Is Diversity a bad thing? (unemployed, neighborhood, to live)
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IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.
But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.
its not about skin or skin mixing. its about trust. and trustworthyness.
that is what makes or breaks a community.
the magic can happen in any community, its not money generated.
I live in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood; there is no racial group that is the majority, and we have people from literally every continent of origin (and lots of mixes). However, in a sociopolitical and economic sense, there is a lot less diversity. We are all employed or business-owning professionals who tend to lean toward Obama rather than McCain. You know what? I like it that way.
It is human nature to trust those that are most similar to you, whether racially, economically. religiously, etc. This is no news. Birds of a feather have always flocked together. Look at THIS BOARD as an example. How many times have posters asked "I need to find a town that has a large Jewish population", or "I need a town with a large Asian population".
Human nature. I am not sure that this will ever change, intrinsically. Unless of course, in 1,000 years from now, there are no more races, and we are just one race (which is quite possible, maybe even probable).
Nowadays, diversity is identified using the most superfical, if not nonsensical, means possible. Basically it focuses on differences in melanin content and genitalia. It has absolutely little to do with differences in culture, personal desires or viewpoints.
Sure, we're part of the "human" race but many people are most comfortable being in close proximity to people that are most like themselves. People that share similar values, dreams and interests.
Not that everyone has to march in ideological lockstep but rather have enough in common that they're more interested, if not more comfortable, with being in their presence.
These forums are loaded with suburbanites who have absolutely "0" interest in moving into, and raising their families, in an urban environment.
There's also no shortage of self identified "progressive liberals" who would rather shop at a WalMart than live in a southern state, or so-called "Red" locale.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg of human complexity.
Last edited by doc1; 10-16-2008 at 11:40 AM..
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