Life in the melting...um salad pot

A friend who lives in California and I were talking about how multiculturalism has taken over in California. "My daughter," he said, "has been taught that we Americans live in a 'salad bowl'...not the 'melting pot.'"

Multiculturalism is the failed social philosophy that officially stresses "mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a country's borders." It is a "salad bowl."

America became great because many cultures flowed together in a noble melting pot to become a culture greater than any of the individuals that formed it. To think that we can long exist as a nation formed of several or many individual cultures is to ignore the lessons of history.

The word multiculturalism was first applied to Switzerland in the 1950's according to Wikipedia. It is true that Switzerland is a long-lived nation of four languages (German, French, Italian and Romish) and somewhat dissimilar cultures. But to think that the Swiss model can be applied generally makes as much sense as suggesting that the apparent success of the communal life style of the early Christian Church proves that Communism works.

The success of Communism is, of course, everywhere apparent.

Multiculturalism is a threat to California, and it is a threat to our republic. The "melting pot" analogy of the building of our republic is as valid today as it has ever been. And the necessity for a common language is as important as it has ever been, and today even more so.

We must make English the national language of the United States. We would do well to promote the learning of multiple languages in homes and schools, especially the languages of donor cultures. We would also do well to encourage the inclusion of cultural ways that are consistent with the larger national culture. As our nation becomes more Hispanic and more Asian in character, it seems only right that our culture would tilt in ways large and small in those directions.

The pathway from the salad bowl leads to disunity and perhaps even civil war. The pathway from the melting pot has led to greatness, and it can continue to be so if we can stay the course.