MY PERSPECTIVE
In the natural world, life is dependent upon diversity. The greater the diversity of different plants and animals that can live together in a particular environment, the healthier that environment will be.
In such a healthy, diverse environment, there will be a greater variety of things to eat… and there will be more predators to eat them. There will also be less chance of any one critter getting eaten by a predator. It is the origin of the idea that there is safety in numbers.
So, there is benefit for the critters in a part of the natural world where there is great diversity.
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One can also say that there is strength in diversity in human life, but it is more complicated.
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For one thing, food is not a factor, at least in the sense that we don’t eat each other.
Of course, anyone who has travelled to other countries will probably say that it was fun to encounter different ways of eating. Likewise, anyone who lives in a diverse metropolitan area, will likely say that they love the rich variety of food that is easily obtained.
The same thing goes for entertainment; architectural styles; our customs of behavior; the way we learn and express ourselves; the way we play; the way we work; the way we express ourselves; the way we address differences of opinion; and, how we think about business and government. All become remarkably more varied, the more diverse the area in which we live is.
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People who have grown up in more homogenous parts of the world, or of our country, may not develop such an appreciation of diverse human culture. They may misunderstand it, not appreciate it, or may even feel threatened by such diversity.
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For humans, the more diverse we are, the more complicated living together becomes. Therefore, the more difficult self-governance becomes in a representative democracy like the United States of America.
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Despite our differences in a culture as diverse as ours, one thing seems common place.
When it comes to governance, we tend to be exclusivist in our various approaches to diversity. We tend to include people with whom we agree, and exclude those with whom we disagree. The temptation for liberals is to celebrate diversity with all people who support an open society where all points of view are encouraged, as long as those points of view are not too conservative. The temptation for conservatives is to be restrictive of liberal points of view.
The complexity of the problem easily becomes dizzying, with confusion and conflict reigning in some of our most beloved institutions, such as, universities.
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One consequence is that we seem to seek shelter in areas where we feel like we are in sync with our neighbors. We gravitate to “Blue States” and “Red States.” or “Blue” and “Red” parts of States. We align ourselves with an increasingly left wing Democratic Party, or an increasingly right wing Republican party, or the ground in between occupied by Independents.
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MY CONCLUSIONS
First, our country has become extraordinarily diverse over the last 60 years, far more diverse than most other countries.
Second, our way of thinking about and talking about how to govern ourselves with our new diversity has barely evolved beyond where it was 60 years ago…
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MY HOPE
I am a hopeful skeptic… That is, I hope for the best, but expect the worst, unless we do something about it.
If we are to survive as the United States of America, we obviously have to come to grips with the emerging reality of who we are.
I hope that Americans of all perspectives will long for rebuilding the way we govern our country.
And I hope that Americans will demand that our elected leaders act together in the interests of all the American people to do so, rather than to dither.
We require an understanding of what it means to be a diverse America. We cannot survive with one party banking on support for diversity and one party banking on opposition to the very same thing.
E Pluribus Unum either means something to us as a diverse people or we are in big trouble.
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I hope you have enjoyed this brief journey into the land of reflection….
On Sunday, we’ll be back with the regular Morning Glimpses.
Grace and peace to you,
Art Mills, Writer and Photographer, and Thea Mills, Editor
Morning Glimpses 