Guy Whites has neat post on the strengths and weaknesses of diversity. Here’s a little preview:
. . .Diversity is a failure not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Over the long term, the only result of diversity is war. Different African tribes are at each other’s throats in every country they are forced to share. Muslims fight each other, Sunnis against the Shia, Arabs against Kurds against Persians. . .
. . .Research by Harvard University’s liberal Professor Robert Putnam shows that the more diverse communities are, less its inhabitants trust anyone – from their next-door neighbor to the mayor. “The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us…. They don’t trust the local mayor, they don’t trust the local paper, they don’t trust other people and they don’t trust institutions. The only thing there’s more of is protest marches and TV watching. . .”
You can read the rest here.
teageegeepea
3 March 2009
I have an old Putnam post titled Be grateful diversity reduces trust.
Lover of Wisdom
3 March 2009
Thanks, TGGP. I’m going to take a look at it.