Multiculturalism as Government Policy: Is there another option?

Jason Soon at Catallaxy Files makes some passing but nonetheless important observations about multiculturalism:

I have long thought that classical liberalism transcends the tired old multiculturalism debate. While the idea of forced assimilation would be foreign to liberal thinking, liberals have also been critical of the idea of imposing multiculturalism from ‘top down’, implicit in the underlying vision of some of its early advocates, who were in favour of people being not just left alone to decide whether or not to choose to retain their native customs, but to be positively encouraged to do so. Indeed this form of multiculturalism is really not so different from older form of nationalism in that it sees ‘ethnic diversity’ as just another ’stock’ to be cultivated and treated as a ‘national strength’.

By contrast, while classical liberals have always been comfortable with cultural diversity they prefer that this be of the natural, unforced kind, the sort of multiculturalism that emerges from the bottom up like in the ‘melting pot’ analogy much used in the US. True multiculturalism would not need a ‘Department of Multicultural Affairs’ and the cultivation of ethnic commissars collaborating with sensitivity watchdogs. In practice I think Australia has resembled more of this melting pot ideal than what the commissars intended and that has been a good thing.

The choice, as it is often understood by Muslims, is between multiculturalism as state ideology and forced monoculturalism as state ideology. In other words, one approach allows us not only cultural freedoms but state sponsorship and protection of those cultures; and the other approach requires us to jettison our respective cultures and adopt a particular culture and set of values as defined by the state.

However, as Jason reminds us, there is a third option: the complete disengagement of the state from the cultural affairs of the citizens it ostensibly serves. I am increasingly of the opinion that, in a society such as Australia, all ethnic and religious communities would be better off if the government just left us alone. If nothing else we would not have witnessed the demeaning and unfortunately public spectacle on the weekend where Imams — supposedly the spiritual cream of the Muslim community — were lectured by a government official as to how they should behave, how they should speak and what they should teach their respective communities. We would not see government attempting to influence the spiritual beliefs of its citizens by lavishing public money on ill-thought schemes such as a government “Imam college” or “conversion packs” for new Muslims. Likewise, we would also not see Muslim leaders engaging in the sort of rent-seeking that we have seen of late.