Ice I have a job and pay tax in the UK...but I don't for a second think that is a product of who I am ...
If you had been born in another country, in another culture, you would not be the person you are. You would not think the way you do, your values would be different, your world view would be different.
It always strikes me that a lot of Brits (and other Westerners) don't understand this. I think it could be a hangover from empire or the fact that Britain is an island, but Brits have a tendency to assume everyone thinks like they do, as though, underneath the skin, everyone is an Englishman.
This just is not the case. Whatsoever. People are a product of their culture, of their environment, of their climate, of their history. The structure and idioms of a first language force people to perceive the world in a certain way. Climate forces them to dress, move and behave in a certain way. History forms their community consciousness.
I come from a multi-origin family (non-commonwealth), married to a DH who also comes from a multi-origin family. The extent to which some members of our families perceive the world differently is astonishing. I will give you one example: baksheesh.
In Britain, the idea of having to bung someone fifty quid to get your driving license validated on and above the official fee, or to get your child's grades upped to an A is ludicrous. In my DH's culture, it is totally accepted and they think we are stupid for not doing it.
Who is correct? If you find yourself saying "well, it is unfair for people who can't afford it" ... then that is your culture speaking. The notion of socio-economic "fairness" is not a universal value. If you think it should be, then you are moving into the arena of cultural imperialism -- and who are we to insist people share our values? Why do we believe we are so right? And if you say to them that the practice of baksheesh is "unfair", then they turn round to you and say ... "how is interfering in other countries that have nothing to do with you 'fair'?" "How is paying for medical treatment for foreign nationals when your elderly are left lying in their own urine 'fair'?"
Because in DH's culture, you would not treat a foreign national before your own grandmother, nor would you ever invade another country. To them, the only just war is a defensive war -- yet they are a significantly militarised society on a level that Brits would never accept.
Ed Hussein once made a very telling remark in this regard. He was born in the East End to a Bangladeshi Muslim family and became an radical Islamist, fueled partly for years feeling like an outsider in an alien culture. He said that it wasn't until he went to work in Saudi Arabia that he realised how British he really was.
And it is true. You don't realise how British you are until you work and live amongst people who aren't. And this goes for any nationality.