Ties that bind

Recent books like Londonistan examine in detail what many pundits already discuss: that in many nations of Europe there is an unassimilated group of immigrants who are isolated from the society at large, and resent both that society and their own isolation.

This is not just a European or Muslim issue. America is also failing to acculturate its new arrivals, from whatever lands, to the system that made the nation so attractive to them in the first place. To their credit, many immigrants arrive legally and DO embrace "the American dream," complete with the personal accomodations that embrace requires.

Therein lies the problem. Earlier waves of immigrants in Europe and the U.S. changed modes of dress, learned the local language and in many cases even submitted to the localization of their family name. They did so in a trade calculated to make them part of a society they believed offered a better way of life.

Today, however, globalization means one does not sever the ties to the old when moving to a new land. It's human nature to take the path of least resistance, and that path in this case often leads to enjoying some of the material benefits of the new world while shunning its cultural trappings. One can continue to listen to radio and TV in the "old tongue," never bothering to learn the language and traditions that would allow neighbors to become a neighborhood. While racism and fear still exist, much of the isolation these groups seethe against is self-imposed.

Official policy often reinforces this tragic choice. Education is offered in many languages, as is the ability to vote or otherwise participate in civic life. Thus, no incentive ever materializes to get OFF the path of least resistance. Law enforcement becomes caught in a maze of competing cultures, where an act the natives find repugnant--physical punishment of a spouse, for instance--is ignored or protected for the newcomers because it's "their way." In an age of no transcendent standards, there is no basis to require personal accomodation to the new land.

Our nature is a tribal one. The great gift of the West was developing traditions that allowed "tribe" to be based on something more than skin color or facial features. That required the creation of a different "tribal" identity. In America, that process was called the "melting pot," and today the concept is held in derision. Without it, though, what we have is a growing number of tribes, each with their own identity, sharing a common space with only the dollar or euro economy to tie them together. That is a fragile link, particularly when self-imposed isolation means the newcomer is living among the better life while refusing to do what would allow him fully to become part of it.

In the name of individual rights we ironically have created cultural ghettos where the individual is cut off from the best we have to offer, and instead faces frustration and resentment. You reap what you sow, and this may be a bitter harvest indeed.