Skin Deep: Justin Trudeau’s vision of diversity

“Diversity is our strength,” tweeted Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently, and so say all of us: the politicians, the celebrities, the teachers, the campaigners, the media and even government. Who amongst us then could argue with such an overwhelming body of opinion? After all, Mr Trudeau and friends are unshakeable in their conviction: Diversity is our strength. Case closed. Or is it? Slogans are powerful things, short, snappy, persuasive and seemingly incontrovertible in their wisdom. When the novelist George Orwell created 1984, his vision of a dystopian, totalitarian society of the future, slogans of the ruling party were very much in evidence: “Ignorance is strength!” “War is Peace!” “Freedom is slavery!” Wherever they turned, citizens were met with slogans. Bombardment. It worked, too.