Immigration and Multiculturalism
Joshua Landy

15 March 2019
Should immigrants assimilate into their new society? Or should society adapt to make room for different cultures? Aren’t there some foreign customs we should never accept? This week, we’re thinking about immigration and multiculturalism.
I have to say, I’m a big fan of multiculturalism—that is, of the idea that each culture within a society should maintain its own identity, rather than assimilating to the dominant one. In fact I’m not just a fan but abeneficiaryof multiculturalism, having immigrated to the States thirty or so years ago. It’s true that I do a lot of American things—I’ve come to love baseball and basketball, for example—and I’ve ended up talking like a Californian, much to the embarrassment of my family in the UK, but I still drink single malt scotch and Earl Grey tea. And I still lovereal足球，不是那种几乎没人踢球的奇怪的足球。
当然，我理解另一方的一些观点——主张“大熔炉”而不是“沙拉吧”。作为一种文化，当我们关注是什么让我们团结在一起，而不是什么让我们分开时，我们往往是最强大的;我最喜欢美国的部分原因是，世界各地的人们可以为一个共同的愿景团结在一起。我也认识到对不宽容的担忧:如果一个亚群体认为基于种族、性别或取向的歧视是可以接受的，那么整个社会就需要抵制它。(正如卡尔·波普尔(Karl Popper)的著名论断，宽容的社会不能容忍不宽容。)
也就是说，认为不宽容是外来社区的独有权限是荒谬的——就像没有一个出生在美国的人拥有不宽容的观点一样!虽然专注于什么让我们团结起来至关重要，但我们的差异也有巨大的价值。即使是那些自认为是多元文化主义敌人的人，也几乎肯定会享受到各种各样的美食，如果我们生活在一个真正的“大熔炉”里，这些美食就不会存在。移民亚社区的贡献远远超出了食物。想想那些移民出身的诺贝尔奖得主吧。想想音乐、文学和电影。想想我们周围听到的所有语言，以及这些语言如何丰富一个国家的通用语。
所以，虽然一个东道国为它所欢迎的新来者设定一些规范是很好的，很自然的，但我认为它不应该要求每个人都生活、祈祷、思考和爱完全相同。我怀疑约翰·斯图亚特·密尔(John Stuart Mill)的“伤害原则”(harm principle)可能已经满足了我们的所有需要:只要一个群体的习俗和习惯没有伤害到任何人，我们就应该让他们做自己的事。事实上，我们应该希望他们做自己的事。在一天结束的时候，它会让我们的生活更加丰富。

Comments(2)

Tim Smith's picture

Tim Smith

Saturday, October 2, 2021 -- 5:31 AM

Josh,

Josh,

I would align with you on most of this, but I feel the plus one of cuisine is too easy an example. ESL writers are better references for return on investment if not call for far greater monies to be named later. Life without Joseph Conrad would be significantly reduced, you could probably name several others.

Global warming is going to create immigration pressures that are unsustainable as modifications to Trump's draconian measures on the border are proving difficult. Biden is hard-pressed to revert to ankle bracelets and access pending immigration review. One of the positives of our current situation is a call for joint action and a multicultural view. There are many positives if we can truly come together in response to the need for action.

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Tim Smith's picture

Tim Smith

Tuesday, October 5, 2021 -- 7:07 AM

Josh,

Josh,

My apologies. You actually made this point in the show about ESL writers. I did listen to this show in the day but just re-listened and was reminded of this.

mea culpa

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