Diversity vs. Retaining Culture

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

This is an odd either/or that has been popping up lately, and though they don't always contradict, there seem to be scenarios where both are not attainable. Obviously there is a moderate position, but if they come into contradiction, which value do you hold in higher regard?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Reiterating all your premises and qualifiers...

Diversity and Assimilation (Left)

[Marokai Backbeat]

I hold liberal democratic values in higher regard than "diversity" and platitudes about cultural relativism.

[bedstuy]

All things being equal, you should adopt the culture of your country.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I'm not quite understanding these options, as "diversity" is paired with the seemingly contradictory "assimilation".

[SATW]

It's important to retain the culture, religion and traditions that you were raised imo. This doesn't mean I oppose diversity or whatever, but I see my Jewish ancestry and religion as a pride and would like to pass it along to my children by marrying Jewish and raising my children Jewish etc...

I also think that you should live by the norms of the country you live in but shouldn't assimilate. I see assimilation as a dirty term and word that is used, by some, to "cleanse" certain people of their cultures and ancestry. You can be a loyal citizen to your country and still value your religious, ethnic and cultural traditions.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I'm not quite understanding these options, as "diversity" is paired with the seemingly contradictory "assimilation".

Yeah, sorry, I was a bit confused on how to word it, but you see the issues in the news. When you encourage a diversity in a group, often times the minorities give up on some special components about themselves. They retain things they can't change obviously (race, religion, etc.) but lose a lot of their culture that made them special.

[ingemann]

I won't vote because I think the issue is much more complex.

Let me use Denmark as example, in the Danish Realm we have 4 official language; 3 of them regionals. Danish, German, Faroese and Greenlandic. Do I think it would be fair if we forced those four groups, who have lived where they lived "always", to assimilated into Danish culture? No I don't, I think a state should treat indigeous groups with respect and do one best to help keep their culture alive. Because these groups have not chosen to live in the Danish Realm, Denmark have choosed it for them.

Do I extend the same respect to people who have choosed to emigrate to Denmark? No of course not, when you migrate to another place, it's your choose, not anybody else, and if your cultural norms and tradition doesn't fit, well we have proverb "If you don't like the smell in the bakery, leave it" or you drop those norms and traditions. One of the reason I don't visit Muslim countries, are because I respect their norms and traditions, but I have no wish to follow them, so I choose not to go to those countries.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Individual and universal rights are more important than artificially maintaining respect for "culture". (This can be interpreted as criticism of certain currents of both the right and left - as in forcing individuals to assimilate to some monoculture is dumb, but certain aspects of "multiculturalism" can become toxic when it fails to take into account problematic elements of "other" cultures. We're all humans, and that is far more important than any other division.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

It's important to retain the culture, religion and traditions that you were raised imo. This doesn't mean I oppose diversity or whatever, but I see my Jewish ancestry and religion as a pride and would like to pass it along to my children by marrying Jewish and raising my children Jewish etc...

I also think that you should live by the norms of the country you live in but shouldn't assimilate. I see assimilation as a dirty term and word that is used, by some, to "cleanse" certain people of their cultures and ancestry. You can be a loyal citizen to your country and still value your religious, ethnic and cultural traditions.

^^^Yep. I would say this debate is completely overblown, but gun to my head in an irreconcilable situation, I guess assimilation.

[Goldwater]

Diversity and Assimilation (Right), for the reason that CrabCake said.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Diversity and Assimilation (Right), for the reason that CrabCake said.

Well "assimilation" is a stupid concept as well.

[Small L]

This is a tough question for me. In theory I find the idea of retaining one's culture very appealing. For instance, I think it's always a little sad when the descendants of immigrants lose their cultural connections to the home country. That being said, if you want to be successful in a new country you do have to "assimilate" to some degree.

[Miles]

Retaining Unique/Minority Cultural Identity (Left)   

[Cory]

I hold liberal democratic values in higher regard than "diversity" and platitudes about cultural relativism.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

From the perspective of trying to maintain society, it's obviously important that a large portion of a state's population share a similar set of core values. At the same time, however, minority assimilation into a large culture can result in a subculture-wide sense of anomie which can lead to societal collapse. As such, it's important to establish a balance between the two.

[VPH]

I voted retaining culture because I lean that way, but I honestly think there needs to be a balance. Giving up your heritage because you're forced to is pathetic and should not happen. However, some things are best discarded. (Those that infringe on others)

[dead0man]

I hold liberal democratic values in higher regard than "diversity" and platitudes about cultural relativism.

indeed

No specific culture is special.  Like anything else, some good, some bad, mostly noise.  If the good stuff is obvious, the rest of us will take it, mess with it, dumb it down to the lowest common denominator and sell it to everybody else (see Americanized foreign foods like Mexican or Chinese or Rock and Roll or pretty much everything ever).  If it sucks, the rest of us will reject it, make fun of the people that do it and occasionally kill them/be killed by them because of it (see slavery or British food).