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What good is Multi-Culturalism?

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Funkyrhino

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Seriously, what good is multi-culturalism? Can someone list some postive traits of multiculturalism. Of course it exposes people to other ideas and the like, but overall I feel that it leads to clashes between different groups. Again, culture is different than race. I feel that racial diversity is important, but a mix of different cultures in a society is nothing but a ticking time bomb.
 
i don't think there is any such thing as multi-culturalism (i.e. one big hotch-potch of a culture), just mono-culturalisms living side by side...

but i think that if the knowledge of other cultures increases then a mutual respect will ensue, thereby avoiding clashes...

its strange how the biggest tensions culturally are derived from those where they are living side by side... like racial riots in very mixed areas... the proximity of different cultures should mean more knowledge but instead it means more misunderstanding and fear...

if people were not so quick to stereotype then problems would be avoided... and the only way to not stereotype is to promote real contact amongst cultures.
 
it isnt a positive thing. My city is very multicultural and it takes away from the unity among people that live together. people will always belong to thier own cultural groups and identify with them more then others, so it creates a seperation of these different groups.
 
Aint nothing wrong with that. i dont understand why it upsets people so much to see someone living different near them.

Even in places of the same general culture there is always different cultures within that, what the hell is wrong with that, i dont get it.

I can never understand the people who think its better to all be living the same way or be 'united' or whatever. what is the point? how does it hurt you to not be united with other people? I dont see it as a bad thing to have your own lifestyle and culture. theres no harm in it.

I dont say this shit as in "it dont make sense to me" like it aint logical, but just that i honestly cannot understand why there is a problem. my brain cant see a reason.

Why should everyone be the same? What is so wrong about people living in a similar area having similar customs and cultures? that is the story of humanity since the beginning of time.

the only bad side is manufactured multiculturalism. where it aint really there but people create it to seem 'diverse' or wahtever. but it occurs naturally.

I dont understand the arguement of "it brings clashes between different groups."

So what then is the solution to that? Making everyone talk act and dress the same and uphold the same customs and traditions? then, tell me who gets to decide what the one culture everyone shoudl stick to will be.

There are clashes between ALL KINDS of different groups, clashing over race, over money, over clothing style, over social class, over subcultures (preppys vs punks, etc.) it aint just culture or cultural heritage that causes these probems! Its human nature to clash with someone whose different (once youre adult, its actually the opposite for small children and i wish more adults would see shit like that.)

But OK. So saying that 'multicuturalism' is a bad thing, what do you say we should do to get rid of it. Thats even worse, eliminating peoples lifestyles that comes from whatever their heritage is (racial, location, etc., whatever causes a certain lifestyle) so that theres less dissention? that dont make sense at all.

I dont get what the point of the original post is....are you saying people should all act the same or what?

So I will ask:

What BAD is multiculturalism?
 
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Funkyrhino said:
Seriously, what good is multi-culturalism? Can someone list some postive traits of multiculturalism. Of course it exposes people to other ideas and the like, but overall I feel that it leads to clashes between different groups. Again, culture is different than race. I feel that racial diversity is important, but a mix of different cultures in a society is nothing but a ticking time bomb.
Click to expand...

Because no single person or viewpoint is quite right, it would be horrably irrisponsable and ignorant to belive otherwise.

We would also run the risk of becomming over-specialised in which everyone is more or less a clone of the other. The problem there is that if a problem were to come along that the trates of that single genetic person couldnt overcome, then we would be totaly fucked. A good example of this is panda bears who eat nothing but bamboo, and are having a hard time with that now because of deforestation and a lack of adaptability
 
Diversity seems to be good in a wide range of activies: genetics, cultural, economic, etc.
 
lacey k said:
Aint nothing wrong with that. i dont understand why it upsets people so much to see someone living different near them.

Even in places of the same general culture there is always different cultures within that, what the hell is wrong with that, i dont get it.

I can never understand the people who think its better to all be living the same way or be 'united' or whatever. what is the point? how does it hurt you to not be united with other people? I dont see it as a bad thing to have your own lifestyle and culture. theres no harm in it.

I dont say this shit as in "it dont make sense to me" like it aint logical, but just that i honestly cannot understand why there is a problem. my brain cant see a reason.

Why should everyone be the same? What is so wrong about people living in a similar area having similar customs and cultures? that is the story of humanity since the beginning of time.

the only bad side is manufactured multiculturalism. where it aint really there but people create it to seem 'diverse' or wahtever. but it occurs naturally.

I dont understand the arguement of "it brings clashes between different groups."

