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'Diversity is our greatest strength' and all that

By chuckles (Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:42:14 PM EST) (all tags)

Research suggests [...] that faith in diversity is being sorely tested. New studies confirm earlier evidence that, at least in the short- to mid-term, diversity weakens civic ties, fostering mutual mistrust and detachment. Beneath all the ''happy talk'' about diversity, many Americans harbor a deep ambivalence about where it will lead.

[...]

The [research] is complemented by a massive national study by Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam, who reports that in the face of large-scale immigration, many Americans are overwhelmed by diversity. Putnam calls it ''socio-psychological system overload.'' With stunning regularity, he found Americans in more diverse locales tending to ''hunker down and pull in like a turtle,'' suspicious not just of the new or different, but of everybody.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, grab a lemon bar, and discuss.

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'Diversity is our greatest strength' and all that | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

Finally by cam (2.00 / 0) #1 Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 04:52:00 PM EST

justification for the war against islam.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

No, not Islam. by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #2 Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:16:46 PM EST

Filthy Liberal Democrat Hippies and their fellow travelers.

--
Best Spam 3v4r: Hello my friend! I am ready to kill myself and eat my dog, if medicine prices here are bad.

[ Parent ]

: This was used as an argument in Au by cam (2.00 / 0) #3 Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 06:21:14 PM EST

about a year ago against multiculturalism (which is the liberty to pursue your cultural interests as long as it doesnt break the law). I think you would have to be pretty blind to argue that nations such as the US, Au and Ca have been hurt or are less civicly cohesive because of immigration. Prior waves of immigrants become mythologised too, the filthy micks became Irish-Americans for instance and Australians point to a convict in the family from one of the first fleets as genuine gael or anglo Australianness.
cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic
[ Parent ]

(Comment Deleted) by Phage (4.00 / 1) #4 Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:17:39 PM EST

This comment has been deleted by Phage

It's all about white people by theboz (2.00 / 0) #5 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 03:44:03 AM EST

Those with power become nervous by those who wish to be equal to them. There's no surprise here, and that's what happens when you only survey white people.
- - - - -
That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n

Only surveyed white people? by Horatio Hellpop (2.00 / 0) #6 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 06:55:55 AM EST

Did you RTFA? It says nothing of the sort, in fact, it states;

Using the same survey to conduct in-depth interviews with respondents in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Hartmann and a colleague found that people were often tongue-tied when it came to explaining diversity's value.

Do you typically pull this sort of statement out of your ass?

"You can't really know something until you ruin it for everyone." -some guy who used to have an account here

[ Parent ]

Obviously you didn't read the study by theboz (2.00 / 0) #8 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:37:20 AM EST

Now be a good boy and go to Google and find the actual study and read it.
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That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n

[ Parent ]

You're bluffing. by Horatio Hellpop (2.00 / 0) #20 Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 08:52:33 AM EST

Thanks for the stimulating discourse.

"You can't really know something until you ruin it for everyone." -some guy who used to have an account here

[ Parent ]

: How sure are you of that? by theboz (2.00 / 0) #21 Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 12:07:32 PM EST

Have you read it?
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That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n
[ Parent ]

You sound like you don't fully support by Herring (2.00 / 0) #7 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:24:21 AM EST

multiculturalism.

We don't like your sort round here, boy.

You can't inspire people with facts
- Small Gods

I guess I'm a heretic. -nt by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #9 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:29:05 AM EST

no dogmatism

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"

[ Parent ]

so you hate liberty then? by cam (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 11:19:30 AM EST

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

[ Parent ]

Did liberty not exist until multiculturalism? -nt by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #12 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 02:20:49 PM EST

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"

[ Parent ]

multiculturalism by cam (2.00 / 0) #13 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 03:27:43 PM EST

is the liberty to pursue your cultural interests. The only way monoculturalism can be obtained is through government intervention either in immigration, or more directly through differing forms of prohibition. Both create more problems than they solve. As an example Saudi Arabia is a shining light of monoculturalism.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

[ Parent ]

'the liberty to pursue your cultural interests' by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #14 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 04:37:23 PM EST

By your definition, a pre-contact South Pacific island nation would be considered multicultural. Your definition is flawed.

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"

[ Parent ]

what? by cam (2.00 / 0) #15 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 05:19:36 PM EST

If the individuals in that island nation had the ability to pursue their cultural interests individually then yes it was. Ironically the multi-ethnic monarchies prior to nationalism were better at multi-culturalism than the nation-states have been. Ethnic nationalism and consequent monoculturalism has led to a tonne of violence in the 20thC.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

[ Parent ]

No. by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #16 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 06:03:51 PM EST

"If the individuals in that island nation had the ability to pursue their cultural interests individually" then they would have made individual contributions to the island nation's culture, not created a multicultural society. A culture can evolve, after all.

If, as you seem to claim, there are entire cultures consisting of just one individual, aren't all nations (no matter how repressive) multicultural?

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"

[ Parent ]

: multiculturalism by LodeRunner (2.00 / 0) #17 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:17:03 PM EST

IMHO at least, multiculturalism ideally is the creation/development of a new culture. If my individual contributions have to be bounded to what's already defined in the country's culture, then in a sense it's just a restatement, and not real contribution.
I live in Brazil, but I prefer rock over samba. There are people here who frown upon this of course, but what happens over time is that by accepting this external influence a very Brazilian flavor of rock has developed, especially over the last 20 years.
To me, that's the point of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism as in "let's just let each group have their culture and try not to step in each other's toes" is just mild segregation. My experience with the US, for example, is that the "melting pot" still has a lot to melt.
(Nitpicking myself: while Brazilian rock came into its own in the 80s, samba-rock (a genre which is neither samba or Brazilian rock) has existed since the 70s. Bossa nova would be the same thing happening with jazz in the 50s.)

[ Parent ]
: Your error is in the assumption of homogeneity by cam (2.00 / 0) #19 Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 08:32:57 AM EST

and blanket culturalism. In the same way the economic, religious and political liberty create heterogeneity, so too does cultural liberty.
cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic
[ Parent ]

The Roman empire was vastly multi-cultural by lm (2.00 / 0) #18 Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 02:18:18 AM EST

How many mono-cultural dynasties can claim a run from before the time of Christ to the fall of Constantinople to Mehmet the Conquerer in the fifteenth century?

Kindness is an act of rebellion.

[ Parent ]

good for me, bad for everybody else? by alprazolam (2.00 / 0) #11 Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 01:14:40 PM EST

i'm ok with that.

'Diversity is our greatest strength' and all that | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)