Multiculturalism, Bodybuilding, Diversity and Dr. Putnam

Multiculturalism holds that we should celebrate our differences. Bodybuilding suggests that we celebrate our unity. In the history of the world, every tribe, nation, and group has seen fit to emphasize their unity. But multiculturalists have the strategy of “celebrating diversity” as a radical new idea. Robert Putnam has recently put both sides to the test.

Robert Putnam is the author of the wonderful book Bowling Alone. In this work, this Harvard political scientist uses sociology to investigate the concept of “social capital”. Social capital is a measure of cultural connectedness. This would include networking with other people, as well as access to language understanding and the skills needed to get ahead. Those without social capital are not woven into the social fabric of society.

In Bowling Alone he discovers that social capital is rapidly declining among Americans. This means that they trust less and have less in common with their fellow citizens. They volunteer less, vote less, and are generally less involved in their communities than ever before. Bowling is up, bowling leagues are down. Americans are increasingly bowling alone. Putnam found that social capital is associated with health, wealth, and low crime rates. In his earlier study of Italy, he found that social capital even explained the ability for democracy to emerge.

Putnam’s recent study on diversity involved nearly 30,000 people in 41 communities. He found that the more diverse neighborhoods are, the less social capital they create. People in diverse communities volunteer less, donate less to charity, vote less, and work less on community projects. The simple fact is that people don’t trust people with whom they have little in common. As President Clinton’s Secretary of Labor Robert Reich pointed out, the rich don’t want to pay taxes to help the poor when they see nothing in common with them.

Putnam said, “It would be unfortunate if politically correct progressivism were to deny the reality of the challenge to social solidarity that diversity poses.” These findings were not racial. Putnam said that those in diverse communities “distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin.” Ethnic tensions did not arise so much as general civic unrest. Some have argued that diversity helps financially, many have argued against that conclusion. But everyone agrees, as Putnam says, when it comes to social connections between people, diversity “brings out the turtle in all of us,” he said.

Bodybuilding does not and does not expect diversity to be eliminated. Anyone who does is foolish; diversity will always be a welcome part of America. But if we don’t emphasize our unity, we may lose our connection to our fellow Americans altogether. This can undermine our sense of connection, political agency, and sense of trust that we might otherwise feel with our neighbors and those less fortunate. In the end, Putnam’s Italian studies show that emphasizing multiculturalism over bodybuilding may even undermine our ability to have a sustainable democracy.