Seen from The Americas, Europe looks like myriad of languages and religions with most of them having a score to settle for some injustice that took place recently or long time ago. In countries like Finland and the Baltic States, the main motive for independence was ethnic. The strife in the breakup of Yugoslavia is a recent tragic case of ethnic civil war.
Has Europe changed from the times when racism reached horrific proportions during Nazi Germany? Certainly it has but the seed of such hatred hasn’t been yet nipped from the bud.
Alfred Rosenberg, the Karl Marx of Nazi Germany’s mistaken race ideology, argued that Germany had become weak because religious groups like the Jews lived in the same country as the Germans. For Germany to regain its past greatness — he said — it had to banish the Jews and ensure that Aryans married their kind.
What a load of bologna! If that type of twisted reasoning is correct, then the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia have been undermined by hordes of migrants who adapted and became a part of such societies.
Europe, as opposed to The Americas, is still slow in realizing that a multicultural society is the way ahead. In some European Union countries, such a reality is still more of a theoretical treatise than a practical matter that government should enforce and encourage.
Possibly the UK is the most “tolerant” multicultural country in the EU with the least tolerant being the Baltic Republics.
High unemployment among foreigners in the EU and the treatment of some minorities are sad examples that Europe is still distant from creating a just and dynamic multicultural society.
You know I have no problems with ethnicity; the Devil himself can move into my neighbourhood; man I’ll share a room with him/her but he better be in a union just like I am, for I am a migrant too. I’ll share bread with him or her but don’t under-cut me in the labour market. Don’t no one go taking the food off my table: that’s just a fact of life. It ain’t because he’s black or whatever. I will not work for less and that’s the way it should be. If it’s a case of working harder and faster then you got to keep up with that, you have to work harder and faster too, but please please, why work for less when you don’t have to, unless it’s not legal.
Dear Paddy, many thanks for your comment. You bring up an interesting question on how migrants can undermine labor markets by not belonging in a union. One of the most important matters in the European Union and in countries like the U.S. IS to pass laws that don’t encourage migrants to work in the black. In the US this is a big problem. The reason why things have moved slowly on this front is because its convenient for companies to hire illegal migrants and pay them chicken-fee wages. Low labor costs helps keep down overheads.
As someone born and bred in London, and from West Indian parentage, the UK is very tolerant and this is probably because of the Race Relations Act that was put in place back in the 60s. As a result, it has in most cases, given us the protection more so, than when my parents’ generation arrived in London.
We have had our race riots etc but it is only now, I’ve noticed an even greater tolerance towards us but also the rise of the right wing organization the BNP but this is probably due to the identity crisis especially in the white working class community. But this is a process we are going through, and I hope the outcome is that not only do we belong to the United Kingdom but we are committed to it.
Hi Plaintain1, many thanks for your comment. One very important matter in defending the rights of minorities is through the law. Without any law protecting minorities from racism is like walking without a shirt in sub-freezing temperatures. As you mentioned, the Race Relations Act in the UK has played an important role. Advanced democratic countries don’t segregate but give room to other cultures and ethnicities to participate as equals in that country. It’s the best and most effective policy for the country.
you write:
“In my opinion, the greatest challenge that our country faces is the destruction to our environment and biodiversity as well as our way of life.”
And then you are working towards destroying the Finnish culture and the Finnish language and the Finnish way of life? Quite the interesting approach. You apparently don’t respect native peoples’ rights to their own culture?
Enrique, have you managed to show ANY multicultural society which works?
No.
They all come with huge issues with one of more… Instability, lack of development, poverty, crime, intercultural conflict…
Multiculturalism never works, because it is too fragile system. In UK, your “wonderland”, they are suffering from cultural conflict. NONE of the problems UK had before multiculturalism has been solved, but plethora more have been introduced.
I know, you try to say that multiculturalism fails because few people start campaigning for monoculturalism. But that is the whole point…
Multiculturalism only works when there are no problems. It requires perfect, static conditions to stay together. First problem and multiculturalism falls apart into conflict.
And such static conditions are not possible. There will always be tensions, there will always be someone somewhere causing issues. Value of systems on which we build societies is determined by how well those systems survive from such hardships.
