Ver. 2.0: Does “Diversity” Turn People Into Turtles?

I have written several times about the findings of Harvard social scientist Robert Putnam that “the more diverse a community is, the less likely its inhabitants are to trust anyone” (here, here, and here). For anyone interested in following this issue, today’s Boston Globe has a long article about Putnam’s work and the controversy it has stirred.

I don’t think there’s much new here, but I did find the following passage unintentionally, and interestingly, revealing:

The overall findings may be jarring during a time when it’s become commonplace to sing the praises of diverse communities, but researchers in the field say they shouldn’t be.

“It’s an important addition to a growing body of evidence on the challenges created by diversity,” says Harvard economist Edward Glaeser.

In a recent study, Glaeser and colleague Alberto Alesina demonstrated that roughly half the difference in social welfare spending between the US and Europe — Europe spends far more — can be attributed to the greater ethnic diversity of the US population. Glaeser says lower national social welfare spending in the US is a “macro” version of the decreased civic engagement Putnam found in more diverse communities within the country.

In other words, “civic engagement” requires, or perhaps even means, government welfare spending.

Say What?