Potluck Nation

= an expression of the modality of 'Cultural Pluralism', which is opposed to the idea of the 'Metling Pot' in the U.S.

Description

Elbo Patel:

" A different way of envisioning it is to think of the United States not as a melting pot, but as a potluck nation.

Potlucks are civic spaces that both embody and celebrate pluralism. They rely on the contributions of a diverse community. If people don’t bring an offering, the potluck doesn’t exist. If everyone brings the same thing, it is boring. And what a nightmare it would be if you brought your best dish and you were met at the door with a giant machine that melted it into the same bland goo as everybody else’s best dish. The whole point of a potluck is the diversity of dishes.

Potlucks respect diverse identities by enthusiastically welcoming the gifts of the people who gather. They facilitate relationships among people by creating a space for eating and socializing and making surprise connections. And they cultivate in people the importance of not just the individual parts and the connections between them, but the health of the whole. Everybody benefits from a clean kitchen, enough dishes and silverware, and a safe and open place to eat and socialize. When it comes to a potluck, these are the structures of the common good. Everybody plays a role in their upkeep.

A potluck is both a poetic metaphor for imagining the nation, and a concrete event you can host to strengthen pluralism in your neighborhood. Indeed, a potluck is the ultimate democratic form. No governor, no president, no general can force anyone to do it. We the people do it for ourselves. And ultimately, the strength of a diverse democracy rests on the belief that all of us have contributions to make, and that we are better together than we are apart."

(https://www.persuasion.community/p/teach-pluralism-not-antiracism)