immigration, identity and Islam
February 18, 2007 10:34 PM   Subscribe

immigration, identity and Islam: A short essay by Francis Fukuyama on why western societies need to rethink their assimilation of immigrants to prevent terror. via.
posted by atchafalaya (10 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: single link op-ed? not so much with the best of the web.



 
Whoa, d00d. History is so ended!
posted by davy at 10:56 PM on February 18, 2007


And "short" my pimply ass: on Print Preview it came to 10 flipping pages of unoriginal opinionation.
posted by davy at 11:01 PM on February 18, 2007


this kinda reads like someone's sophomore-year western civ final paper.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 11:10 PM on February 18, 2007


This is what is known in the newspaper columnist trade as a "thumbsucker," i.e. a windy, general pontifiction on a topic without contributing any new reporting nor offering any useful facts. And this was 15 times longer and less interesting to read.
posted by twsf at 11:17 PM on February 18, 2007


I am no big fan of Fukuyama, but this seemed bad even for him.
posted by k8t at 12:30 AM on February 19, 2007


OMG - fear others
posted by caddis at 12:42 AM on February 19, 2007


Linked on the Prospect sidebar is a much better article on much the same subject.

When the LA riots happened, did any respectable academics say that it was an early sign of an impending clash of civilisations? Or would that have been considered, you know, stupid and racist?
posted by stammer at 1:02 AM on February 19, 2007


I guess there are a lot of people in this world smart enough to be able to tell that Thomas Friedman is talking out of his arse, but not smart enough to notice that Francis Fukuyama is and has always been full of shit. This column is written for those people.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 1:48 AM on February 19, 2007


Liberalism is implemented hypocritically in Europe? Certainly. This causes muslim immigrants to become terrorists? Not so certain.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 3:21 AM on February 19, 2007


A new word for me: consociational

For which I am thankful, the rest, not so much.

'Immigrants are welcome so long as they work rather than draw welfare and, thanks to US-style flexible labour markets, there are plenty of low-skill jobs to take. But in much of the rest of Europe, a combination of inflexible work rules and generous benefits means that immigrants come in search not of work but of welfare.'

I have heard of no research into migration which backs up this claim. Think about it for a second, would you leave your friends, culture, family, geography etc. to go somewhere else and get welfare? People suffer the upheaval in order to better themselves and support their family. Who do you know that would have the gumption to uproot themselves, but is not interested in making a living somehow? The vast majority of immigrants do not know the destination that the trafficers are taking them to at all, and/or are lied to anyway. If they are unemployed, it is not by choice.

Some of the subjects he touches are interesting, such as the meaning of national identity, he takes some small steps toward an interesting discussion.

AFAIK the existance of religious extremism in Europe and other secular countries is to some extent a product of their liberalism. This is because the extremists can't preach in Muslim societies because they are not part of the mainstream. Ironically, the liberal democracies which they preach against are their lifeline, Muslim society does not accept or approve of them on the whole.
Most people in the world want the simple things in life, like peace and prosperity not being preached to by whoever.
posted by asok at 3:45 AM on February 19, 2007


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