Germany's Merkel Claims Multiculturalism has failed
Economy: Why Kenya’s entertainment industry has failed?
Sarkozy Insults Obama, Merkel, and Zapatero
Failed Boycott of Campbell Soup
Failed policy overdose: Colombia moves to Africa
How Obama Failed the White Man’s Test
Unlike many, I have no problem with the concept of multiculturalism. What other cultures bring to our countries, from their foods to their arts, enriches our lives in many different ways. When it becomes a problem is when those immigrants refuse to integrate into the society of their host countries. If someone moves to an English speaking country it's incumbent upon them to learn English, if someone moves to China they better learn Chinese, or Arabic if they happen to move to Saudi Arabia. But this is not happening in many different nations including Germany, and people are starting to get fed up. In fact, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel finally had the guts to say that multiculturalism has failed in her country and that things need to change. Although I draw short of commending her for saying that immigrants should adopt Christian values (since I believe in freedom of religion), those of other religions do need to respect that Germany is a Christian country and adapt to her societal norms not expect Germany to adapt to their cultural and religious values.
"Multikulti", the concept that "we are now living side by side and are happy about it," does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam near Berlin."This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values.
"We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the chancellor.
"Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages.
Indeed, if Germany is going to provide for its immigrant population, they need to make an effort to adapt and integrate. Last week, Merkel discussed the whole problem of integration with Turkish P.M. Recep Tayyip Erdogan who agreed that the 2.5 million Turks living in Germany should try better to integrate into German society. He was backed by President Abdullah Gul, who said regarding learning the German language
"When one doesn't speak the language of the country in which one lives that doesn't serve anyone, neither the person concerned, the country, nor the society," the Turkish president told the Suedeutsche Zeitung."That is why I tell them at every opportunity that they should learn German, and speak it fluently and without an accent. That should start at nurseries."
Merkel did acknowledge that "Islam is part of Germany", but believes that Muslim clerics should be trained in Germany.
A lot of the anti-immigrant (read anti-Muslim) backlash in countries like Germany is a direct result of the unwillingness to integrate into society. One can adapt to one's new homeland without giving up one's culture, or one's religious mores. Embrace your new homeland and the locals will embrace you back.
