Dear Steve,

Between your YouTube videos and Blog I've heard you critique multiculturalism a few different times. I'm somewhat confused by this but suspect that the confusion might be cleared up by a some relevant distinctions.

My confusion: On the one hand, you oppose the ideology of "celebrating the differences" between cultures. On the other hand, you frequently highlight the excitement of encountering new cultures (history, literature, politics, etc.) as a great motive for language learning.

Clarifying: In a response to your July 11 blog about ObamaCare noted your concern for "the importance of solidarity amongst citizens" as a, perhaps the, reason for being "totally opposed" to the ideology of multiculturalism. This comment was insightful for me in attempting to resolve the confusion described above. It seems to me that there is a legitimate sense of appreciating or enjoying the diversity of cultures, insofar as they are different expressions of the rich realm of possibility entailed in human nature. Nonetheless, there is a unity that overarches this diversity, namely the common human nature being expressed. Thus, there is a tension to be maintained between unity and diversity. The two need not be opposed. Properly understood solidarity includes recognition of both mutually enriching elements. The danger inherent it any such tension is that the balance be lost and either element be reduced tot he other. Hence, it would be problematic to flatten all of our differences and act as though we are exactly the same, and it would also be problematic to over-extend our differences, acting as though we share nothing of value in common. I would call either of these distortions an ideology (in the sense that has a negative connotation), because they treat a partial truth as though it were the whole. The latter of these two would then be "the ideology of multiculturalism." On this assessment, we need not oppose the "celebrating of differences" as such, but rather the celebrating of differences outside of the context of an overarching unity.

What say you? Does this seem a fair assessment or do you mean to assert that there is absolutely no place for celebrating or enjoying cultural diversity? If so, I'd be interested to hear how you reconcile the confusion that I described.

I believe that people benefit from learning languages and learning about different cultures.

I believe that immigrants to a country should not be encouraged by the government, nor by educational institutions, to retain their culture of origin. They can do what they want, without support or encouragement from the state.

My personal preference is that immigrants assimilate to the dominant culture, if not in the first generation, then in subsequent generations. This will create a society that is united in its culture, although diverse in its ethnic origins. In general this is what has happened, in Canada and in the US. I believe this is a good thing. By the third generation in Canada, over 2/3 of citizens are of mixed ethnic origin. Celebrating their diverse ethnic origin should be up the individual, and is not something that I feel is particularly important. I am as interested, or even more interested, in some cultures than in those that are connected with the ethnicity of my parents.

So your complaint is not so much with their being different cultures or even people appreciating cultures, but more so with institutions insisting that people stay tied to the culture from which they came? In that respect, would I be correct in saying that your approach to culture is similar to your approach to language: let it happen naturally rather than trying to force it into categories? By this I mean that you oppose the idea of having rigid ideas of culture that people should fit and stay in (i.e. Polish culture, Mexican culture, etc.). Rather, you are saying that culture is dynamic because people are dynamic; it should be expected that cultures mix, merge, and evolve because the people who make up cultures interact, respond to new situations, follow their interests, etc. Does that sound correct?

In my opinion Steve is absolutely right on this one.

(Unfortunately, in many European countries where there has been a lot of immigration many people seem to want to cling hard to their cultural and linguistic roots.)

I don't really understand your interpretation of what I said and prefer to stick with my comment.

@Dmlyum - I'm not familiar with Steve's opinions are on the subject but it sounds like he is opposed to government defined multiculturalism and favors more of the "melting pot" approach that the US and Canada have typically taken.

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@Imyirtseshem: "...I do support the Australian government's resistance of the attempts to set up Sharia law in Australia. I must add that this is not an attack on Muslims but a simple opinion that it is an inferior system of law."
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I absolutely agree.

(But as I indicated above, here in Europe there seem to be many immigrant people who want this kind of thing, and who are pushing for it to happen...)

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