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Multiculturalism
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Is is a good thing?
There is now more and more a mixture of different cultures in the main cities of the developed world, what do you think are the benefits nad the costs?
What is the concept of "culture" is it simply an illusion or are there very real and definable differences between people. On what is culture based, is it religion, history, political systems or other factors?
There is now more and more a mixture of different cultures in the main cities of the developed world, what do you think are the benefits nad the costs?
What is the concept of "culture" is it simply an illusion or are there very real and definable differences between people. On what is culture based, is it religion, history, political systems or other factors?
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I do not think it is bad or good, it is neutral. Multiculturalism means a variety of foods avaliable, different festivals and parades in cities, at school you can have friends from different religions as well as your own (or no religion at all). I liked at school finding out about other religions and talking to friends who were Muslim or Sikh to find out their beliefs.
I would prefer to live in a multicultural country rather than an all white, all Christian place. Variety is the spice of life.
What KT said about understanding and finding out about other cultures is the main thing. That sounds all well and good but unfortunately most people dont want to do so. Everyone thinks their own culture and ways are superior. Everyone wants to keep to their own culture and not be affected by the cultures of others.
All of the above and what KT outlined. Its quite a wide ranging word.
Im all for a multicultural Britain, just so long as I can pick and choose which alternate cultures I want to be subjected to. Some I find completely disgusting and some I prefer to my own culture.
St Georges day...Well I think thats more to do with defiance. Us English arent allowed to celebrate our culture or history without being branded racist nationalists so some people go too far in order to prove a point.
So depending on the person, multiculturalism can be good or bad. If a person is open-minded they will think it's a good thing. If a person is narrow-minded and generally a bigot, they would think it's an attack on their identity and therefore bad.
At the end of the day life should be a constant learning experience. We should all mix, travel and learn about our neighbours. Sadly fear of the unknown and a misplaced sense of patriotism prevents some from doing so.
And I think British people benefit a lot through coming in contact with different cultures, at the very personal level they have a wide choice of styles, like food for example. At a broader level, we have got a wider vision - we understand the politics and people of other countries even we havent ever travelled much. Through different cultures we build up more knowledge of the world.
One issue is we need to respect other people's cultures, even if we don't agree with them. I think that is the key to a harmony country.
In this country we don't accept all cultures into our society, we just tolerate them.
Tolerance has limits.
I do agree that it is impossible to partake in all cultures whilst maintaining your own individuality, but I think we are more than just 'tolerant'.
Is there anything wrong with that though?
Everyone on earth does the same. We tolerate them and in some cases even assimilate some foreign cultures into ours. If we didnt see our culture as superior then we would all become Sikhs or Buddhists or summit. Or Sikhs and Buddists would become English protestants.
All cultures are equal(with a couple of exceptions) in theory but the members of a culture will clearly always think their culture is superior.
Now ive gone and confused myself again.
There! That ought to stir it up a bit!
Personally I think things are just going to get worse. Most white people in the UK are turning atheist, or at least agnostic. We will be left with a hardcore bunch of religious types after that. If everyone on earth become atheist then we would probably have much better integration....i think we know how likely that is to happen though.
Nope, which is kind of my point.
Multiculturalism, as a concept, cannot work because some cultures completely contradict another. So what we develop is a tolerance of those differences. There is nothing wrong with that.
Multiculturalism and tolerance go out of the window, though, when economic considerations come to the fore.
"Envy leads to anger
Anger leads to fear
Fear leads to the dark side"
To paraphrase Yoda (or more correctly George Lucas)
What I mean is that the drivers for a rise in nationalism in the 20s and 30s exists again now, except we have the added problem of barely integrated cultures. The divides which already exist, and the fear that generates, together with the envy of "look how the Govt treats them better than us" are used by nationalists to increase their support and power base.
Multiculturalism won't mean shit in a few years when the next european war starts...nobody ever said that the next Europeans war wouldn't be a race war...hell the Balkans may just have been the preliminary rounds...
Paul
This isn't necessarily true. People "cling" to their cultural backgrounds for other reasons. For safety and familiarity--it's what they know and what they are comfortable with. Out of fear--fear of not fitting in with a new culture may stop people from even trying to fit in. Appreciation of history--customs and traditions help people feel rooted. These are only a few examples that sprang to mind as I read your post, but I'm sure there are more.
It isn't a matter of being superior but of trying to hold onto an identity, or of valuing culture. I may like Romanian music, and continue to listen to it in an English speaking country. That does not mean that I think it's superior to English music, merely that it is a piece of culture that I appreciate and do not want to lose. Understanding my cultural background helps me to understand where I came from, and why my ancestors made the decisions that they did that brought me where I am today.
Hmm.. that was a bit philosophical, but nevermind. I'll stop before it gets too heavy.