25. Why Doesn't Everyone Love Diversity?

Nature :: Spirit — Kinship in a living world

Bright fish and corals dazzle the eye at our local reef—gifts of millions of years of diversity. Ecologists tell us that the most resilient ecocommunities are the most diverse, and diversity offers the same benefits to human society. Then why are so many white people afraid of diversity? Political psychologist Karen Stenner shows how this fear is central to authoritarianism. Today we look at a pattern of authoritarianism going back in Western history to the Roman Empire. Rome's intolerance for religious differences led to the Christian doctrine of original sin, which taught people they needed help to be good. Then subservience was drilled in to people through a thousand years of feudalism. We also look at my Mennonite ancestors—on both the giving and receiving ends of social control. For most of these two thousand years in Europe, people believed—and treated others as if—social cohesion depended on similarity. The upshot? Tolerance is a recent achievement in Western history. So it’s no wonder that a third of white people across Western democracies remain uncomfortable with diversity. The good news—overcoming discomfort with differences is possible, and nature provides tremendous inspiration for it. Data, studies, links to further reading available with the transcript at priscillastuckey.com/nature-spirit/.

Get full access to Nature :: Spirit — Kinship in a living world at priscillastuckey.substack.com/subscribe