So what then is the solution to that? Making everyone talk act and dress the same and uphold the same customs and traditions? then, tell me who gets to decide what the one culture everyone shoudl stick to will be.

There are clashes between ALL KINDS of different groups, clashing over race, over money, over clothing style, over social class, over subcultures (preppys vs punks, etc.) it aint just culture or cultural heritage that causes these probems! Its human nature to clash with someone whose different (once youre adult, its actually the opposite for small children and i wish more adults would see shit like that.)

But OK. So saying that 'multicuturalism' is a bad thing, what do you say we should do to get rid of it. Thats even worse, eliminating peoples lifestyles that comes from whatever their heritage is (racial, location, etc., whatever causes a certain lifestyle) so that theres less dissention? that dont make sense at all.

I dont get what the point of the original post is....are you saying people should all act the same or what?

So I will ask:

What BAD is multiculturalism?
Click to expand...




Actually I want to add, is how will you enforce mono-culturalism? What is mono-culturalism anyways. You can't do that if the people in the country come from different backgrounds. People usually naturally stick to people from similar backgrounds. That's why you see the rich white kids hanging together, the black kids together, the Indians together...etc. If you go to college, most people will end up hanging around with people from their old high school, if there are some, even if they never hung out in high school. Not everyone is like that, but most people are. Yeah it pisses me off, when I am the only token white guy hanging out with my ethnic friends and I wish people would try to mingle more, but it's just human nature. And it's not just the ethnic people's fault, white people don't usually mix with ethnic people either. Go to a high school in your home state and see who eats with who at the lunch table. And all those groups are usually dressed in similar "western" clothes and speaking English together, but they still hang out with their co-ethnics. Not always like that and some people like me try to break down the barriers, but it's hard.
 
Wait dude so what the fuck are you saying here?

I disagreed with you totally and then you come right back and agree with me disagreeing with you? You said multiculturalism is bad, but then youre saying how you wish more people would be down with and get to know people from other ethnicities? You make no sense, you confused the shit outta me homie. wanna re say that and clear it up? Im curious what youre gettin at.
 
lacey k said:
Wait dude so what the fuck are you saying here?

I disagreed with you totally and then you come right back and agree with me disagreeing with you? You said multiculturalism is bad, but then youre saying how you wish more people would be down with and get to know people from other ethnicities? You make no sense, you confused the shit outta me homie. wanna re say that and clear it up? Im curious what youre gettin at.
Click to expand...


laceyk you're funny has hell... your posts give me a good laugh...thanks alot.. even though I was taking a bowl it.
 
the what?

Yo, i aint being sarcastic or nothing here so do me a favor and dont fuck with me just say what youre tryna say.
 
it's not good it's unevitable

and it makes life a lot more interesting

take something as simple as eating , how interesting would that be if you only had food from your own culture (no pizza , no chinese , no sushi)
 
Like another said, the alternative is hierarchically enforced "mono"culturalism (depending on what level of group formation we consider to be "cultural").

Multi-culturalism, whatever that may be, can be good if it breeds mutual respect.

ebola
 
Funkyrhino said:
Seriously, what good is multi-culturalism? Can someone list some postive traits of multiculturalism. Of course it exposes people to other ideas and the like, but overall I feel that it leads to clashes between different groups. Again, culture is different than race. I feel that racial diversity is important, but a mix of different cultures in a society is nothing but a ticking time bomb.
Click to expand...
most clashes are based on fear and ignorance of others. multi-culturalism leads to understanding and, hence, to peaceful co-existence.

i'm not so naive that i think we live in an ideal world nor that it's this simple but my answer simply mirrors your query.

alasdair
 
i see what you mean by a 'ticking time bomb', but this is to be blamed on a way of thought, rather than cultural differences. Sure cultural differences might spawn differences in ways of thought, but more importantly MC allows people too see the ultimate similarities between all humans... the need to eat, breed, be sheltered, have clothes, and most importantly, an education based not on religion. MC has shown us how important it is to recognise the differences between people that are meaningless, and how the ones that do have meaning can be used for the bettering of all cultures.

plus, living in melbourne, australia, MC has given me 20 different cuisines, hundreds of clothing styles, and a whole bunch more crappy pop music. The only culture i disprove of are the cultures that insist on not evolving, but instead protecting their past, and the ill-gotten benefits from it...

don't worry, we have books and shit these days... your grandpa's will not be forgotten...
 