Monocultural societies do fine, they are by nature strong and robust. They take the blow and survive.
Multicultural ones fall apart. Turn into civil wars where monoculturalism is being driven with force of arms.
Enrique, prove that multiculturalism could work in real world. Then speak of spreading it. Else you just try to spread something that is more like plague. Source of suffering.
ENRIQE!!! ME BE WAITING FOR PROOF!!!
Whether you like it or not, Europeans have a right to be proud of their culture. Most racism nowadays is due to a backlash against Europeans bring forced to diversify.
America -the melting pot- Revolves around retention of cultures while still remaining the free American spirit, whereas in Europe many immigrants ignore their hosts mores and laws. France has literally all Muslim areas where the French dare not set foot, because their laws do not apply. These immigrants can’t assimilate, and eventually just leads to misery not only to the Europeans themselves but also the Muslims and north africans who move there. It’s just an all around terrible idea. We need to fix up the countries of orgin so there wouldn’t be a temptation to transplant into a society they don’t belong to.
Hi No, thank you for your thread and welcome to Migrant Tales.
Your point of view strikes me as that of the Gates of Vienna and the Counter-Jihad. In other words, you don’t want Muslims to move to Europe because they are a threat and will take us over, right? In the United States we have the US Nazi Party that is getting ready for a race war between whites and blacks.
All this, in my opinion, is baloney.
enrique. stop reading what you want to read. Many immigrants is far from all of them. Some cant or dont want to assimilate and then ruin the image and the efforts of the vast majority who actually is 100 percent part of the society in the host country.
So those ones shouldnt stay in the host country after years on trying to integrate them and i think its better for everybody. For them (who dont feel like home anyway), for the others immigrants and for the host country.
And by not be able to integrate or refuse to integrate I mean breaking the laws and showing no respect to the host country. Go to Paris or Bruxelles saturday night and you will understand.
The problem is that the media, politics, etc only talk about the bad apples. Meanwhile the other immigrants who are well integrated suffer from this bad publicity
Vincebel, all of the material quoted as sources on this blog are from well-known and established publications. I am very careful about that.
Do you know what the difference between assimilation and integration is? I certainly believe you do. Assimilation means losing your identity whereas with integration is a one-way process and integration is two-way. These are very general terms. Even if another culture wanted it, I doubt that anyone assimilates 100% to a new culture. I personally like the term “adaption” instead of integration. In order for adaption to be successful you have to have mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities. That is why if parties like the PS ever decided on how people should adapt to Finland, it would never happen because the majority always controls the minority.
Since humans are social animals, they learn how to adapt. Most immigrants that move to a country want to adapt and be accepted by their hosts. However, this doesn’t usually happen because in some countries, like Germany and France, for example, their is no program or policy on how to make these people “New Germans or New French.” Even if the United States is far from being a perfect country, immigrants can become USAmericans thanks to the acceptance of cultural diversity and they have a goal (the USAmerican dream). All of this is still in the diaper stage in Finland and in other European countries.
So, instead of blaming the immigrants, why don’t we speak of pathways of incorporation and how integration or adaption can work more effectively. I personally believe it hinges on three key ideas: mutual acceptance, mutual respect and equal opportunities. If you have in place those three matters, you are off on the right track.
Among the majority or minority you will always have those that cannot adapt. We must remember that the majority do and want to. Why? Because it is in their interest.
Let’s then look at the causes that hinder adaption.
‘Among the majority or minority you will always have those that cannot adapt. We must remember that the majority do and want to. Why? Because it is in their interest.’
exactly its my point. Nobody blames the immigrants, they blame the social behaviour of some immigrants.
and yeah when i came in Finland i was positively surprised that there was an integration plan. Never headr about that before.
vincebel
Formal integration programmes were introduced following sustained lobbying by immigrant organisations, particularly following the interim report of the Migration and Refugee Policy Commission in 1996. Finland then became the first country in Europe to legislate in this field.
The need for integration programmes was not strongly felt before the arrival of large numbers of Russian-speaking immigrants under the Ingrian resettlement scheme of the early 1990s.