Multicultural societies are to find all over the world. Many of the modern world’s biggest cities are results of such societies, and this that gives both advantages and disadvantages to the civilization.
Discuss the main advantages and disadvantages with mixed societies? In which way can different cultures within one city affect the social environment?
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Multicultural societies have, as all other societies on the planet, both advantages and disadvantages. Today, the world is a much smaller place than a century ago, and many actually mean that the modern world is emerging into one global society. With the help of modern technology we can follow current events and happenings which take place in different parts of the world, and it is possible to travel between countries only on a matter of days or even hours. These modern recourses have gathered the world and created what we today refer to as mixed societies.
ReplyDeleteThe advantages of a population made up of a large number of minorities are many. Personally I believe that the one place in the whole world were most cultures are represented is in New York, and I am therefore going to use New York as an example when I explain what I think is the advantages and disadvantages with multicultural societies.
Many people who study within the field of history believe that the reason why New York growth throughout the last century has been so big is because of all the immigrants. New York is a city built by people from all over the world. It is a city that never sleeps, and a city with temptations around every corner. The multiculturalism gives the city of New York many important advantages. The main advantage is probably the high level of competence within the groups of immigrants. When the different immigrants came to New York they brought with them skills and qualifications that were unknown to the rest of the world. In a way, this makes sure that the different groups of immigrants are highly specialized in their work. This is the reason why New York is known as The Big Apple, it’s a city were the whole world are gathered on one little island. If you find yourself in New York you will be able to satisfy all your needs, no matter were you’re from.
There are also some disadvantages or challenges with a society made up of a large number of minorities. One of the biggest challenges in New York is the crime. When people from all over the world with different history and different background are gathered in one city, it’s only a matter of time before a conflict appears. Because of their different cultural origin everyone will have their own way of handling such a situation. In many cases this can end in crime. Another disadvantage is the language problems. When you come to New York as an immigrant it can be hard to understand the language, and it can therefore be hard to get a job and socialize. As a result of this, immigrants often socialize with each other. This becomes a problem when whole parts of the city are being controlled by immigrants with the same origin. As a consequence of this New York is a divided city, were the difference between rich and poor are very big.
I believe that mixed cultures in a country or Håvard's example in a city can have many advantages aswell. Immagine if you are going to a trip to the desert in the middle east. Who would you rather learn survival techniques from? A person who just says he knows all the tricks, or a person who actually have lived many years in the desert? I think we have the same answer to that question.
ReplyDeleteAll immigrants have lived a different way than others, because of that they are also capable of doing other things than us. We can learn from them, they can learn from us. I personally believe that this is the main advantage of having mixed cultures in a society.
Ofcourse there are som disadvatages aswell. As said before, other cultures have other ways of solving problems and issues. It is only a matter of time before a conflict evolves. An example of this is all the violence, crimes, murdering and other problems we have related to immigrants.
A multicultural society has both positive and negative aspects. Even tough the human right declaration prohibits active discrimination against ethnic groups, there are several people who argue heavily against a multicultural society and they have quite a few supporters. Thus we should take a notice of their arguments.
ReplyDeleteIn a multicultural society people from different cultures and religions are able socialise and discuss their different views and opinions. By using these means they will develop a greater understanding of different cultures and different nations. This will limit the prejudice and the racism in the society. This is mostly the case, but in some cities ghettoes have emerged. This can on the contrary stimulate racism, although it could also limit racism. Thus it is not a clear negative argument.
Another problem with the ghettoes is recently focused upon by Siv Jensen regarding the ghetto in Malmö. She said that the Swedish laws are not obeyed in the Muslim ghetto. This statement is not trustworthy, since many highly regarded persons says this is not the case.
I would say that the arguments against a multicultural society are not founded on a solid base and therefore shall not be valued as much as the pro arguments.
Today the whole world is a multicultural society. The reasons for that are many. Compare with the world for 50 years ago, the world are today much “smaller”. Today people are traveling all over the world on a few hours, and discover new things on the planet. Another reason for the multicultural society I think is that peoples today are much more forthcoming then for many years ago. The world is changing.
ReplyDeleteI think that mixed societies is a big opportunity, especially for young people to learn about other human’s religions and their thoughts about life. A funny thing with multicultural societies is that we have totally different view about things, from country to country. So I think that it is an advantage that we can learn from each other.
Like you said Håvard, it is much more chance for steeling in a society with peoples from all over the world. With different cultural and now idea how they should live in a society with more people and not just them.
But in the end I think it is more advantages with a multicultural society. So go on and make you some friends from another part of the world. :-D
I do also believe that there are advantages of a multicultural society. I mean this because when new cultures are introduced in societies they bring new ways of doing things and new ways to think which may improve the society cultural and scientific. I can give you an example. The pizza were for 100 years ago only eaten in Italy. When Italians migrated to other land for example the USA, they brought along their culture. One of the dishes they brought was the pizza. Now at days almost everyone has eaten a pizza.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism has disadvantages as well. I think biggest disadvantages of multiculturalism are prejudice and stereotyping. As many may notice are often immigrants considered as related to crime. I think that the reality of the problem isn’t as clear as the impression we receive from the media. It might be a higher degree of criminality in immigrant communities. This doesn’t necessary mean that they are more criminal because they are immigrants. It may be the lack of social security in these communities that cause individuals resort to crime. While the assumption that, immigrants commit more crimes, might not be true this causes unfair prejudices towards the immigrants. These prejudices cause frustration in the immigrant communities. This might cause more crime and violence in these communities. As you may see this becomes a never ending circle of evil.
My advice to everybody is, accept everybody as a human being on the same level regardless of their cultural and ethnic background and the society might benefit on it.