Multi-culturalism can definitely be a good thing. I have two sisters who have a Thai mother, and much of my family has spent considerable time in southeast Asia. As a result, we have subtle Indochinese influences around my house. For instance, where Americans traditionally eat potatos, we eat Thai rice with almost everything. Some of us speak Thai, and we're able to communicate with that nation. When my sisters have gotten married, we've had both traditional western weddings, as well as traditional Buddhist ceremonies. Hell, I'm about to move to southeast Asia to live with one of my sisters. All of these things are very enriching for us, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Of course, multi-culturalism can have problems. An obvious example is in Holland, where conservative Muslim immigrants have some trouble coping with the liberal Dutch social views. And unfortunately, violence can sometimes result. That's why you need to play it by ear.
 
All I have to do is think of the opposite of multi-culturalism:

Conformity. Universality. Not being able to go anywhere without being immersed in your own culture, or a variation thereof. Being restricted in experiencing all the possible ways of being and living. Unfortunately, I think this is the kind of society--not just at home, but abroad--that we're heading for. The eclipse of indigenous languages around the world, globalization--IMO, it's all heading this way.

It may take centuries, but I believe the day will come when you won't be able to hop a flight to Monrovia, Istanbul, or Calcutta without running into a Wal-Mart, McDonald's, or Starbucks (or their future/local equivalents). Where everyone in the world will be all about the same shows, the same music, and the same trendy clothes. If there are people who think that would be the best of all possible worlds, bless 'em. It just doesn't work for me.
 
Multiculturalism. :|
If there's a more loaded and abused buzzword out there today, I know it not. Ranks right up there with some of George Bush's meaningless gems like "freedom is on the march." At its root, all this word means is "the belief in many cultures". That can mean all kinds of things, depending on who's saying it

For example, my ex took a college class for her psychology degree called Multicultural Psychology. She and I thought it would explore the way different cultures handle common mental disorders, and the effect cultural upbringing has on the development of the brain. It ended up being mostly a roomful of loud Latino girls from the Bronx getting a chance to talk about the immigrant experience and the social problems in their community, and bitch about how misunderstood they are by anglo-American culture. :\ 8)

There's a place for that, and it ain't a class offered by a reputable college psych department. As an exchange student fresh from Taiwan with no experience in the US, the class was one big shrug to her.

I interpret multiculturalism to mean believing that no culture is inherently better or more worthy or "right" than any other. And this I agree with. We're all beautiful beings; we're all dumb hairless monkeys too. =D

But seriously, people of different cultures living side by side is only problematic when key resources needed for survival are in short supply, whereby people will break off into groups like a puddle of mercury hit with a hammer, each group coming up with far-fetched reasons why their people are more deserving of the resource than others. Then the violence starts. Show me a place where pluralism isn't working, and I'll show you a place where not everybody has everything they need.

I'm taking a class at a college that's extremely diverse (most student come from NYC, so that figures). All the different ethnic, national, racial, and religious groups seem to get along fine, and even *gasp* intermingle!

As pope John Paul put it, you want peace, work for justice.

Not homogeny.
 
Multi-culturalism is about as true as the US being a Melting Pot.

By melting pot they mean:
Whites on one side, blacks on the other, latinos in the mdidle, asians all the way around.

Is that a melting pot?
Little Italy? Little Ukraine? Little Germany? Little Greece?

It just doesn't work. People hang out with people of their own race, period. The only person this may have ever worked was *drumroll* ... me! I hung out with the Indians at my school in Tanzania, while all the white kids sat together and didn't talk to the others.

Sometimes I felt like I deserved a medal for it! Then again, I was 16. =D

So to answer the question: No, it doesn't work, having lots of minorities in your country doesn't mean multiculturalism, it just means you have lots of little countries in one. It might work if people weren't so fucking close minded, but..........
 
gugglebum, people will always feel most comfortable being with others whose background is similar to their own, because it's then that they feel most validated. This doesn't just go for ethnicity, but job area, socioeconomic class, drug preference ... you name it!

There's nothing inherently wrong when someone of Kerblakistani descent finds he makes friends most easily with other Kerblakistani-Americans. So long as he has no beef with Americans who haven't a drop of Kerblakistani blood.

It's all about tolerance, dude. It's all about seeing people primarily as individuals, not as "Member of Ethnic Group X". That's the American principle that most encourages diversity in our country. If you'll give anyone a chance to prove to you that they're a cool individual, regardless of their cultural background, you're multiculturally minded.

I'm a middle class suburban white guy who goes to school with mostly people who don't fit that description, and spends a lot of time in the greater New York City area. I've found when you ignore ethnicity and just are friendly to people as fellow students / workers / partyers or whatever, you'd be surprised how little ethnicity often matters.

That's one thing I love about studying the sciences -- they're true and universal no matter who's studying them, and can really bring together people of very diverse backgrounds in the name of discovery.
 
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