Most diverse or divided nation in Europe?

[Admiral Yi]

But show me a value and lifestyle profile of a random person and ask me to tell you if they are from Germany or France, and I can't do better than an educated guess.

This person: yells at strangers who jaywalk and saves 10% of his income but only invests it in the lowest-yielding, safest bank instruments.

[alfred russel]

This person: yells at strangers who jaywalk and saves 10% of his income but only invests it in the lowest-yielding, safest bank instruments.

I'm going to have to ask for a clarification. What does the person say when yelling at jaywalkers? Please provide your answer untranslated.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm going to have to ask for a clarification. What does the person say when yelling at jaywalkers? Please provide your answer untranslated.

I can't remember the actual dialogue.  Let's assume for the sake of argument the person says "You're supposed to wait for the light!"

[alfred russel]

I'm going to have to ask for a clarification. What does the person say when yelling at jaywalkers? Please provide your answer untranslated.

I can't remember the actual dialogue.  Let's assume for the sake of argument the person says "You're supposed to wait for the light!"

A Tory voter in England with UKIP tendencies?

[Admiral Yi]

Why not French?

[Josquius]

Wales/Scotland/England aren't the truly divisive divisions in the UK. There's far more of a SE England/the rest divide.

The answer is of course Bosnia-Herzegovthingy.

[Razgovory]

I'd say Russia, which is made up a vast number of groups.

[Valmy]

Second of all, the Scottish, Welsh, Irish and English derive from totally different ethnic stocks and language families, and have retained a strong sense of national identity and are even now in the process of voting against independence.

FYP

Regional devolution is the what is right for Scotland 

The reason I think this is because London is such a huge monster politically, economically, and culturally that its influence will always be overwhelming.  Best for the Scots to continue to have a large say on how it is run while securing as much self-rule as possible.  It is just a win-win.

[Valmy]

Wales/Scotland/England aren't the truly divisive divisions in the UK. There's far more of a SE England/the rest divide.

This is spot on and has been a big problem historically in the UK.

[crazy canuck]

And when recent genetic studies looked at your theory they concluded the "substantial number of saxon invaders" were not all that substantial after all and that the genetic makeup hasnt changed much for thousands of years - just as BB suggested.

In a debate on modern culture and politics, if we are looking for evidence of what was going on 1000+ years ago through genetic testing, I think we getting lost in the weeds a bit.

Agreed, but since the debate between BB and the two who disagreed with him was one regarding genetics I am not sure your observation is all that relevant.

[alfred russel]

The answer is of course Bosnia-Herzegovthingy.

I think this is the right answer. The country has spent the last 15 years or so under foreign control because different factions in the country can't be trusted to coexist.

[alfred russel]

Why not French?

I don't think the stereotype is for such people to be french.

I really don't believe that though. I suspect the French have their share of miserly cranks that invest conservatively. 

[Queequeg]

The answer is of course Bosnia-Herzegovthingy.

I think this is the right answer. The country has spent the last 15 years or so under foreign control because different factions in the country can't be trusted to coexist.

They're also tiny, monolingual and share a common cuisine and until the early 90s had been getting along pretty good.

[Sheilbh]

I think this is the right answer. The country has spent the last 15 years or so under foreign control because different factions in the country can't be trusted to coexist.

And in some ways it's getting worse. It wouldn't massively surprise me if there was another conflict there

In terms of culture of countries I've visited, I'd say France or Italy. Though I've never been to Germany or Spain properly.

France may all speak the same language, with a few local dialects, but the cultural difference between Provence and La Rochelle and Brittany are huge. That's part of the reason France is so great.

Italy's got similar cultural differences with everyone speaking dialect first and Italian second. Again it's part of why Italy's such a great place to visit.

By contrast Belgium's got linguistic differences and separatist politics but there's really very little difference, in my experience, from Francophone Belgium and Flanders.

[Agelastus]

I'm going to have to ask for a clarification. What does the person say when yelling at jaywalkers? Please provide your answer untranslated.

I can't remember the actual dialogue.  Let's assume for the sake of argument the person says "You're supposed to wait for the light!"

A Tory voter in England with UKIP tendencies?

More likely an American since Britons tend not to yell at "Jaywalkers".

[A motorist would express his displeasure with his horn and a passing by pedestrian wouldn't be bothered enough to do anything more than sigh - assuming they were part of the 0.01% bothered enough to do anything.]

I say this as a Tory voter with UKIP tendencies.