I like the way you think. However what happened in New York was the best case scenario. Not all cultures can co-exist. There have always been groups who outright reject each other and their belief systems.

I personally enjoy the cultural diversity of different peoples when it comes to sharing food. I enjoy lebanese lamb schwarma as much as I enjoy chinese san choy bow or a welsh roast dinner. However not all cultures enjoy sharing food and discussions. There are cultures in the world which used to sacrifice human lives, that used to eat human corpses. If they existed today would we just happily coexist with them? The Aztec people would forcibly remove people from peaceful villages in order to viciously murder them in the name of their god, not too different from the way that certain Islamic extremist groups murdered people from Charlie Hebdo in France just for a comedic drawing. When you kill people over a drawing you really have to ask yourself. Would I be comfortable living next to a murderer who might kill me for eating bacon or walking outside without a burqa?

I have several muslim friends who are moderate muslims and I enjoy talking to them, however even they agree that too many muslims have been indoctrinated by extremist imams in order to spread false faith and distort the teachings of the Quaran

@wordywalt, 'immigrants' is a vast category, it includes the first migrants who arrived in the Americas, and who proceeded to colonize it after annihilating the indigenous populations and cultures. Now, they act as if everyone but them was an immigrant, and they spread prejudices against new migrants- perhaps to distance themselves from their own role as immigrants in the history of this place.

I agree that for a time there will be some discord however I was asking if we should force integration when it is unnatural or should we allow it to happen naturally to benefit all cultures. An example of this in society is islamic and chinese cultures which have integrated into western society. The chinese integrate, assimilate and benefit the cultural exchange of the areas, they live alongside the western citizens by making an effort to understand the cultural differences, they're open to understanding and tolerance. However the islamic culture is quite strong and uncompromising in nature, rather than integrate it attempts to subjugate the original western culture by forcing their beliefs on others in a hostile manner. They have no tolerance or understanding for the west however this is mainly due to the multiple invasions of their Middle Eastern homelands by (mainly) American and British forces.

Is everyone nice to everyone? No. This is because we tolerate like minded people better than others who are not like minded to ourselves. If children in schools are told to go play then they break up into smaller and smaller groups called friends. We naturally segregate each other, we give each other space because we understand that not everyone can tolerate each other. This is a fundamental truth and reality. We naturally separate from each other in order to reduce the possibility of conflict. If you were to force all the children to play together then they would feel uncomfortable. There would be bullies, nice children and the large majority in the middle of the two. The more we force people to tolerate one another creates more and more tension. If we give each other space we can live peacefully however if we continue to force each other to tolerate and compromise, we will eventually create resentment and conflict. You can only retreat so far before you give up everything precious to you.

I'm tired so I'm just gonna make this quick. In the thousands of years that humans have lived on this Earth we have never ever lived peacefully. We kill, steal, torture and subjugate our fellow humans. I believe in tolerance and acceptance of different cultures. I would love for one day a year we all come together and share food, music, dance and enjoyment however the world we live in will not allow for this. Try teach tolerance to Israel and Palestine, or ISIS and the west, or Liberal and Labor party members. No matter how intelligent we are, no matter where we live or our socioeconomic upbringing we still can't live peacefully. We have waged multiple wars over the course of the last 3 decades alone. We send our children to fight and die in a foreign land far from home. We are not tolerant humans. I accept reality so we should all try to mitigate the damage using a logical system rather than try convince the entire human race that intolerance is wrong.

Well, since I'm three times your age your generation has a responsibility to enact the changes you suggest because I will be long gone. Get involved with politics and make a difference. Good luck with that and to you.