Speak English

shamegame

Well-Known Member
Funny vid. Unfortunately, the issue is not. English should be the official language of this country. Here in California we print our driver's written tests in 7 languages I think...that is a tragedy.Our road signs are all in English. Having to print eveything in 10 languages is just retarded. My family came here ( legally ) 4 generations ago and guess what the first thing they did was- learn English.Seems immigrants nowadays are just too lazy to learn the language of the place they now call home.
 

TheConstantGardner

Well-Known Member
[SIZE=-1]Para Español, Marque Dos!

I had a police investigator tell me once that interrogating foreigners was a lot like playing pool. The harder you hit them, the more english you got.
[/SIZE]
 

Ethnobotanist

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure that making English the official language is necessarily a beneficial thing. It would have little to no impact, aside from encouraging hispanic people to learn more English in the northern half of the United States. Throughout most of southern Texas, people speak very little English. Foreign nationals in other areas have continued to use their languages conversationally for generations (Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Yiddish, etc). Conversely, it would also lower productivity, I think, if people working jobs were unable to have access to essential literature in their native tongue.

Also, not having an official language CAN BE a good thing. It doesn't stifle the development of a written language, and it allows certain areas to cultivate languages for their own official purposes (think Native American languages). It also encourages mutliculturalism (which is undoubtedly a good thing, and part of what this country is founded on) and multilingualism. I don't think English and Spanish bilingualism is necessarily a bad thing. Granted, in some areas the ease of using Spanish does encourage communities to learn very little English. This is not a good thing, any way you slice it (their children, however, will almost undoubtedly be fluent in both). But everyday I see more and more people learning Spanish as it becomes more widely used, and truth be told, it helps their careers.

The benefit to making English an official language is almost nil. People will carry on as they always do. I think most of the argument has to do with prejudice toward foreign nationals than anything else. Just my personal opinion, though. I say, just leave it up to fate. English will always be the primary language of the United States, no matter what happens. Excluding the possibility of drastic Islamization, of course.

~Ethno
 

shamegame

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure that making English the official language is necessarily a beneficial thing. It would have little to no impact, aside from encouraging hispanic people to learn more English in the northern half of the United States. Throughout most of southern Texas, people speak very little English. Foreign nationals in other areas have continued to use their languages conversationally for generations (Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Yiddish, etc). Conversely, it would also lower productivity, I think, if people working jobs were unable to have access to essential literature in their native tongue.

Also, not having an official language CAN BE a good thing. It doesn't stifle the development of a written language, and it allows certain areas to cultivate languages for their own official purposes (think Native American languages). It also encourages mutliculturalism (which is undoubtedly a good thing, and part of what this country is founded on) and multilingualism. I don't think English and Spanish bilingualism is necessarily a bad thing. Granted, in some areas the ease of using Spanish does encourage communities to learn very little English. This is not a good thing, any way you slice it (their children, however, will almost undoubtedly be fluent in both). But everyday I see more and more people learning Spanish as it becomes more widely used, and truth be told, it helps their careers.

The benefit to making English an official language is almost nil. People will carry on as they always do. I think most of the argument has to do with prejudice toward foreign nationals than anything else. Just my personal opinion, though. I say, just leave it up to fate. English will always be the primary language of the United States, no matter what happens. Excluding the possibility of drastic Islamization, of course.

~Ethno
I don't want folks from different cultures to abandon theirs. I just ask that they learn English.to be able to function in society, without us having to print everything in 50 million languages...100 years ago people gladly embraced English and were excited about the new possibilities that came with it, now I have to spend my tax dollars printing Driver's license and welfare applications in more languages than I have fingers...I mean for fuck's sake.
 

Ethnobotanist

Well-Known Member
Agreed on that point. I had Spanish in mind more than anything else. If you're an extreme minority among minorities... Well, chances are you're not going to get very far if you don't read English. And road signs are printed in English, so it's common sense that they be able to read at least a moderate amount of it.

To be honest, I never thought of the fact that our tax dollars would be used to cater to a tiny group of foreign nationals in areas where they should be somewhat proficient in English. As I said, I had in mind more people who have Spanish as their primary literary tongue. They at least have a leg to stand on.

~Ethno
 

suicidesamurai

Well-Known Member
It also encourages mutliculturalism (which is undoubtedly a good thing, and part of what this country is founded on) and multilingualism.
This country was founded on the complete opposite. Not only did they want monoculturalism, but they wanted monoracialism as well.
 

Ethnobotanist

Well-Known Member
This country was founded on the complete opposite. Not only did they want monoculturalism, but they wanted monoracialism as well.
I wasn't speaking of the Founding Fathers' vision, but rather what went into the foundations of this country. There is a reason we're called the melting pot; take a little trip through California, Utah, Texas and Louisiana and you'll see multi-culturalism more than in most any other country. The effect of Ashkenazi Jews on New York City and New Jersey also comes to mind. Most of the vocabularly that came from American English was adopted from immigrants. And most of this multiculturalism has become streamlined, amazing enough. Something that hasn't really ever happened overseas to any great extent.

