Exercise: Pros and Cons of Cultural Diversity QUESTION: Multi-cultural societies, which are a mixture of different ethnic groups, bring more benefits than drawbacks for a country. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this conclusion? ANSWER: In today’s world, a lot of countries have a variety of ethnic groups, and this often leads to cultural diversity. I believe in general these are beneficial to such countries. The benefits to every individual in such countries are many and various. The cultural diversity tends to add more choices people can enjoy in everyday life. They range from different styles of cuisine, music, painting, religions, medicine and many more. As a result, it is not surprising to see a Hispanic American speaking English, eating Chinese dishes, singing Indian Songs and seeing Mexican doctors. More importantly, cultural diversity gives people food for thoughts. In a multi-ethnic country, each of the culture has taken hundreds or even thousands of years to evolve and to be mature. But having all the ethnic groups emigrating there is a shortcut to acquire all the wisdom. Furthermore, as people are finally integrated into the same country, they will all reap the combined wisdom of all cultures. This hybrid culture can be even better than every one of the original ones. However, it is not always positive. Sometimes, multi-cultural countries suffer from conflicts between ethnic groups. For example, in some country, the authority has been ruthlessly trying to force ethnic minorities to give up their traditional customs, religions and languages. This has resulted in terrible hostilities and bloodshed. Therefore, if different ethnic groups do not respect each other, it tends to be catastrophic. In conclusion, I believe cultural diversity is beneficial to a country as long as ethnic groups can co-exist peacefully.