Americans today are perpetually admonished, scolded, prodded, and cajoled into celebrating something called "diversity," yet I can't help but wonder what this really means.
Diversity of opinion is not allowed, certainly not beyond the facile and monochromatic spectrum that passes for public discourse these days. Just try questioning affirmative action, the welfare state, the Warren court, feminism, or environmentalism and see what happens. And if you dare offer such diversity of opinion in a university -- the supposed bastion of free thought and intellectual inquiry -- you will be lucky to get out alive.
Diversity of governance is most certainly not allowed, even though the Constitution entrusts the vast reservoir of political power to individual States to experiment as they please. Any deviation from the federal playbook brings a swift and petulant lawsuit or the withdrawal of federal money (to which the States are addicted and will eagerly surrender their sovereignty to obtain). Any law that attempts a novel approach to homelessness, abortion, public decorum, drugs, or illegal invaders will be smacked down.
No, it appears that the only diversity that matters is precisely the kind we have no control over -- diversity of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Celebrating that kind of diversity, and only that kind, supposedly enriches our lives. Why? If I glance at history in search of "diverse" societies I find far more strife than success. But there I go again, offering a diverse viewpoint.
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