Tony the Tiger

Multi-Cultural is Dead?

December 11th 2006 20:45

I heard a rumor that Tony Blair has told the people of the UK that their experiment with multi-culturalism was a failure. Ya think? With all good intentions, Mr. Blair allowed the idea of multi-culturalism to reign in the UK for far too long. The thinking was (as it is here with a few super libs) that force feeding the citizens of a country a steady diet of other cultures will somehow make things more peaceful in the world. It doesn't work. I have said many times that we have a "melting pot" where all cultures combine to make us unique and great. When you allow people from other cultures to keep their former ways and even encourage it, you divide the country, create boundaries and hostilities. The wisdom of Tony Blair is to be commended. He has studied the facts and realized that having a seperate Muslim enclave in Great Britain was a disastrous waste. France might have noticed it, too, when their cities were burning. But the French are a little slow on the draw, I guess. Forcing even school children to celebrate foreign holidays and take foreign names and try to understand the politics that are alien to them is only one of the bad ideas. There are countless others, such as allowing a particular group to mistreat it's own members (Muslims force their women to be second-class citizens and own their children to the point of killing them being acceptable... and I don't mean abortion. Although the analogy isn't necessarily innacurate.) If conditions were so bad in the country of origin, and they had to leave for the chance to be free, why would they want to bring all the worst of their former society with them? It makes no sense whatsoever! Moving to a new country to start a new life should mean adapting to the new country. Not continuing to hold up the walls that kept you from staying in your country of origin. Mr. Blair, as I heard it, has said that newcomers to the UK must learn the language, study the government, and abide by the laws that contain everyone else. Killing rebelious children or beating women cannot be accepted in a free society. If people want the blessings of freedom from the UK or the USA or Canada or Australia or any other free country, they need to assimilate and become part of that country. The should involve themselves with every aspect of life in their new home and strive to become part of it. Not hold on to things that are better left behind. And governments who allow the multi-cultural experiment to continue are asking for trouble. Trust me, they'll get plenty of it.

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Posted By: S.L. - Category: No Category

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Comments

12 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by youranter

December 12th 2006 00:14

youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern

SL, you guys have a melting pot. We have multiculturalism. It's like night and day. A melting pot should assimilate people from other nations or cultures into itself. Multiculturalism keeps them divided. Many frown on Australia for keeping foreigners out until they agree to live under Australian rule. What's wrong with that I ask? The UK is finally starting to wake up to the fact that multiculturalism just doesn't work. We should have done the same a long time ago here. I truly hope you're not following in our footsteps. Then again, it was an idea brought about by a Liberal gov't. Just goes to show you, I guess.

Comment by The Stool Pigeon

December 12th 2006 00:24

Giving back

Hey S.L.

I don't totally agree with you. I don't think it's a case of incoming migrants fully assimilating to the societal values of their new home. It's nowhere near as simple as that...

Whatever happened to different races, cultures, genders, sexualities, etc. respecting each others cultures and living in harmony? In an ideal world maybe... Sure I don't agree with the ways of some cultures other than mine... I guess I just think it's not a matter of scrapping such policies or schools of thought as 'multiculturalism'...

Comment by S.L.Bradish

December 12th 2006 02:32

Hi Youranter! You know the libs will try harder to make it work here now that they know what a failure it was in the UK and Canada. The Aussies have a good idea there. Hi Stool Pigeon. Find a culture where multiculturalism does work. Hint... there isn't one. It's a devisive school of thought that creates more problems than it could ever solve. If you live in a country, be part of it or go back where you came from. Bringing all the problems from the old into the new makes no sense.

Comment by The Stool Pigeon

December 12th 2006 05:05

Giving back

S.L.,

I'm not saying we should all live and die by 'multiculturalism'. I'm just saying 'assimilation' is not the way to go either. If I, or anyone else in the world for that matter, knewwhat the answer was, we wouldn't be an issue worth talking about because we'd all be living in harmony...

Comment by S.L.Bradish

December 12th 2006 05:21

Point taken, Stool Pigeon. But remember the very old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I take it to mean that you should make an effort to be part of whatever society you live in. Refusing to learn the language and holding tightly to the old ways won't make your life in a new country any easier. And if you feel the need to have a death grip on your previous home, why did you move in the first place? I have moved many times in my life and with each move I tried to find local things to be interested in. Communicating with the people where you live is important to being happy in a new life.

Comment by Frank Vence

December 12th 2006 15:56

I think racism, ignorance and fear of the unknown are the problems here. People are intolerant of other cultures, especially those who look different, which is why problems arise. But that doesn't mean we should scrap the goal of all cultures living in harmony in favor of assimilation, in which the distinguishing traits of a given culture are lost. I think there is a happy medium that can be found in the form of integration. Keep in mind that the same things people say about latinos these days, for instance, people said about Italians and Irish less than a century ago. But with time, they integrated themselves into mainstream American society and still remain cultural distinct to a certain extent. However their having white skin is a big part of them having been able to be so successful, whereas people with dark skin are always seen as the "other", hardly ever given the benefit of the doubt and are fought every step of the way even after being here even longer than the Italians and Irish.

Comment by S.L.Bradish

December 12th 2006 16:31

Hello Frank, thanks for stopping by! My use of the "assimilation" idea wasn't that we should all lose our personal, religious or racial identities. I was speaking of the integration into a new society. I know many Italians who proudly enjoy their heritage, but they are equally proud of being Americans. That's a good thing. I also know German and Irish people who keep their heritage alive while being Americans first. Multiculturalism causes and fosters divides that are harmful to the society. My many Mexican friends are proud of their ancestry, too, but some of them still have a language barrier that inhibits their ability to function in some ways. Any group who clings too tightly to their former country has big problems and needs to be able to communicate to become part of their new home rather than isolating themselves.

Comment by youranter

December 12th 2006 17:15

youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern

Frank, SL, good points from both of you. Here, our multiculturalism has led people from other countries to demand their children be educated in their native tongue. And they want this done out of general gov't funds. That is certainly not working towards assimilation.

Comment by S.L.Bradish

December 12th 2006 17:23

Well said again, Youranter! Having to publish driving tests, maps, general info, and ballots in a dozen different languages is very multicultural, and not very fiscally smart. Ability to communicate in the language should be an absolute requirement! And schools should teach English to new students, not have to hire teachers to teach in other languages instead.

Comment by Frank Vence

December 12th 2006 19:24

Absolutely. We shouldn't encourage people to not learn to speak english. However, most of the english as the "official" language bills that have been presented around this country are only symbolic and will do nothing to solve our problems. We need practical solutions. As you touched on Youranter, maybe we should make it so that people have to at least be in the process of learning english in order to receive a drivers license, for example, and at the same time maintain the accessibility fo english classes so that this program will be realistic.

I think what we are really talking about here is not the philosophy behind multiculturalism, but rather how it is being carried out. The problem from my perspective is that politicians and other groups have latched onto this issue, not to truly find solutions, but simply to manipulate the racist elements of this country for political gain.

Comment by youranter

December 12th 2006 20:30

youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern

Very good point, Frank. I believe multiculturalism is as devisive as you say and would rather have the melting pot philosophy of the USA. It may seem like a subtle difference, but it really is huge. While we try to at least encourage English as, at minimum, a second language here, there are the die hards who want it all on the taxpayers dime. They can go 'home' as far as I'm concerned. And that's not bigotry, predjudice or anything else speaking. They came here for a better life. There are all sorts of communities where you can share common languages and customs, but in the real world, you'd better adapt to the country that took you in. Not the other way around.