And I think you might be a bit mistaken. Benjamin Franklin was a diplomat to the French for the British (and he LOVED French culture). Jefferson extolled the [mistaken] ideal of the native "noble savage" (devoting a lot of his time to Native American studies). Most of the Founders found their influences from cultures around the world, as well as cultures of the past. The Founders encouraged immigration, and this was the case even more so in the generations after them. And monoracialism? Well, that's something that's beyond my scope, and the ideas of the Founding Fathers regarding race is set in the context of their time. To the changrin of many old school conservatives though, most of them, as expressed in their private writings, believed in the manumission of slaves and the equality of all people, regardless of race. Not all of 'em though, of course. They were a product of their time. :-)

~Ethno
 

Ethnobotanist

Well-Known Member
/me is rolling on the floor laughing his ass off

Dont worry man, it is predicted that by the year 2048 white will become the minority in California!
Probably, but fast forward a hundred years or more in Cali, and who is "white" and "non-white" will probably be pretty hard to define. Haha.

~Ethno
 

shamegame

Well-Known Member
yes in 100 years California will be about 80% latino...due to the influx of illegal immigrants and the exodus of American citizens who have been run out of their own neighborhoods by them...while our government sits there paralyzed with incompetence watching them flood our borders on a daily basis.....friggin tradgedy.
 

EmPot

Active Member
Probably, but fast forward a hundred years or more in Cali, and who is "white" and "non-white" will probably be pretty hard to define. Haha.

~Ethno
Its easy to embrace linear statistics... the world is NOT linear, there are millions of factors at play every second. Culture intertwines and develops new culture... we are a product of this today.

Its like saying if you stack legos high enough, you'll reach the sun.

50 years from now the world will be a VERY different place. Mexico itself will be very different in 50 years... along with the rest of the world. Perhaps 50 years from now mexicans will be pushing towards south america, or making it all the way up to canada... or just staying where they are because conditions have improved.

Eventually, a WORLD race will have to develop and the minorities will be those small clumps of people who still ID themselves as something specific.
 

EmPot

Active Member
There will never be a world race unless the entire world lives in the same part of the planet.
There is already a world economy.

Major wars/disasters aside... 1000 years from now through migration, integration, and the ability to travel quickly (instantly?)... the world will be within reach... along with the eventual development of a universal language, cultural walls are torn down.

Think of it as if there was 1 tribe of humans in africa... and thats it. Everyone would be african. My idea is that we are all on this planet, we will eventually all be earthian. Where there were once clearly drawn cultural lines... you now have mixed folk mating with mixed folk... who will continue to dilute "pure" blood until everyone has at least a trace of what was once a "race".

Now I'm not saying everyone will look alike, be the same color, or in any way be absolutely similar... but there will be gradually less identifying by race or background.

In this time, it would also be beneficial for the world to finally be made aware of other forms of life on other planets. Perhaps once humanity sees communicable life in a different form it will be easier for all to band together.

Makes sense now :joint:, and the movie starship troopers kinda depicts the same idea.

:blsmoke:
 

ozstone

Well-Known Member
There is already a world economy.

Major wars/disasters aside... 1000 years from now through migration, integration, and the ability to travel quickly (instantly?)... the world will be within reach... along with the eventual development of a universal language, cultural walls are torn down.

Think of it as if there was 1 tribe of humans in africa... and thats it. Everyone would be african. My idea is that we are all on this planet, we will eventually all be earthian. Where there were once clearly drawn cultural lines... you now have mixed folk mating with mixed folk... who will continue to dilute "pure" blood until everyone has at least a trace of what was once a "race".

Now I'm not saying everyone will look alike, be the same color, or in any way be absolutely similar... but there will be gradually less identifying by race or background.

In this time, it would also be beneficial for the world to finally be made aware of other forms of life on other planets. Perhaps once humanity sees communicable life in a different form it will be easier for all to band together.

Makes sense now :joint:, and the movie starship troopers kinda depicts the same idea.

:blsmoke:
So do you think this is where the New World Order comes into play?
Because at the rate we are going it is nearly impossible to see human civilization even existing in 1000 years.
 

shamegame

Well-Known Member
So do you think this is where the New World Order comes into play? Because at the rate we are going it is nearly impossible to see human civilization even existing in 1000 years.
One theory about the NWO is that their whole goal to unite the world under 1 flag is simply to make it easier to hand over the planet to the alien race that has been watching us for thousands of years...

If you were a more advanced being, you would know that if you tried to attack and take over Earth, the humans would nuke the whole planet to shit if worse came to worse, thereby ruining the very planet you wanted to take. The only logical way would be to take it over VERY slowly.So slowly that they don't see it comming...
 
Top