Can any nation really succeed where citizens see themselves first as members of different "heritages?"

Question

Just looking at what happened in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, current Iraq, the former Soviet Union, etc.- am I wrong or did these nations dissolve largely(or face bloody civil war) due to the fact that groups of people in each of these places saw themselves as having different "heritages" rather than uniting together and seeing themselves first as members of a common country with a shared/common culture? If immigrants from first Hispanic countries come here and see no reason to assimilate/share a common language and culture with the larger American society and then immigrants from other nations and languages follow suit (which already seems to be happening from what I see here in Michigan), would it be reasonable to think that such multi-culturalism/"balkanization" within the US would lead to the similar results here? If people don't share a common sense of allegiance to the country they live in first and foremost over any ethnicity/heritage they have, what happens? Any thoughts?

Yep Eric- Canada is about as close as an example I could find too. However, how many times has Quebec seriously considered ceding from the rest of Canada. I think Quebec only remains part of Canada because the French Canadians there still find more benefits to living in a greater Canada as a state within a state rather than to try and create their own nation. Otherwise, I'm sure Raven can point out some other issues with Canadian politics, multi-culturalism, etc. (I myself live a mile from the Canadian border).

Answer 1

Great points.
It's time to put aside where you are from and be proud of where you are.

Answer 2

Hyphenated-americanism basically sucks, and it's a way for some people/groups to take a free ride/get to the head of the line/a way for apologists and liberals to cleanse their souls of american karma...which admittedly isn't all fresh clover and juicy apples. At the same time, our tendency towards unity as a country is a positive for the future, a hedge against the fall of darkness...I for one read about europe ,and the dark ages, and I fully believe it's possible to see all that again even in the 21st century. Imagine if just 2 things, schools and electricity, failed to work, for like a really long time....you don't think superstition would make a snappy comeback? If 'any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic' as one guy put it,
how many generations would it take for technophiles to be burned at the stake for heresy against the Church?(Bible etc. don't run on batteries, ergo they wouldn't be affected by power outages and the like.) I also think heritage doesn't amount to a hill of crap if you're desperate, and starving. You only know that you're hungry...we have miles to go in America before everyone's got everything they need in life, and there's a really good chance we'll never see that day, honestly, because there's always new kids being born that don't ever learn english, and therefore are about automatically excluded from the real business world etc.

I think we should have one language, one flag, and welcome all that are willing to pledge allegiance to same. Ya can't be in 2 places at the same time, nor honestly a citizen of 2 countries,
thus the schism that is today's immigration policy in america.

Answer 3

If people would come here and unite WITH the Citizens of the USA instead of thinking they are the majority and want to change us to be like THEM there wouldn't be such a backlash. Those people need to assimilate, give their allegience to the USA, learn OUR language, fly OUR flag, sing OUR anthem in OUR language, respect and obey OUR laws, respect OUR citizens who have fought for this country, lived here for many generations and voted, made changes for the better and built this country to what it is today. They should not be here protesting, flying the flag of the country they had to leave, demanding rights they don't have and disrepect out laws, leaders, citizens and culture. WE will not bow down to THEM! The illegal immigrants are not a LEGAL part of the U.S.A. They should go back home, this is not their home.

