S
Slubbert
Gjest
Fra intervju med Bruce Bawer, PhD (www.brucebawer.com); amerikanskfødt forfatter bosatt i Oslo (mine uthevinger):
FP: Tell us about European attitudes toward immigration/immigrants in comparison to American attitudes.
Bawer: For decades, Western Europe has been admitting huge numbers of immigrants for decades, most of them Muslims. But the way theyve handled them has been disastrous. The European elite hates America so much that instead of recognizing the U.S. as a model of how to integrate newcomers, they rejected the American approach entirely. They chose to view immigrants as members of groups rather than as individuals, as dependent children rather than adults who are potentially self-sufficient and responsible, and as exotic alien creatures who should remain exotic rather than as Europeans in the making. When I was first living in Norway, politicians and journalists were in the habit of congratulating Muslims for having turned Norway into a colorful society a fargerik felleskap. Nobody seemed to realize how condescending this was, or how at odds it was with Martin Luther Kings dream of a colorblind society. I was also shocked to hear people refer to immigrants European-born children as second-generation immigrants. And their children were third-generation immigrants. This summed up an incredibly dramatic difference in the ways Americans and Europeans thought about immigrants. My fathers parents were Polish, but never in my life had it occurred to me to think of myself as a third-generation immigrant or of my father as a second-generation immigrant. The idea was ludicrous . We were Americans, period.
America encourages immigrants to go to work, learn the language, and become full members of society; Europe encourages immigrants to live apart and maintain their cultures and lifestyles and values without adjusting in the slightest to their new environment. This is called multiculturalism. And its been a disaster. In America, immigrants tend to make the switch to English relatively quickly; by contrast, an incredible number of European children (and even grandchildren) of immigrants are barely able to speak the language of the country in which they were born. Immigrants to the U.S. are also far more likely into enter the work force than immigrants in Europe, and are better paid.
In Europe, the elite prefers its minorities unintegrated, and the supposed reason is that it respects differences. But the real reason is a profound discomfort with the idea of them becoming us. Anyone can become an American; but an immigrant to Norway or the Netherlands will never really be thought of by anyone as Norwegian or Dutch.
In Norway theres a comedienne named Shabana Rehman whose parents brought her to Norway from Pakistan when she was a baby. On her website, she writes: I speak strikingly good Norwegian. But most native Norwegians I meet wish that it was a little broken. Ive seen this attitude. Americans are delighted to hear immigrants speaking English. By contrast, many Norwegians are uncomfortable when they hear a Pakistani speaking Norwegian. One thing I still find remarkable in Norway is the frequency with which people use the expression Like barn leker best. Its a very common expression and it means something like Children play best with other children who are like themselves. Ive heard it being said a thousand times by people who think of themselves as devout multiculturalists.
The most successful immigrant group in the history of the world is American Jews. Why? Because they integrated enthusiastically into the mainstream of American society. They rejected the ghetto and embraced American pluralism. In Europe, this same eagerness to belong, to contribute, and to thrive and not remain segregated and ghettoized led to the Jews near-extermination. It seems to me that part of the reason why anti-Semitism is so widespread in Europe while Islam is often treated with kid gloves is that the European elite has a reflexive contempt for a group that blends in and a reflexive respect for a group that holds itself proudly apart and resists assimilation. Thats a formula for disaster.
Hele intervjuet: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22563
FP: Tell us about European attitudes toward immigration/immigrants in comparison to American attitudes.
Bawer: For decades, Western Europe has been admitting huge numbers of immigrants for decades, most of them Muslims. But the way theyve handled them has been disastrous. The European elite hates America so much that instead of recognizing the U.S. as a model of how to integrate newcomers, they rejected the American approach entirely. They chose to view immigrants as members of groups rather than as individuals, as dependent children rather than adults who are potentially self-sufficient and responsible, and as exotic alien creatures who should remain exotic rather than as Europeans in the making. When I was first living in Norway, politicians and journalists were in the habit of congratulating Muslims for having turned Norway into a colorful society a fargerik felleskap. Nobody seemed to realize how condescending this was, or how at odds it was with Martin Luther Kings dream of a colorblind society. I was also shocked to hear people refer to immigrants European-born children as second-generation immigrants. And their children were third-generation immigrants. This summed up an incredibly dramatic difference in the ways Americans and Europeans thought about immigrants. My fathers parents were Polish, but never in my life had it occurred to me to think of myself as a third-generation immigrant or of my father as a second-generation immigrant. The idea was ludicrous . We were Americans, period.
America encourages immigrants to go to work, learn the language, and become full members of society; Europe encourages immigrants to live apart and maintain their cultures and lifestyles and values without adjusting in the slightest to their new environment. This is called multiculturalism. And its been a disaster. In America, immigrants tend to make the switch to English relatively quickly; by contrast, an incredible number of European children (and even grandchildren) of immigrants are barely able to speak the language of the country in which they were born. Immigrants to the U.S. are also far more likely into enter the work force than immigrants in Europe, and are better paid.
In Europe, the elite prefers its minorities unintegrated, and the supposed reason is that it respects differences. But the real reason is a profound discomfort with the idea of them becoming us. Anyone can become an American; but an immigrant to Norway or the Netherlands will never really be thought of by anyone as Norwegian or Dutch.
In Norway theres a comedienne named Shabana Rehman whose parents brought her to Norway from Pakistan when she was a baby. On her website, she writes: I speak strikingly good Norwegian. But most native Norwegians I meet wish that it was a little broken. Ive seen this attitude. Americans are delighted to hear immigrants speaking English. By contrast, many Norwegians are uncomfortable when they hear a Pakistani speaking Norwegian. One thing I still find remarkable in Norway is the frequency with which people use the expression Like barn leker best. Its a very common expression and it means something like Children play best with other children who are like themselves. Ive heard it being said a thousand times by people who think of themselves as devout multiculturalists.
The most successful immigrant group in the history of the world is American Jews. Why? Because they integrated enthusiastically into the mainstream of American society. They rejected the ghetto and embraced American pluralism. In Europe, this same eagerness to belong, to contribute, and to thrive and not remain segregated and ghettoized led to the Jews near-extermination. It seems to me that part of the reason why anti-Semitism is so widespread in Europe while Islam is often treated with kid gloves is that the European elite has a reflexive contempt for a group that blends in and a reflexive respect for a group that holds itself proudly apart and resists assimilation. Thats a formula for disaster.
Hele intervjuet: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22563
