I am being totally realistic about this. Of course there will be. Very few positives are achieved socially without some negative consequences. Eutopias of any sort exist only in people's imaginations.
Can I return to your comment about 'irrespective of their impact on pre-existing customs and practices.' Where did that come from? Obviously, some immigrants DO want to bring in practices that violate the rights of others in the community, but that isn't multiculturalism - it's a consequence and one that needs resisting and which I would resist along with you. To say the only way to prevent this is to admit no other culture to the country is simply throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
If I read that right it means that no-one can delude themselves into believing that they can circumvent the law here just because something is allowed or accepted elsewhere. If so, that's good!
We can all see such changes for the worse, especially very recently, and I'm all for nipping any of those in the bud if they are against the law, but in multiculturalism as a general principle there have been many changes for the better as well.
If we are headed down a path of religious and social intolerance, then it's obvious to me that the changes produced by immigration in the past decade or two are simply too fast, and yes, that we may be letting people come here who are the wrong sort of people. But that doesn't, to my mind, blow the whole thing out of the water. We have too many good immigrants who love this country and want to make it work, but who have colourful and interesting customs that don't hurt us one bit. On the contrary. If they have customs that *do* we need to nip those in the bud. We need to sort out what these underlying problems are and act on them. There's no threat to this country from any immigrant who understands this.
Rifty -- Academic and Computing Help
