Quizzes & Puzzles4 mins ago
Multiculturalism ?
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Speaking largely about France but with his eye on the greater Europe, the French intellectual and writer Alain Finkielkraut in his recent book, claims that Western civilization is being ripped apart by multiculturalism.
Is he correct?
Is he correct?
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//he's saying ripped apart like its a bad thing?//
Very much so' he notes with dismay the rise of zealotry in French schools, with pupils in poor banlieues rejecting mixed swimming lessons and non-halal canteen food. Teachers find it increasingly difficult to mention certain authors (Rousseau is against my religion" one student is quoted as saying) or to discuss the Holocaust in class, and he goes on to say "The French education system is no longer the crucible of national identity: it has become a battleground fought over by strident communities."
Very much so' he notes with dismay the rise of zealotry in French schools, with pupils in poor banlieues rejecting mixed swimming lessons and non-halal canteen food. Teachers find it increasingly difficult to mention certain authors (Rousseau is against my religion" one student is quoted as saying) or to discuss the Holocaust in class, and he goes on to say "The French education system is no longer the crucible of national identity: it has become a battleground fought over by strident communities."
I recently had a similar conversation with an old soldier who bemoans the fact that Britains wartime endeavours and our heritage will be forgotton in a few years time, because of the multiculturism. Recently I read that some of our schoolchildren had no idea what WWII was all about, some thought that the Germans were on our side. We are fast losing our identity as British people who fought to be free, and built a country to be proud of. Now it is being taken from under our noses without a shot being fired. Yes I agree our Western civilization is being turned over, and I resent that. Will there be anyone left of the Eastern civilization to willing enough rebuild it?
Khandro - "... do you not think there is perhaps a tendency for Westerners to repudiate their own heritage while encouraging foreigners to celebrate their own?"
Without question.
In this country we have elevated this concept to such absurd levels that it is considered by some to be in poor taste to display our own flag in public.
I was listening to a radio debate just the other day about the new GB athletic outfit that fails to have an image of the Union Flag on it. The radio interviewer (BBC: surprise, surprise) asked whether or not putting the flag of our country on these outfits might be seen as racist and/or imperialistic by other nations.
I think the fact that this question was asked in all seriousness by this particular reporter demonstrates just how insidious this self-loathing of ones own country and heritage is.
As for multiculturalism, I see nothing wrong with it per se. The problem comes when mass immigration occurs at too fast a rate. This in turn threatens the physical infrastructure of the nation, placing an impossible strain on the health services, social housing, benefits, etc. This also causes deep divisions in society as entire areas rapidly become ghettoised which limits (and sometimes halts entirely) the assimilation and integration of the new arrivals. In this situation, tensions between the indigenous population and the immigrants increase.
Without question.
In this country we have elevated this concept to such absurd levels that it is considered by some to be in poor taste to display our own flag in public.
I was listening to a radio debate just the other day about the new GB athletic outfit that fails to have an image of the Union Flag on it. The radio interviewer (BBC: surprise, surprise) asked whether or not putting the flag of our country on these outfits might be seen as racist and/or imperialistic by other nations.
I think the fact that this question was asked in all seriousness by this particular reporter demonstrates just how insidious this self-loathing of ones own country and heritage is.
As for multiculturalism, I see nothing wrong with it per se. The problem comes when mass immigration occurs at too fast a rate. This in turn threatens the physical infrastructure of the nation, placing an impossible strain on the health services, social housing, benefits, etc. This also causes deep divisions in society as entire areas rapidly become ghettoised which limits (and sometimes halts entirely) the assimilation and integration of the new arrivals. In this situation, tensions between the indigenous population and the immigrants increase.
I think the first time I heard the word was from Michael Foot, surrounded by woolly hats and members of other cultures, he said "We are now a multicultural society!" (loud cheers).
Finkielkraut, Arksided, may to you, have a German-sounding name but he is French not German (his father died in Auschwitz) to suggest he is, would be like saying Serena Williams is Welsh!
Though he is quite vehement about what he sees as the destruction of the cultural identities of nations by multiculturalism, he is also wary of jingoism and concedes that ' Europeans have good reasons for mistrusting patriotic pride, the notion of identity, which originated in the romantic counter-Enlightenment, was later picked up by blood and soil nationalists and discredited by the Nazis - the spectre of Auschwitz commands us not to be fixated on our roots.'
But he lambasts sophisticates 'who buy falafel and the latest world music, but are just as reluctant to live among immigrants as the poor whites they look down for fleeing multi-ethic neighbourhoods, "It is from the comfort of their own world that they cultivate exoticism".
Finkielkraut, Arksided, may to you, have a German-sounding name but he is French not German (his father died in Auschwitz) to suggest he is, would be like saying Serena Williams is Welsh!
Though he is quite vehement about what he sees as the destruction of the cultural identities of nations by multiculturalism, he is also wary of jingoism and concedes that ' Europeans have good reasons for mistrusting patriotic pride, the notion of identity, which originated in the romantic counter-Enlightenment, was later picked up by blood and soil nationalists and discredited by the Nazis - the spectre of Auschwitz commands us not to be fixated on our roots.'
But he lambasts sophisticates 'who buy falafel and the latest world music, but are just as reluctant to live among immigrants as the poor whites they look down for fleeing multi-ethic neighbourhoods, "It is from the comfort of their own world that they cultivate exoticism".
Yes, funny that! I think he might be saying things which many think, but are too pc to say. I don't believe it rests solely in the West either, just regard what the Chinese are doing to Tibetan culture. I find it odd, incidentally, that often the same people who sport "Free Tibet" stickers (quite rightly) are the same ones who espouse multiculturalism in their own country.
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