R0bert...
I expect my answer will be more vague and waffly than your would prefer

Well you are certainly correct on that score!

teamworktom, that need not be all bad. Some of the abstract stuff is the stuff that makes a difference between having basic needs met and having a great life. How to you quantify the value of a hug from your child, the pleasure of some great music, a beautiful piece of art, the fun of spending hundreds of dollars to catch a few dollars worth of fish etc. Trying to describe the benefits and value of those types of things can be difficult, others may do so better than I can.

Likewise with the things which I most value about the friends I have made from other cultures. They broaden my experience of life, I can't put a dollar value on that just as I can't put a dollar value on a hug from my son but both are great and not to be missed when the opportunity arises.

I'll leave it to the economists to argue the economic benefits of immigration and multiculturalism, I don't know that stuff well enough to have a useful opinion, I do know some of the human stuff.

Have a great New Year all.

R0bert

Coach,

....and not taught by muslims.

Same as our uni's need a good clean out they are Marxist Training camps...

no teacher should push religion or politics on a student... either by preaching or selective biased presentations.

My problem is, that if I am to assume that my culture is to be enriched by the influx of other cultures I have to ask myself: "In what way is my culture poor, so it has to be enriched?"

If it is academically or intellectually poor then the enrichment can come from within, there are a number or academics and intellectually who can help with this, without importing them from other cultures.

If it is spiritually poor then this is because the members of this culture have lost touch with their own spiritualism.

If it is poor in terms of food, well, all we need is the ingredients and the recipes. No one said that we need a new population to teach us how to cook.

Having said that, I am not against multiculturalism: I am against ALL those who claim that the host culture, that is the culture that I grew up in and that I am comfortable with, requires 'enriching'. To say this is to say that my culture is inferior to yours, and for that you can go to hell.

R0bert - love the eloquence and thought you put into your posts.

Culture is not static - our culture of 100 years ago is very different to today's. It is a result of the intermingling of many diverse people over many years.

100 years from now it will be different again.

I can understand that changes to the status quo can appear to be threatening, however, as R0bert has stated "They broaden my experience of life, I can't put a dollar value on that just as I can't put a dollar value on a hug from my son but both are great and not to be missed when the opportunity arises."

We are experiencing change at an unprecedented rate - its tough, we often jump to conclusions and get things wrong. However, we will benefit from the latest immigrants just as we have benefited from previous influx.

For example; my dentist is Egyptian, my doctor Vietnamese - we have benefited medically, academically and in many other areas - one only has to look around to see.

Culture is an evolving process - thank goodness!

Of Course!

But the changes must be consensual.......

In the case of Australia they are being imposed upon the greater number...