Asymmetrical Multiculturalism and Populism By Paul Walker

     The article “How ‘Asymmetrical Multiculturalism’ Generates Populist Blowback,” by Eric Kaufmann, author of Whiteshift: Immigration, Populism and the Future of White Majorities (2019), at the National Review, is insightful in a conservative kind of way. The basic argument is that multiculturalism, that we know and hate, causes populism as a reaction.
  https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/populism-identity-politics-why-they-rise-in-tandem/

“Right-wing populism and left-wing identity politics have risen in tandem since 2013. Why? The connecting thread is the contradictions of multiculturalism, which encourage a “common enemy” form of minority identity while repressing even moderate expressions of majority identity. The former produces antagonistic identity politics on the left, while both contribute to populist blowback on the right. In the high culture, the advent of social media helped the cultural Left experience its Third Great Awakening, matching the waves of enthusiasm of the late ’60s and late ’80s. Meanwhile, multiculturalism’s half-century sway has presided over profound ethnic shifts, producing mounting conservative discontent. By narrowing the space for debating immigration, progressive taboos prevented mainstream liberals and conservatives from reaching a settlement on the issue. We are now reaping the results.

Multiculturalism, which originated among small circles of bohemian intellectuals in the 1910s, came to be established in the elite institutions and mass culture of Western societies from the mid-1960s. Once ascendant, these values created new taboos that drew the boundaries of acceptable debate. These frowned on any expression of a national identity in which the ethnic majority was accorded a prominent role. Since slowing the rate of ethnocultural change is a primary motive for restrictionists, and this was viewed as beyond the pale, the desire to reduce immigration was considered racist. Second, multiculturalism, as its name suggests, encouraged minority groups to celebrate a politicized version of their identity. At multiculturalism’s heart, therefore, lies a contradiction: White majorities are compelled to be cosmopolitan, urged to supersede their ascribed identity. Minorities are enjoined to do the reverse.”

     Kaufmann’s solution? “For all our sake, we must desacralize the immigration debate and find a sensible compromise between cultural conservatives and diversity-seeking liberals.” This is an entirely superficial response, because anyone who reads say Bretbart.com daily can se that a comprise is out of the question, since the two positions are contradictory, and the Left does not compromise, for it is their way, or the highway. Kaufmann may need to write a book about the consequences of America’s collapse, and the impact this is going to have on the Middle East, perhaps beginning with this piece from Dr Stephen Steinlight:
  https://cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/articles/2004/back404.pdf