Coercing Homogeneity in Culture
The recent flurry of op-ed pieces regarding culture, immigration, and diversity has made it abundantly clear that most right-wing pundits are wildly in love with the abstract idea of an "American identity" (one example here). Citing the riots in France as evidence of the divisions inherent in multiculturalism, these pundits warn of the dissolution of society sure to follow if liberal programs continue to encourage diversity. Granted, government programs which impose racial quotas for the sake of "diversity" are ill-conceived and discriminative, but the idea that acceptance of different cultures will endanger the unity of the nation is foolish and betrays a deep xenophobia.
Those who warn of the dangers of multiculturalism are in effect proposing to subvert cultural individuality to a commonly accepted abstract ideal of American identity. Coming from right-wingers who claim to value individuality in economic matters, it is surprising that the same appreciation does not extend to a human's right to live how they choose economically and socially. What is proposed by these pundits is a system of government initiatives meant to subtly stifle differences in society, imposing a wealthy ruling-class morality and social system agreed upon by legislators.
Such initiatives are not only inherently racist and xenophobic in their attempts to homogenize the variety of social traditions in America, they are also based on historically absurd premises. There is no "American identity", only a variety of differing individual and group ideologies and traditions. The "melting pot" of history is not one in which cultures are "melted" into a homogenous mass, but rather one in which people of differing cultures appreciate each other. This sort of communal indoctrination in a non-existent tradition would of course "strengthen America" in that it would make people more likely to eschew their own values in favor of state-worshipping blather like the pledge of allegiance, the idol of Mount Rushmore, and all the other paraphernalia of state-centered culture. However, to make the state into the centerpiece of an "American culture" is to not only abandon the centuries-old values and culture of one's ancestors, but also to allow the state to control one's actions even more completely through the manipulation of cultural values and social indoctrination of sorts.
What is good for the state is almost always bad for most people, and in this case the cost of government-imposed sameness in culture and values would be no less than the hundreds of years' worth of life-affirming tradition. Countries consumed by nationalist fervor and obsessed with "pure" cultural uniformity have historically devolved into absurd spectacles of shallow violence and mindless conformity, as in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Of course many may find it doubtful that the U.S. is capable of such degeneration into autocracy, however nationalist cultural "cleansing" in the form of social pressure or government coercion always empowers the state at the expense of individuality, diversity, cultural identity and freedom. The citizens of this nation, once free and already far down the road to serfdom, should be wary of those intent on creating a uniform national identity.
Those who warn of the dangers of multiculturalism are in effect proposing to subvert cultural individuality to a commonly accepted abstract ideal of American identity. Coming from right-wingers who claim to value individuality in economic matters, it is surprising that the same appreciation does not extend to a human's right to live how they choose economically and socially. What is proposed by these pundits is a system of government initiatives meant to subtly stifle differences in society, imposing a wealthy ruling-class morality and social system agreed upon by legislators.
Such initiatives are not only inherently racist and xenophobic in their attempts to homogenize the variety of social traditions in America, they are also based on historically absurd premises. There is no "American identity", only a variety of differing individual and group ideologies and traditions. The "melting pot" of history is not one in which cultures are "melted" into a homogenous mass, but rather one in which people of differing cultures appreciate each other. This sort of communal indoctrination in a non-existent tradition would of course "strengthen America" in that it would make people more likely to eschew their own values in favor of state-worshipping blather like the pledge of allegiance, the idol of Mount Rushmore, and all the other paraphernalia of state-centered culture. However, to make the state into the centerpiece of an "American culture" is to not only abandon the centuries-old values and culture of one's ancestors, but also to allow the state to control one's actions even more completely through the manipulation of cultural values and social indoctrination of sorts.
What is good for the state is almost always bad for most people, and in this case the cost of government-imposed sameness in culture and values would be no less than the hundreds of years' worth of life-affirming tradition. Countries consumed by nationalist fervor and obsessed with "pure" cultural uniformity have historically devolved into absurd spectacles of shallow violence and mindless conformity, as in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Of course many may find it doubtful that the U.S. is capable of such degeneration into autocracy, however nationalist cultural "cleansing" in the form of social pressure or government coercion always empowers the state at the expense of individuality, diversity, cultural identity and freedom. The citizens of this nation, once free and already far down the road to serfdom, should be wary of those intent on creating a uniform national identity.
posted by Dan at 2:19 PM
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