However, just because Britain tries to maintain "harmony" doesn't mean that's a better model than the US's tending divisive nature.
Oh absolutely. As alias_sqr points out down thread, it can lead to complacency, the assumption that there is nothing that needs to be fixed and even greater quashing of minorities' attempts to be heard. I personally think our current system is deeply flawed and will lead to ever increasing divisiveness and misery all round.
I do think though that it is vital to remember the differences and not try to apply the same solutions across the board. As you point out, the US has a very different attitude to immigrants compared to the attitude in the UK. Both countries seem to have got it wrong but we have got it wrong in different ways and for different reason.
You can't grow, can't get better without contention. Can't solve problems if no one ever mentions them, or makes light of them. I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. The most successful changes seem to me to always arise when people work from within the system and use existing power structures, and those often happen best in the least confrontational and challenging fashion. Obviously you can't solve problems if you don't discuss them at all, but the idea that there is some intrinsic merit in confrontation per se is not one I can agree with. (But to assume that by contention you meant direct confrontation may be to read too much into your words, in which case I apologise.)
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Date: 2008-02-27 03:33 pm (UTC)Oh absolutely. As alias_sqr points out down thread, it can lead to complacency, the assumption that there is nothing that needs to be fixed and even greater quashing of minorities' attempts to be heard. I personally think our current system is deeply flawed and will lead to ever increasing divisiveness and misery all round.
I do think though that it is vital to remember the differences and not try to apply the same solutions across the board. As you point out, the US has a very different attitude to immigrants compared to the attitude in the UK. Both countries seem to have got it wrong but we have got it wrong in different ways and for different reason.
I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. The most successful changes seem to me to always arise when people work from within the system and use existing power structures, and those often happen best in the least confrontational and challenging fashion. Obviously you can't solve problems if you don't discuss them at all, but the idea that there is some intrinsic merit in confrontation per se is not one I can agree with. (But to assume that by contention you meant direct confrontation may be to read too much into your words, in which case I apologise.)