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The Relic · 07-18-2008, 11:00 AM

I think multiculturalism left the question of whether it's a good or bad thing for dead long ago, Skinny. It's like global warming: it's here, and we have to deal with it and attempt to minimise its long term effects.

The received wisdom is that multiculturalism feeds the local culture and that a rapid intake of immigrants galvanises the economy. This cheerful pairing of arguments holds that this island's culture has fed on and been informed by successive migrations for two millennia, with the implication that nothing has really changed recently, while a rapidly growing economy requires a large and willing skilled labour force. The problem is that both arguments are bollocks. as they don't take timescales into account.

It's all very well absorbing trickles of Celts, Jutes, Hugenots and whoever over centuries, where the process has time to be organic, but if you introduce large pockets of alien culture over a period of a few years into a mass media society the impact is multiplied, and so is the potential for conflict.

Too pessimistic? Actually there are historic precedents for friction caused by sudden arrivals from abroad, which somehow get ignored by the optimists: they prefer to forget the discord produced by the intrusion of the likes of Romans, Vikings and Normans, and that a large part of the problem with armed invasions is that they are also very speedy cultural invasions. Further, humanity's ingrained tribalism has a tendency to demand that the culture they have known from birth be seen as superior to any it is expected to co-exist with. Put any three people in a room of varying race and creed and eventually they will argue about politics and religion. Now we have whole cities where people from multiple races and creeds are expected to happily co-exist like a big happy family, and that's elephant bollocks - human nature says it ain't gonna happen.

As for high immigration fuelling the economy, it's true that it does so when the economic rollercoaster is being cranked upwards, but when it hits those dips and the unemployment figures start to rise, they become an ecomomic liability, and the pockets of culture they occupy are liable to become more reactive.

All of which makes me wish I was a racist. If I was I wouldn't feel so bad about facing the facts and stating them.

07-18-2008, 11:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
The Relic Decaying old hippie Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Norath. Posts: 393	I think multiculturalism left the question of whether it's a good or bad thing for dead long ago, Skinny. It's like global warming: it's here, and we have to deal with it and attempt to minimise its long term effects. The received wisdom is that multiculturalism feeds the local culture and that a rapid intake of immigrants galvanises the economy. This cheerful pairing of arguments holds that this island's culture has fed on and been informed by successive migrations for two millennia, with the implication that nothing has really changed recently, while a rapidly growing economy requires a large and willing skilled labour force. The problem is that both arguments are bollocks. as they don't take timescales into account. It's all very well absorbing trickles of Celts, Jutes, Hugenots and whoever over centuries, where the process has time to be organic, but if you introduce large pockets of alien culture over a period of a few years into a mass media society the impact is multiplied, and so is the potential for conflict. Too pessimistic? Actually there are historic precedents for friction caused by sudden arrivals from abroad, which somehow get ignored by the optimists: they prefer to forget the discord produced by the intrusion of the likes of Romans, Vikings and Normans, and that a large part of the problem with armed invasions is that they are also very speedy cultural invasions. Further, humanity's ingrained tribalism has a tendency to demand that the culture they have known from birth be seen as superior to any it is expected to co-exist with. Put any three people in a room of varying race and creed and eventually they will argue about politics and religion. Now we have whole cities where people from multiple races and creeds are expected to happily co-exist like a big happy family, and that's elephant bollocks - human nature says it ain't gonna happen. As for high immigration fuelling the economy, it's true that it does so when the economic rollercoaster is being cranked upwards, but when it hits those dips and the unemployment figures start to rise, they become an ecomomic liability, and the pockets of culture they occupy are liable to become more reactive. All of which makes me wish I was a racist. If I was I wouldn't feel so bad about facing the facts and stating them. __________________ The Relic Richard Dawkins for Pope. Last edited by The Relic : 07-18-2008 at 11:35 AM.