The Future of Multi-ethnic Britain is an attempt to take a calm and long-term view of the current state of our Multi-ethnic nation and suggest ways of countering racial discrimination and disadvantage and making Britain a society that is at ease with its rich diversity. It can be said that the government is taking measure to make sure that racial discrimination does not happen but we still have a long way to go. If we do succeed in making a Multi-racial Britain then you are more likely to see political apathy to rise considerably. !!
After race and religion, we are still heavily based on a system of class. There are two main definitions of class. One derives from Karl Marx, the other from Max Weber. Sometimes elements from the two definitions are combined. The Marxist view of social classes emphasises economic aspects. A social class is defined according to its relationship to the productive process in society. In capitalist societies, according to Marx, there are three main classes. First, there is the capitalist class or bourgeoisie. Secondly, there is the petit-bourgeoisie. The third, and most numerous classes, is the working class.
The Weberian view of social classes combines several criteria in delineating classes, including income, education and political influence. Unlike Marx, Weber did not regard classes as potential corporate groups; he did not believe that members of social classes necessarily would have shared political interests. Weber preferred to speak of status groups rather than classes.
Some ethnic groups have moved to towns or regional centres where they are brought into contact with people with other customs, languages and identities.
I do not think that it will ever be possible to ever have a classless society purely based on the fact that people nowadays came never be contempt with what they have, they will always want more. Inter-linked in with class are a variety of things such as money and education. These are factors from both the Weberian and the Marxist view would have in common. To have status as in the Marxist view, you need to have the money and education. People who earn the most and have had a good education tend to be upper class, these are people who own businesses and factories. The people who work in the factories tend to be the lower classes. They sell their labour to make a profit for others. The move from middle class to upper class is not that hard but if trying to move from lower class to the working class it is much harder.
In the government at the moment they are less towards taxing the rich but more towards capitalism. This is a significant point as to why the UK cannot be a cohesive political culture. If the government, which is the politics, cannot make a homogeneity culture then what hope is there? To make a homogeneous culture everybody should be similar in accordance to wealth and status. This would mean taxing the rich and funding the poor. But at the moment I think that the New Labour Party is more into looking good rather than the older one where taxing the rich was not an option. The rich upper class people tend to vote for the labour party as they are in favour of capitalism but the lower classes either tend not to vote or vote for a party such as the liberals who tax the rich.
Until these factors have not been sorted out we cannot have a homogeneous nation. The history of a nation often has a tendency to be written in an exclusive manner, stressing some groups or traditions at the expense of others. It is therefore always a contested site and constantly rewritten. The report proposes that, in the light of our changed circumstances, we need to reconsider the traditional view of our history and open it up to new sensibilities and aspirations.
National identity is not given once and for all and cannot be preserved as if it were an antique piece of furniture. The so-called white majority itself consists of groups of people divided along cultural, religious and other lines. This is equally true of the minority. Since Britain does not consist of cohesive majorities and minorities, we should think of it as a looser federation of cultures held together by common bonds of interest and affection and a collective sense of belonging.
So overall, I can conclude that there is no way that we can have a cohesive political culture at this moment in time. but it certainly seems to be getting better in some aspects such as gender where women are getting an equal chance in men as life. In the future who knows? In my opinion for us to have a united culture we need to make sure that everybody has an equal chance in life as everybody else. If these factors are fixed then the political apathy is going to rise and people are going to feel more passionate about living in a self-confident and cohesive democracy.
