I've always thought one of the most amazing things about Belize is how diverse it is in such a small population and how everyone generally gets along. Of course there are always going to be grumblings and "us and them" divisions, but it's always seemed pretty good. I'm curious how others (especially Belizeans) feel about this in general. What brings this up is an article in The American Conservative I just found saying the opposite of what we'd expect, namely that "ethnic diversity decreases trust and co-operation in communities":

Quote
Fragmented Future

Multiculturalism doesn't make vibrant communities but defensive ones.

by Steve Sailer

In the presence of [ethnic] diversity, we hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it's not just that we don't trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don't trust people who do look like us.

-Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam

It was one of the more irony-laden incidents in the history of celebrity social scientists. While in Sweden to receive a $50,000 academic prize as political science professor of the year, Harvard's Robert D. Putnam, a former Carter administration official who made his reputation writing about the decline of social trust in America in his bestseller Bowling Alone, confessed to Financial Times columnist John Lloyd that his latest research discovery-that ethnic diversity decreases trust and co-operation in communities-was so explosive that for the last half decade he hadn't dared announce it "until he could develop proposals to compensate for the negative effects of diversity, saying it 'would have been irresponsible to publish without that.'"


Read the rest:
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_01_15/cover.html