Americans

If you are in a foreign country and meet an American, pretty much any American, you are likely to feel a sense of brotherhood.

The reason is that as Americans you have much more in common than you do with the people in a foreign country.

Of course in some cases this might not be true, but in general, especially for Americans that don't spend a lot of time in other countries, the sense of home permeates other Americans.

We share so much more than separates us that it becomes obvious in a place where they are, well, in-American.

We are also perceived that way in general by most foreigners, similar to how we tend to lump foreigners of specific nationalities together in our minds.

Growing up in a country imbues you with a set of values unique to that culture.

Consider Canada, which generally shares a lot with us both based on its origins and cultural background.

They still seem alien to our way of thinking, if less so than say a Russian.

Its obviously not insurmountable differences but a person from Ohio will generally have more in common with an American from South Carolina than with Canadians, even though Canada is closer to Ohio than many states.

To some extent you would expect these national differences to blur a bit with the internet and globalization, but if it is going to happen it is going pretty slowly.

Americans are in many way one big family and while families sometimes fight, they tend to band together when it matters.

Lets not forget who we are.