Yes, but... economic issues aside... there was a greater risk in the European mission of ultra-multiculturalism than many appreciated. If you want to be a great, open democracy, you take the risk that one day enough religious Muslims will move to your country that they can democratically enact sharia law. This is not a problem limited to Europe, but the small size of European countries relative to the number of immigrates, and the egalitarian nature of their multiculturalism effort makes the problems hit more rapidly. The US, despite being relatively 'open' has very strong integrationist requirements to gain citizenship. The people I know who have immigrated to the US as adults understand our government much, much better than the average citizen.
An situation in the US similar to the multi-cultural crisis in europe came when the Libertarian Party launched a mass migration to the state of New Hampshire. They saw New Hampshire as a state full of people who had similar views, and that had a small enough population that a wave of new arrivals could quickly become the majority voting block. Now, in my limited experience, people in New Hampshire are very open, very pro-democracy, and all for allowing people to have their say. That said, many of the 'natives' were not at all happy to see a wave of 'immigrants' trying to fundamentally redefine their social order. Another good example from the US is the increasing rights given to Hispanic 'illegals' in California. How can a person walk into one government building and get a valid state drivers license, when that same person can be deported if a federal police officer pulls them over while driving? This is political schizophrenia. Why are 'illegal' children allowed into the public schools? Much of the problem boils down to finances: By virtue of being non-citizens, working under the grid, their parents are not paying the taxes that support the public schools. Thus you have communities with enormous local taxes, because many community residents are not paying. Thus one solution is to make it easier to become a citizen, and that is the solution I favor. Understandably though, many others are afraid of the implications of that many people with a different culture having that type of voting power. I'm not arguing for one side or the other, but agreeing with Owen's observation that it is a very difficult problem, and well-meaning people did not seem to appreciate all the potential directions in which it might go. Eric On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 03:09 AM, "Jochen Fromm" <j...@cas-group.net> wrote: > Multiculturalism is a good thing, the USA is a good example for this. In >Europe we have France, Italy, Germany, Greece and Spain. Each country has a >its own wonderful language, individual history and rich culture. And yet all >of them have a common economic and political system. I think an economic >union can exist without a political union, as long as the economic and >political systems are similar enough. The economic system in western europe >is based on social market economy. The political system is based on >democracy and free elections. Monetary union can exist if there is an >economic union, which exists in the EU. If things get bad in Germany, people >are allowed to work in Greece, and vice versa. Europeans can work in any >European country. > >Did someone notice that all these talks about the Greek debt crisis suddenly >stopped as Greece gained access to the emergency funding program of the EU? >Is it possible that all these talks just covered a hidden power struggle who >gets access to the rescue funding program of the EU? You need to stir up >attention to wake up the bureaucracy of the EU. Greece is not bankrupt, >there is a lot of money there. It is still a rich European country, compared >to Africa and other regions. The money is certainly not equally distributed, >and often it is spend for the wrong things (like ridiculous expensive >military machinery). Tourists leave a lot of money in countries like >Greece, >but the money is in the hands of a few big corporations and some very rich >people. The riots in London and Athens are a sign that people are >unsatisfied with the growing gap between the rich and the poor. > >So what is wrong? We need more transparency, more democracy, and more >concern for the environment. In return we need less bureaucracy, and less >military spending. There is too much bureaucracy in the EU, especially in >the European Commision. If there is no crisis, the bureaucracy will hardly >move. The political system is partly corrupt and controlled by lobby >groups, which represent the big corporations and banks. All western >countries have so much deficit that they seem to belong to the banks >already. We are ruled too much by bankers and lobbyists. At some places, >capitalism is getting out of control. The rich are getting richer, the poor >are getting poorer. The Europeans should think about the social problems of >capitalism, if the social market economy is really social enough. > >Jochen > > > > >============================================================ >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > Eric Charles Professional Student and Assistant Professor of Psychology Penn State University Altoona, PA 16601
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