Answer 4

We all know that the range of human behavior is far more intricate and diverse than any pat answer can provide to this question. As a species, one of the reasons for our success in achieving intellectual self-awareness may rest in our ability to organize things. Hence, a natural outgrowth of this impetus is the desire to organize ourselves into groups with common affinity. One of the easiest groups is the one in which we are born.
With regard to American society, these fundamental drives and ideals clash in the sense that Mexican immigrants have easy access to their home culture through a virtually open boundary zone between the nations. Other immigrant cultures have both assimilated AND maintained a cultural distinctivness within their generations. Italians, Irish, Portugese, Japanese, Chinese, and more have maintained a sense of pride in their culture with annual fairs and festivals, community centers, cultural shops, marketplaces, and more.
Indeed the ideal of America being a "Great American Melting Pot" wherein all people merge into one is in direct competition with the ideals of rugged individualism and "strenght through diversity". Both are significant, if competing, ideals in the American psyche.
Throw in a health dose of modern and not-too-future technology which allows people to visit each other virtually from across the planet is already altering immigration even from such places as India, Africa, and Russia. The need to assimilate decreases again when near future tech allows us to have active translation devices in our cellphone headpieces, eliminating the need to actually learn the language of a foreign land. While this bodes well for vanishing cultures and peoples whose languages are dying out, it will certainly have mixed repercussions in our brave new world.
Michael Savage has defined a nation as borders, language, culture, and finding ways to strengthen cultural ties between our many subcultures is an ongoing effort that every American must step up to in order to keep the republic together.
Even with technology providing a digital fix to the language issue, this does not necessarily alleviate all issues that can derive therefrom. Indeed, it is clear from active MRI and PET scans of live human brains that language shapes our ability to view and analyze the world around us. It can limit our options or expand our horizons; hence it is clear that not all languages are created equal. Do we run the risk of creating a second-class society of haves and have-nots because some can afford (or will be permitted to) download all translation mods, while others (the lower classes) will not be privy to the "elite speak", a la George Orwell revisited?
Perhaps the ability of each person to dissolve his ties to the nations which bind him and take upon himself the powers of the Earth to be free, independent, and rugged in his individualism will come upon us some day. A world without borders, bombs or nations...straight out of the Haight Ashbury haze of the 60's would probably consist of a bunch of lazy, shiftless hippies, but it would answer the heritage question. lol

Answer 5

It's a nice sentiment but there isn't a developed country in the world where people don't see themselves as having different heritages. I would consider any westernized democracy to be successful. The countries you chose are those where it got out of hand.
Although I do believe that respect for the country you reside in should be strongly encouraged amongst all immigrants, I don't believe in changing our values to suit their beliefs (political correctness).

Answer 6

it's been like that forever in the US, and we've done ok so far, don't you think? pretty much every country in the world deals with multiple heritages because migration has been going on throughout time. honestly, i can't think of any reason to put nationality above all of my other identities. and i can't think of any reason to pledge allegiance to my nationality before or instead of pledging allegiance to the other groups of which i am a member. any type of such grouping and inclusion/exclusion marking is potential cause for hatred and dispute.

so there are a few latinos in town who don't speak english and all the signs in target are bilingual. so what?! is that worse than half the arab world hating me and wanting to do me harm just because i'm american?

william p is spot on. the world is rapidly globalizing. we can work with that undeniable fact and create a world that works best for everyone, or we can try to fight it, fighting our neighbors along the way and causing unimaginable damage in the name of nationalism.

Answer 7

Canada is a classic case in which different heritages can come to a united nation with identical values. It's a salad bowl. then again, Canada is pretty much the only one, and its got its own problems.

Answer 8

I couldn't agree more with you. Here in Canada we have what I believe is a terrible immigration system. Not because of the immigrants but because our defunct Liberal party and all the lefties here urge them to keep their "heritages". Instead of them becoming "Canadians" they are hyphenated Canadians. Even the second generation immigrants still refer to their parents place of origin eg. Lebanon, Iraq, etc as THEIR COUNTRY . Their country IS CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 9

Yes.

Having different cultural or religious or ethic affiliations is not fatal to national unity. What is fatal is when you identify more strongly with those than you do with the country, to the point where you attack anyone who is different than you.

It's not the differences nor the diversity that causes conflicts. It's the intolerance of differences.

Answer 10

You're totally right!!!! People who came here in the past,were PROUD and thankful to be in America,and they considered themselves AMERICANS,first and formost!!!! This country can NOT sustain all these people who are putting their own culture first!!!

Answer 11

The answer is yes, multiculturism will lead to the downfall of the US, if we don't all get on the same boat. You can already see it happening, if you look closely enough and don't deny what you're seeing.