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Should English be declared the official language of the United States?

Should English be declared the official language of the United States?

  • Total voters
    79
In 2011 America, in order to get a part time job, you MUST speak Spanish. This is total crap. And thats in Chicago! The middle of America. We 100% need to stop illegals getting our tax dollars for support and THEY need to get the hell out OR speak English. It is very insulting that they cant / wont. We provide them MANY benefits and they kick us in the ass. That is not honerable and should not be tolerated.
 
stelz said:
Something else: A lot of the people who are clamoring to make English the "official" language ONLY speak English. I've noticed that a lot of people in Europe speak two or more languages, you're not considered educated there if you don't. So maybe instead of griping that everybody needs to speak English, all that energy would be better spent trying to learn a second language.
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So we should adjust to them? I don't think its uncalled for to a call for people to adjust to the land they are moving too, but I do think its uncalled for to call for the people that live there already to adjust to people coming in.
 
BDBoop said:
Lutefisk? NEVAR!! But I do love pickled herring. :D
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Yeah, that's it. I can't stand that stuff no matter how you spell it. I had the chance to eat some picked herring one night and turned it down. So far I've been able to live with the choice. ;)

(All the people involved in the experiences above spoke English. No one was harmed during these experiences - except for that suffering bastard who ate an entire jar of picked herring.)
 
stelz said:
Verthaine just said what I was thinking, only he said it better.

And there's a xenophobic undercurrent to a lot of this "official language" talk. I could EASILY see it turned into "forced language".

Something else: A lot of the people who are clamoring to make English the "official" language ONLY speak English. I've noticed that a lot of people in Europe speak two or more languages, you're not considered educated there if you don't. So maybe instead of griping that everybody needs to speak English, all that energy would be better spent trying to learn a second language.
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This is already being done in our schools as you cannot graduate without passing foreign language courses and they start around 4th grade in my town. The way it is here you must pass two to be able to pass.
 
Henrin said:
So we should adjust to them? I don't think its uncalled for to a call for people to adjust to the land they are moving too, but I do think its uncalled for to call for the people that live there already to adjust to people coming in.
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Did your ancestors bother learning Algonqin when they came here?
Don't change the rules for your convenience.
 
The Giant Noodle said:
In 2011 America, in order to get a part time job, you MUST speak Spanish. This is total crap. And thats in Chicago! The middle of America. We 100% need to stop illegals getting our tax dollars for support and THEY need to get the hell out OR speak English. It is very insulting that they cant / wont. We provide them MANY benefits and they kick us in the ass. That is not honerable and should not be tolerated.
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Well...feel better now?
 
stelz said:
Did your ancestors bother learning Algonqin when they came here?
Don't change the rules for your convenience.
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Since my ancestors weren't here at that time your little fun game is pointless.
 
ManofthPeephole said:
Are you aware of any statistics that support your claim, regarding Europeans?
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nHumanities: Half of Europeans Bilingual

Half of Europe's Citizens Know 2 Languages

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Half of European citizens speak a second language, according to a European Union survey released Friday.
The poll, conducted in June across Europe, found that tiny Luxembourg had the highest percentage of bilingual citizens, with 99 percent of those questioned saying they could master a conversation in a second language.

Hungary had the lowest number with 29 percent of its citizens able to speak another language. Britain was second last with 30 percent.

The survey also found that almost eight out of 10 students—ages 15- 24—can have a normal conversation in at least one foreign language.

In the United States, by contrast, 9 percent of Americans speak both their native language and another language fluently, according to a U.S. Senate resolution designating 2005 the "Year of Foreign Language Study."
 
The Giant Noodle said:
In 2011 America, in order to get a part time job, you MUST speak Spanish. This is total crap. And thats in Chicago! The middle of America. We 100% need to stop illegals getting our tax dollars for support and THEY need to get the hell out OR speak English. It is very insulting that they cant / wont. We provide them MANY benefits and they kick us in the ass. That is not honerable and should not be tolerated.
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We need to go after the big biz that hires these folks. They cannot be safe on jobsites if they cannot understand English work instructions and a lot of them die each year due to this. I am more mad at the places that give them work as they are commiting crimes. I will not even start on what I think about these illegal asswipes that are milking my tax dollars via having babies. ugh
 
Henrin said:
Since my ancestors weren't here at that time your little fun game is pointless.
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No, it's not. Whenever your family came here and wherever they landed, they came from someplace else.
 
stelz said:
Did your ancestors bother learning Algonqin when they came here?
Don't change the rules for your convenience.
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Is this the new version "white guilt?" Now that people have caught on to that game in the race arena and even Chris Rock is calling people out for doing it, it's moved to the language arena instead?

I wasn't here when European settlers did that. I had no control over that. That had nothing to do with me. And if someone wanted to take more land off the Native Americans and I could do something to prevent that I would.

Sorry, this is just a really fallacious argument that has no bearing on reality.
 
stelz said:
No, it's not. Whenever your family came here and wherever they landed, they came from someplace else.
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Changing the goal post is not going to save you. For one they came from England and Scotland, second what happened with Indians is not comparable. The people that settled here were not trying to be part of their tribe or join the Indians societies. All that was happening is the people that came first were creating a society on the same land and trying to deal with Indians. They had little interest in working with Indians at that time, and it wasn't until later that even become a factor, but even then they had little interest in bothering with them. They mostly just wanted them to go away and leave their new society alone. The Constitution of the country even made a point to say straight out they are a different society. Don't you even see that they were not trying to be one, that they were purposely trying to stay separate? I don't see how you can say, well you didn't, so they shouldn't. Its not a comparable situation.
 
