America Can Not Survive As Multi-Language Country
A multi-language country creates barriers between people, increases costs and tensions. This is not a one trick pony problem, but when individuals and CORPORATIONS push a multi-cultural agenda-one has to ask...why? The evidence is not in your favor. I did not want to hijack my own post, so I started a separate conversation.
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Appreciating other langauges is not the only point of the commercial. The intent, in my opinion, is to erase those distinct characteristics which made us a great nation as opposed to an identifiable nation.
Which characteristics? Man's right to himself and the products of his labor. Let's look at the beautiful cultures portrayed in the commercial. Hindu -nope natural rights definitely not a part of that culture. Souix -nope individual rights? Not taught in that culture....call me xenophobic all you'd like but Im not about to get chills over collectivist and slave cultures celebrated in a song about freedom and free nation building. But individuals from those cultures promoting and celebrating what made this country and some others unique by their values? That's a commercial worth watching.
Glen Beck said that this ad was dividing people, and that if you disagreed with the message of the ad, then you were a racist. Glen Beck's statement was said sarcastically, but the irony is that what he said was actually true. If anything is truly divisive in this debate, it's the subtle xenophobia which is being pushed under the guise of nationalist pride and defense of culture. But America's culture has always been a melting-pot, and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that fact, or twisting it to support ethnic homogenization and erasure of cultural identity and heritage is irrational.
Thanks to rapid advancements in technology and transportation, the world economy is becoming more and more globalized, with international communication quickly becoming an indispensable aspect of business and trade. Long gone are the days of national autarky and isolationist mentalities. Those who cling to such outdated modes of thinking will be left in the dust. In order to succeed economically in the 21st century and beyond, it will be necessary to be fluent in at least two or three languages.
You say that the United States cannot survive as a multi-language nation, but the fact is that it's already a multi-language nation, and succeeding as an individual means one must be willing to accept and work with the uniqueness of other individuals. That isn't possible without a significant degree of humility and flexibility, as well as a profound appreciation for all the diverse beauty that the world has to offer.
If anyone truly believes that national autarky is still possible or beneficial in the modern age, here's a book which might wake you up:
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53vLQnuV9...
http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Flat-3-0...
Except in the Navy use of the word "fuck" and its declensions is quite versatile and used extensively as an noun, pronoun, verb, gerund, adjective, adverb, explicative... What other language can make this claim?
Language will not make or break us. My grandmother's family spoke Danish and Sweedish, but I only recognize a few words. My grandfather's family spoke Albanian and Italian. I recognize only a few words in those languages. When I travel people recognize my speech as being from Wisconsin. I consistently see people learn English in one generation. I know of people whose parents are proficient but not fluent in English with kids who sound completely Wisconsin.
I am very proficient in Spanish from school. Our kids are learning Mandarin and Spanish, but they still unnerve me when they parrot our Wisconsinisms.
My Spanish helpful here. Mandarin speakers here usually are highly proficient in English, but many foreign contractors and mfrs speak only Mandarin and sometimes one other regional language. I wish I spoke Mandarin.
In my world globalization is going forward full speed, and the costs and tensions have been worked through long ago.
Man: " I didn't want to say anything while you were on the phone, but you're in America now. You need to speak English."
Woman: Excuse me?"
Man *very slowely* "If you want to speak Mexican, go back to Mexico. In America, we speak English."
Woman: "Sir, I was speaking Navajo. If you want to speak English. go back to England."
If you're going to move to a country in which most people do not speak the language you speak, the culture is different from your own, and you move there, not intending to ever learn the language (or if you do, you willingly choose NOT to speak it) or respect the culture or customs, then what are you doing moving there? It's nothing less than disrespect to the new 'home' country. An invasion without arms.
When I lived overseas, I learned the language as much as I could & followed the customs & courtesies. Furthermore, if I choose to leave the USA for some other place; I will learn the language, obey the laws, embrace the customs and culture INSTEAD of THEM having to embrace my native language, customs & culture of my FORMER homeland. My .02
Ma raagin natukene eesti keelt. Funny you mention my former home state of PA. In Western PA, there were German decent, however, there were overwhelming Italians in my area. Regarding the Germans though, many of them were prisoners of war (Hessians) during the Revolutionary War & were camped just outside of Chambersburg. After the war, many of them chose to stay in PA. After having been in Germany some years ago, I understood why: PA looks just like Germany, minus the castles of course. Oh, my understanding of Latin?
Vabandage, ma ei saa aru. =)
Again, I live in another country. I am expected to assimilate. My mother-in-law became a US citizen she not only assimilated she received a masters in literature(in the US)-her focus was french authors. But her papers were all in english. I'm done with the strawman
Language is the glue that bonds different cultures into a strong society.(the American melting pot of old) They may speak their own language amongst themselves; but it is the one in they have in common that unites them into a peaceful, functioning society. The destruction of a common means of communication IS the destruction of a civilization.
Canada.
I live in Texas. I use English by default, but I can get by in Spanish... or German or Japanese or Hungarian or anything else... The ability to process languages is a measure of intelligence. You will note that American hillbillies maintain many Elizabethan forms. Perhaps the most quaint is aspirating an initial vowel: "Hit is ..." for "It is..." Even Chuck Yaeger knew the archaic forms "help, helped, holped, helped." The middle past tense evolved out of urban American English.
It is a fallacy to perceive only the Anglo march from New England across the Northwest Territory to the Pacific. The Spanish Borderland Frontier existed for 150 years... The frontier stories would be very family to any Anglo: Spanish women, settlers from Mexico, in New Mexico, in the 16th century, wielding medieval halberds to fight off native raiders stealing livestock.
In Michigan, I had a graduate class in local history. The professor started off by claiming that Detroit was "old" founded in 1704. But the Spanish had been in New Mexico for 100 years and were forced out (temporarily) by Pope's Rebellion.
When the Serbians achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century their national assembly (diet) was for the ruling class, of course. They made LATIN the official language of the legislature. Carl Friedrich Gauss published his mathematical paper in Latin in the 1840s. How is your Latin?
When colonial Pennsylvania declared its independence from Britain, the large number of GERMAN settlers ("Pennsylvania Dutch") allowed a proposal that GERMAN be an official language of Pennsylvania.
The USA has no official language. The business of the government is conducted in English and is made available in several other languages, including Vietnamese.
One morning the professor entered her classroom and was met by a group of protester. They were dissatisfied with the way the class was being taught. They gave the professor an ultimatum. They wanted nay demanded the class be taught in Spanish. They said this should not be a problem since they knew the professor spoke fluent Spanish. The professor refused . She told the students to leave her classroom, except those actually in her class.
The students left and went to the University president’s office. Similar demands were made there. The university president told them he would look into the issue. He did not know the professor and did not ask the students what class she taught or any other pertinent facts. He called the professor in. He wanted to know why, if she spoke fluent Spanish she would not teach the class in Spanish.
The professors reply was short and to the point. “I teach sophomore ENGLISH. Not English as a second language but College Sophomore level English. I also teach English and American Literature.” The President didn’t say a word. The students didn’t return with their demands.
In todays environment, I relatively sure that she would have been required to teach the class in Spanish in order to preserve PC.
A note to the story. All of the students involved were 4th generation native born Americans and spoke English as well as the professor.