Quote (catkaboodle @ May 17 2010 10:09pm)
This is where the big philosophical divide between us is, I guess.
I believe that everyone should have the right to their own way of life as long as it doesn't hurt other people. I also believe that nations of people have the right to their own state if they desire it.
Therefore, I am glad that a Republic of Macedonia exists for the Slavophone Macedonians to go live in. That satisfies their need for a nation-state of their own.
However, in the Mediterranean, the land that's been in your family for centuries is really important. A lot of people are reluctant to give that up, and so I'm not surprised that there are still Aegean Macedonians living in Greece. These Macedonians should have the right to, y'know, be Macedonian. Instead, the Greek government is making them conform to arbitrary cultural standards, even though they don't represent a threat to Greek hegemony any longer.
What if my way of life conflicts with that of another? What if your "belief" contradicts the sovereign will of other nations? Of what relevance is your statement "have the right to their own state..." when the Slavic people of that area already had states in existence representing their ethnicity? It was not until recently that these individuals began calling themselves Macedonian, what differentiates them from Bulgarians or other Slavic ethncities?
Why do they have a right to be "Macedonian", and what does that entail? They are upsetting the cultural hegemony of the Greek state, what else could they possibly expect?