MistressNomad said:
Is this the new version "white guilt?" Now that people have caught on to that game in the race arena and even Chris Rock is calling people out for doing it, it's moved to the language arena instead?

I wasn't here when European settlers did that. I had no control over that. That had nothing to do with me. And if someone wanted to take more land off the Native Americans and I could do something to prevent that I would.

Sorry, this is just a really fallacious argument that has no bearing on reality.
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It's funny because you're the one who made it about race.

He was pointing to the irony in demanding respect for the "native" language in a country that was built upon disrespecting the actual native languages. It's a valid point considering that people are acting like it's "American" to assimilate, when our history tells another story.
 
Henrin said:
So we should adjust to them? I don't think its uncalled for to a call for people to adjust to the land they are moving too, but I do think its uncalled for to call for the people that live there already to adjust to people coming in.
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So do you think that the Europeans that were settling into Indian land should of "adjusted" to the land,learned to speak the language,assimilate into their culture, and that the Indians had every right to defend their land,their culture,their,way of life,by any means necessary?
 
stelz said:
My guess is it's because the Lakotas know what's right and they won't knuckle under.
The same reason all those other things were done to them. It's been nonstop since the 1800's.
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Sometimes, life purely sucks.
 
theplaydrive said:
It's funny because you're the one who made it about race.

He was pointing to the irony in demanding respect for the "native" language in a country that was built upon disrespecting the actual native languages. It's a valid point considering that people are acting like it's "American" to assimilate, when our history tells another story.
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Please. Every time someone says they support making English an official language in America, someone says they just hate Mexicans. It's been racial for pretty much the whole debate.

No, it isn't. We live in a different time, with a different culture, and everyone who perpetrated those things has been dead for a very long time. What happened hundreds of years ago is irrelevant to the situation now, and irrelevant to the discussion of what is the best course of action now.
 
MistressNomad said:
Is this the new version "white guilt?" Now that people have caught on to that game in the race arena and even Chris Rock is calling people out for doing it, it's moved to the language arena instead?

I wasn't here when European settlers did that. I had no control over that. That had nothing to do with me. And if someone wanted to take more land off the Native Americans and I could do something to prevent that I would.

Sorry, this is just a really fallacious argument that has no bearing on reality.
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Let's say 20 years ago "Bob" and his friends invades my home,kills half my family,kicks me out to the cold,moves into the house,and 20 years later sells the house to you,with you knowing full well how he acquired that house.
I knock on the next day and demand my house back.
Are you going to give me my home back?

Knock,knock,knock,I want my land back.

If you knowingly take possession of stolen goods, you are guilty of committing a crime.
 
theplaydrive said:
It's funny because you're the one who made it about race.

He was pointing to the irony in demanding respect for the "native" language in a country that was built upon disrespecting the actual native languages. It's a valid point considering that people are acting like it's "American" to assimilate, when our history tells another story.
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They weren't trying to be part of their society. Why would Americans assimilate into a society they didn't want to be part of? They wouldn't.
 
I voted yes. It will make it to where government agencies no longer have to pay for translators or make forms in different languages (think of all the trees we could save! :mrgreen:) which in itself also saves money.

Also I would imagine that it would help solve misunderstandings due to errors in translations and/or imagined insults.
 
Verthaine said:
So do you think that the Europeans that were settling into Indian land should of "adjusted" to the land,learned to speak the language,assimilate into their culture, and that the Indians had every right to defend their land,their culture,their,way of life,by any means necessary?
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No I don't think the Europeans should of adjusted and assimilated into their culture. Do I think the Indians should of defended themselves, their land and their culture? Yes I do.
 
Verthaine said:
Let's say 20 years ago "Bob" and his friends invades my home,kills half my family,kicks me out to the cold,moves into the house,and 20 years later sells the house to you,with you knowing full well how he acquired that house.
I knock on the next day and demand my house back.
Are you going to give me my home back?

Knock,knock,knock,I want my land back.

If you knowingly take possession of stolen goods, you are guilty of committing a crime.
Click to expand...

Except it's not anything like that at all. In this case, the thieves of that home died hundreds of years ago, and the owners of that home died hundreds of years ago. I don't know who it belonged to, nor can they ask for it back, since they're dead. Perhaps it didn't belong to anyone - Native American tribes didn't cover all of the land.

In addition to that, it's not even the same home - it's an entirely different home, built by someone who lived long after this crime took place.

If someone steals an iPod, takes it apart, makes a watch out of the parts, sells that on eBay, and I buy it, am I a thief? It's a more accurate metaphor.

Backwards-facing conversations do not serve to help any of us in the present. And you say all this as someone living in a settled city - possibly on some former tribe's former land. Ironic.
 
Verthaine said:
Let's say 20 years ago "Bob" and his friends invades my home,kills half my family,kicks me out to the cold,moves into the house,and 20 years later sells the house to you,with you knowing full well how he acquired that house.
I knock on the next day and demand my house back.
Are you going to give me my home back?

Knock,knock,knock,I want my land back.

If you knowingly take possession of stolen goods, you are guilty of committing a crime.
Click to expand...

Its OUR land. We won it with our blood. Plus it is not the fault of the US that Mexico is a **** hole. Italians are doing well with Italy.... and so on.
 
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