins of countless older societies with which   
   they may or may not have anything much in common.   
      
   * (Less a few outliers like, yes, east Asia - but even Japanese history   
     has its wrinkles, they just don't like to talk about them. Just ask   
     the Ainu...)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)