Great post, this one of yours. Nothing to disagree with, I think. Culture is not chosen, at birth. However, it is within the realm of possibilities to decide to travel to some other culture, one which one prefers, and enjoy some culture, one which one was not born into. This is the meaning of freedom, maybe. Yet, in the USA, for example, one can not so easily travel from one "cultural grouping", such as black culture, to WASP culture. This is not possible, I think. If one were to decide to become Han Chinese, and if one were White, then I believe that it is possible to shift from one culture to another. Also, I am thinking of Hakka Culture, which I have often thought of as some sort of equivalent of the Jewish experience, meaning a People without a Land..... It is not so easy for Hakka People to become a completely integrated part of the main population of China. So, culturally speaking, you can think of the Hakka People as being somewhat analogous to the Jewish People in the ME.... If you know much about the Hakka in Asia....