The madness that is ‘Diversity Day’ As I was traversing the borough of Bromley this beautiful morning, I was struck (not literally, I hasten to add!) by a poster asking me to ‘Join us to celebrate DIVERSITY DAY in Bromley’ at Bromley Civic Centre. The date for this event was today, promising displays, music, dance, ethnic food etc - and it got me thinking.
I might take some flak for suggesting this, but isn’t this just another monumental waste of the good old Council tax payer’s money? Don’t these events actually highlight division and actually make people suspicious of each other?
The craze of ‘celebrating’ differences found champions in the Loony Left in this country during the 1980s, mainly among people who regarded themselves as counter-cultural or subversive. These usual suspects were, of course, employed in local government and who thus had a mechanism for projecting their own fixation with difference on to others. As a result, many otherwise rational people have become seduced by the widespread cult of "celebrating our cultural differences".
We have unthinkingly accepted the notion that celebrating our differences takes us closer to overcoming them. However, our differences are not what bind us together as a people, it is our similarities. In our intoxicated infatuation with differences, we can easily overlook these similarities - all of us have families and love our children for example, whatever your race, colour or religion. In the same way that one does not sign peace treaties with one's friends, one does not bring about harmony by the celebration of difference – and the taxpayers' money should certainly have no part in keeping people divided in this way.
These ‘celebrations’ of diversity are actually doing more harm than good, as those people most likely to succeed in life are those who come from environments where attention has not been drawn to differences. It’s about time that our politicians and opinion-formers move away from focusing on our differences and put an end to the cash cow that is diversity.
And before any loony lefties contact Brussels demanding that a Euro arrest warrant be issued for my arrest for committing a ‘Hate Crime’, let's be clear about something - ceasing to ''celebrate difference" does not mean that someone cannot hold on to their heritage or culture. It is not a zero-sum game. The key point is that difference is not something we should be revelling in within the public sphere. What you do in your own home, barring criminal acts and obvious violations of the rights of others, is your own business.
We need to move towards a culture in which celebrating diversity beyond the home is widely seen for what it is - DIVISIVE.
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