Friday, November 17, 2006

melting pot vs mosaic

This is how US cultural and immigration policy compares to Canadian.

Which, if undone, causes more damage?

5 comments:

Mercenaria said...

I'm not sure.

Melting pot : When you add milk to coffee... you can't take the milk out afterwards (at least not without expensive and complicated equipment).

Is mosaic like coffee, hot water, and milk all in separate containers? I suppose if you did force them to mix, that would create a melting pot.

As long as coffee, hot water and milk refuse to mix, they'll stay mosaicy. But if they all believe that a hot cup of coffe with milk in it is the best thing in the world, they'll mix together!

As humans, we're excellent at forming, growing, persecuting, and ultimately destroying social groups.

Isn't it great?

Brotha Buck said...

Mosaic. Melting pot suggest that we all mesh into one, and I don't know if that is happening, truly.

Anonymous said...

All Americans will move to Canada and live off the spoils of illegal immigrants inhabiting uninhabited land.

tmfrt said...

Melting pot will cause more damage if undone... 'cos one day, people wake up and realize they have a very different history than the society in which they live allows them to practice, and they resent it a little.

Any civilized society will have sub-societies and cultures that follow their own sort of rules. Not saying that they have to defy laws in place for the good of all citizens (e.g. if Sharia law was in place), but these sub-societies or visible minorities will contribute to the "whole" in one way or another, which in turn, will shape the way the "whole" functions.

At least, that's my definition of a civilized society... where, if one subculture is unhappy with their treatment, the whole must adapt to them; that's true civilized freedom: a constantly adapting and accepting society. "For the greater good" is a myth.

Mosaic allows subcultures to cohabit with the "whole" more readily, since, by definition, it's compiled of various diverse cultures. If undone, the subcultures can create their own society (e.g. Quebec) and likely exist independently of the "whole", or return from where they came, if that's an option. That creates other problems, I suppose... but eventually, a mosaic-type environment can create a "whole" which is much more civilized than the assumption of a melting pot - that differently cultural people must change their identities entirely to fit the "whole".

'Cos, really, the "whole" usually represents about 2% of the real population - the wealthiest and most powerful. It's everyone else who should have a say in the way the society functions. That's what a mosaic should allow subcultures to do.

Phil Plasma said...

merc: well thought out if not relevant

bb: brief but realistic commentary

anon: I doubt that's in the GWB plan

moofruot: well thought out eloquent reply indicating cultural and societal knowledge.

To all, mostly I'm glad I live in Canada.