"Don" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
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"Don" wrote in message
...


All of my family, from the 1800's forward, have been born and
raised
in
the
US.
How is this relevent to anything?

Well, your comment about diversity probably doesn't come from ideas
or
feelings which exist in a vacuum, right?

I keep seeing where diversity is a good thing, but I have yet to see a
reason why.
Can you say why diversity is a good thing?

This might be a bit abstract, or reflect what *I* find valuable, but
here
goes: I don't know how old you are, but as you advance in age, you'll
notice
more and more how many things in your history textbooks were distorted,
biased, or just plain missing. People are also biased, but even so,
there's
immense value in speaking to people who've lived through things you
haven't.
If you were ever fascinated by stories heard from your grandparents,
it's
because their stories seem like they describe another world, even though
they may have grown up in this country. It follows logically that it
should
be interesting to speak to someone who experienced las limpiezas
("cleansings") in Colombia, or life in Moscow in the 1960s. These
stories
would make you a better citizen. They'd enable you to see through the
bull**** put forth by politicians who give us nothing but pablum, like
commercials.

I am 49 Doug, and I agree with everything you said above, but, it has
nothing to do with the question.
Why is diversity a good thing?

1) Because it exposes you to different types of people. Our leaders make
policy based on myths much of the time. They give us the impression that
other cultures are in direct conflict with ours, when much of the time,
that's dead wrong. If you can't afford to travel overseas, how will you ever
meet people from these cultures, and find out that they just want to live a
peaceful life like everyone else?

2) Because this country has a few large "mindsets" which wield too much
voting power. The Christian right comes to mind first. Even if they never
manage to enact laws based on their lunacy, they *do* manipulate our
legislators into wasting enormous amounts of time debating the lunacy. That
affects all of us. Diversity serves to add variety to voting habits, which
is why (Cubans in Florida aside), politicians still haven't figured out how
Hispanic citizens vote.

3) Because according to "The Economist" (magazine), money sent home by
immigrants dwarfs the foreign aid sent to many countries by our government.
That's a good thing, if you think about it.

4) Because immigrants usually know the REAL definition of trouble. Usually,
it's genocide or war or some such annoyance. This is in sharp contrast to
what many Americans consider a disaster, like J. Crew running out of khakis,
or "American Idol" being preempted by a news conference about the
president's dog being pregnant. In other words, diversity helps us realize
how good we've got it. That enables more people to shut the **** up already
about minutia and deal with REAL problems, like our refusal to take the
blame for our oil addiction or the fact that we throw away enough food every
day to feed half of Africa.

5) Because real Mexican food is nothing like the bull**** served by chain
restaurants. We need real Mexicans.