Delectable Lie: a liberal repudiation of multiculturalism

An excerpt from the introduction to "Delectable Lies": “In our time the ideology of multiculturalism - the set of ideas that all cultures are equal and deserving of equal treatment in a liberal democracy such as Canada - is linked to the pressing demand for equality in Western societies as these become increasingly multi-ethnic due to immigration and open borders. “When first proposed, the idea of an “official” multiculturalism program to be sponsored by the state, supported by taxpayers, and monitored and enforced by thought-police (human rights commissions) was at best dubious, and at worst is by its very nature poised against Western liberalism. Moreover … it was based on the false idea - another official lie, really - that all cultures are equal. However, that is an orthodoxy of the last century increasingly dismissed by serious thinkers. That is because there are established criteria making it possible to judge the achievements of all cultures, whether in the arts and literature, religion, philosophy, technology, modes of governance, or science; but the primary criterion that makes possible all human achievement is freedom. “My point is that although multiculturalism once seemed a very good idea, at least to politicians and others smitten with the ambition for unity, it is increasingly shown to be a lie - a delectable lie, perhaps, yet a lie nevertheless - that is destructive of the West’s liberal democratic heritage, tradition, and values based on individual rights and freedoms. This could have been foretold, as indeed those philosophers and historians of ideas who viewed freedom as immeasurably more important than equality in the development of the West did foretell. They admonished people against the temptation to abridge freedom in pursuit of equality.”