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The Forum > Article Comments > Recommitting to multiculturalism > Comments

Recommitting to multiculturalism : Comments

By Tom Calma, published 22/8/2007

Reinvigorating multiculturalism is not just an option, it is a necessity for a healthy, functioning democracy.

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ONE NATION, ONE RACE, ONE CULTURE.... there..I said it again.

Dropping RACIST ideas about other people.. and ethnicities, and intermarrying with them will:

a) Enrich our own culture
b) Create a blended new 'Australian' identity of magnificent texture.

Multiculturalism.. "Its all about power"... and here is the deconstruction of that fact.

1/ Labor is supported by Migrants FAR more than the Coalition. (recent surveys in the media have shown this)

2/ You need to maintain a 'migrant' mentality in order to retain that support.. must create and US/them mentality, "Oh.. we migrants better stick together against the evil forces of the Coalition"

3/ By Reinforcing 'difference' and pandering to it, you have a greater chance of electoral victory.

MC is not quite dead.. any living tentacle of it is SEDITIOUS and dangerous.

In the end, bottom line, no matter what people say about 'tolerance' etc.. it's utter garbage.. lets get real..its about POWER... how to get it and keep it.

The Government could JUST as easily facilitate 'assimilation' and make its grants to 'assimilation related projects and community organizations'..... RATHER than 'difference emphasis and the nightmare of 'multi' culturalism.

Now this is where FrankGol (or is it Frank..God ? :) jumps in and tells us we don't really "understand" MC.. well.. unfortunately for that argument..I do, and what I know is that no matter how well meaning the POLICY is.. the PRACTICALITY is different..and that is where it matters for the future of this country.
Posted by BOAZ_David, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 11:36:25 AM
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What we need is not pious hopes and wishes, but solid research on the effects of immigration and "diversity."

See for example:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon2007-06-25jl.html

Some quotes:

"Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam... is very nervous about releasing his new research, and understandably so. His five-year study shows that immigration and ethnic diversity have a devastating short- and medium-term influence on the social capital, fabric of associations, trust, and neighborliness that create and sustain communities...."

"Putnam’s study reveals that immigration and diversity not only reduce social capital between ethnic groups, but also within the groups themselves. Trust, even for members of one’s own race, is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friendships fewer. The problem isn’t ethnic conflict or troubled racial relations, but withdrawal and isolation. Putnam writes: 'In colloquial language, people living in ethnically diverse settings appear to 'hunker down'—that is, to pull in like a turtle.'"

"Neither age nor disparities of wealth explain this result. 'Americans raised in the 1970s,' he writes, 'seem fully as unnerved by diversity as those raised in the 1920s.' And the 'hunkering down' occurred no matter whether the communities were relatively egalitarian or showed great differences in personal income. Even when communities are equally poor or rich, equally safe or crime-ridden, diversity correlates with less trust of neighbors, lower confidence in local politicians and news media, less charitable giving and volunteering, fewer close friends, and less happiness."

"Though Putnam is wary of what right-wing politicians might do with his findings, the data might give pause to those on the left, and in the center as well. If he's right, heavy immigration will inflict social deterioration for decades to come, harming immigrants as well as the native-born. Putnam is hopeful that eventually America will forge a new solidarity based on a “new, broader sense of we.” The problem is how to do that in an era of multiculturalism and disdain for assimilation."
Posted by stevenlmeyer, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 12:02:58 PM
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The governments of liberal democratic societies have no business spending taxpayers' money promoting "multi-culturalism". People possess rights, culture and religion do not, we are under no obligation to respect or promote any culture or religion, only tolerate them, if they are compatible with democracy.
Posted by mac, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 1:27:46 PM
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BOAZ_David

Your language gets more colourful every time you write about the seditious (sorry SEDITIOUS) not-quite-dead-yet tentacles of this dangerous marine creature of Multiculturalism. However, your logic and supporting evidence are no match for your metaphors.

For you, Multiculturalism is…“all about power”. And in support of your political science you offer this tripod of assertions.

(a) Migrants support Labor FAR more than the Coalition (nine out of ten fishermen prefer Hooko, the superior bait).
(b) Labor fools migrants into feeling they must “stick together against the evil forces of the Coalition”.
(c) Labor reinforces and panders to ‘difference’ and therefore has a greater chance of electoral victory.

David, if any of these propositions were true (and I don’t think you have any respectable empirical evidence for any of them), Honest John would be into it like a shot. Instead, he recently dropped the word ‘Multicultural’ from his reformed Immigration and Citizenship Department (but forgot to tell Multicultural Minister Kevin Andrews). Howard has been uneasy about Multiculturalism for much of his political life; and no-one has ever accused him of not being able to sniff the political wind (even coming from near-dead tentacles).

You maintain: “lets get real…its about POWER...how to get it and keep it.” That’s why the ALP has so dominated Federal politics since mass migration began post-WW2, eh David? Multiculturalism swept Labor to power and kept it there, eh David? Kevin Rudd mentions Multiculturalism about as often as he does Strip Joints these days.

David, you really should watch what you eat before going to bed. That ‘Frank..God’is giving you nightmares of 'multi' culturalism when all you want to do is dream of mixed marriages.

Now there’s a thought. Ring up Johnny, quick. He’s still looking for a white rabbit in his black hat. Special New Assimilation Grants (SNAGs). Money for Mixed Marriages (MMM, now there’s an election slogan). Double the SNAG for Christians marrying Muslims. Treble for Indigenous marrying Nordic types, eh David, triple M rated weddings?

I can just smell the POWER of it all.
Posted by FrankGol, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 1:52:17 PM
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C J Morgan: Here Susan: 'But I think there should be no full stop here, rather a coma'

Picky, picky, but time to wake from your 'coma'.

Commas are more usual in punctuation.
Posted by Cornflower, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 2:46:31 PM
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I could mount strong argument against this article, but it is not worth the time or effort. The debate is over MC is on the way to being an unfortuate episode in our history. During a similar thread some time back i predicted there would be more articles along such lines as those in the MC industry came to realise their cushy, well paid jobs may be no more. This is one such article.

The Government has finally realised the failings of MC. There are numberous examples of this, without even looking at the England and European situations. But never the less, we will see some die hards that cling to a hopeless ideology.

Tom would be well advised not to keep on about MC, as he won't win any friends in Canberra with it. He should talk to the Minister about a sideways shift to a new body set up the promote community integration, or rename his prsent body. If he has done a good job as chair he has nothing to lose and Director for Integration doesn't sound a bad title. By the way Kevin07 also says MC must go.
Posted by Banjo, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 3:41:47 PM
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