“And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth” (Genesis 11.6-11.9).
I don’t take the Tower of Babel story literally — that people all spoke one language until they were scattered after trying to build this tower. Yet, like other Bible stories, it has some good lessons we can take away from it. I’ve actually brought up the Tower of Babel to make a point about immigration. One lesson you can take away is that these multiple tongues made it difficult for people to communicate. No longer could they build their city. I think the same applies for America. We need one language — English.
That’s not to say we should banish other languages. However, the official language should be English. If we are to teach our children, we should teach them all in English. If we are to conduct business among ourselves, it should be in English. Road signs, street signs, store signs, billboards — all English. It makes it easier for our nation to function, and it makes us function more efficiently.
[EDIT: Woah, I went a little overboard there… Education should be in English, at least.]
If illegal aliens flood into our country (and make no mistake, it is a flood), then it is difficult for them to assimilate. It is less likely they’ll learn English, no? Thus, this population that can’t communicate hinders our productivity, does it not?
At least, those are my initial thoughts. I’m not sure entirely how convinced I am on that point. (However, I am convinced that language is essential for national unity, but that’s another can of worms.) The conclusion raises further interesting issues. Do you think many languages within African nations is a factor in hindering their economic development? (Probably negligible compared to many other factors.) We’ve had troubles in Iraq because of the language barrier. Have there been any strong truly multi-lingual nations?
To me, it seems as if a unity of language is salutary for a nation.
Unity of language, yes. Unity of signage? Dude, don’t make me snicker. ::chuckle::
If all storesigns were required to be in English, the varied charms of New York’s Chinatown, San Francisco’s Mission District, LA’s Koreatown, Brighton Beach’s Little Odessa (where the signage is in Cyrillic), Chicago’s Polish downtown, Detroit’s Arabic communities, etc. ad infinitum … the charms of those locales would be utterly decimated.
One of America’s most profound virtues is its diversity, full stop. Said diversity is manifested in the various ethnic villages and enclaves to be found anywhere in this great land, starting with that most basic element of capitalism, the community store. Requiring all store signs to be in one Language would be Orwellian. Not to mention undemocratic.
Recant. ;p
(I’ve found the bilingual streetsigns in SF and NY’s Chinatowns to be quite charming, indeed. And yes, VERY American.)
Always the ass-coverer, I did say: “At least, those are my initial thoughts. I’m not sure entirely how convinced I am on that point.”
Yeah, I did go overboard with signs. Thanks for pointing that out. However, I think we can run into problems if all of LA turns into an ethnic enclave.
My take on diversity: E pluribus unum. From many, one. We must provide the necessary measures to make sure that we are indeed one nation. If a whole region begins to speak Spanish, instead of English, the soveriegnty of the US over that region is threatened. Have we reached that point? No. Yet illegal immigration from Mexico and Latin America has been high, and shows no sign of abating unless we close our borders.