Multiculturalism

Is it wrong to want to preserve your own culture? There are many groups that have no desire to assimilate into the mainstream. They wish to preserve their way of life and the things that make them the people that they are. They don’t want to be equal so much as they want to be left alone to be themselves. The Aborigines of Australia come to mind as an example of this. In the United States they are groups that have to a certain degree that same viewpoint, as examples: Rednecks, African Americans and the even better example of the Amish. (Note: This is a view held by parts of these groups, perhaps not even a majority).
I sympathize with this sentiment; I must say however that I think that it is a losing battle. First off, it is pretty much a one way trip to assimilation, with a few exceptions. Attempts to recreate a culture tend to create a new one, not continuity with the old one. The majority of historic cultures are dead – why are ours any different? Thirdly, the disadvantages of turning your back on the modern world are heavy in deed. One must participate in it. Participation is the beginning of assimilation.
A solution to this problem – an attempt to have the best of both worlds – is multiculturism. It has had some successes and a lot of failure. When successful we get a vibrant city where cultures enrich each other and artistic/cultural/scientific advancement take place.
Failures of multiculturism are numerous; from Belfast to the suburbs of Paris to the Balkans. The solution to these problems is often the same: separation of the different cultures. Consider the walls of Belfast, the canton system of Switzerland, separate countries in the Balkans, Abraham and Lot separating their camps. In other words, uniculturalism was the solution. Why did multiculturalism fail in those cases?
I don’t know but here are some possibilities: People just like to be with people like them. As an example people tend to congregate on blogs that are of like political orientation, get their news from similar POV’s etc.
Another problem is that it is difficult to interact successfully with people who have different customs. You have no way to judge if they are taking advantage of you, or how one is expected to behave. Yes, it is possible to learn those things but it comes at higher cost, oftentimes people decide just to retreat turtle like into isolation.
The final problem with multiculturism is that its successes always seem to be in a large cosmopolitan city – London or New York. The problem with that is cities are often population sinks – cities that rely on immigration to maintain its population. If multiculturalism only works where people have given up on future generations then it is not sustainable.