I came up with the ultimate plan for world peace.
It’s a such an astoundingly simple plan, actually, I can’t believe no one has thought of it before. (Well, perhaps Victoria did.)
Make everyone speak English – and only English.
Because really, how long has it been since two English speaking nations went to war?
Exactly.
From the comments, DrD;
It’s an interesting discussion. The specific issue of linguistics is a subset of the larger issue of “cultural diversity”. I hear touted frequently the advantages of cultural diversity, but rarely any concrete example of the supposed advantage beyond the “more pavillions at folkfest” boilerplate. While I can imagine off hand possible advantages of having linguistic diversity within Canada — facilitation of trade links with the Orient for instance, the numbers of individuals who would require such skills for the advantage to accrue to the larger population as a portion of that larger population is miniscule. Even the supposed necessity to preserve language for the preservation of cultural gems is dubious. For example, while the latin dance scene is alive and well in Calgary, tango in particular, very few of the participants speak more than a smattering of Spanish, and the leading instructor is Japanese. Since the aim of language is communication, efforts by government to artificially preserve languages which would otherwise disappear in the larger linguistic sea in which they exist are effectively efforts to thwart communication and preserve divisions which would otherwise be more likely to disappear. Unscrupulous politicians may exploit such divisions to gain political advantage, but this does not equal an overall gain for the population as a whole. While I do not advocate efforts to deliberately suppress linguistic diversity, neither do I see any reason for taxpayers to fund efforts to preserve linguistic diversity in the absence of any observable advantage for those taxpayers.
In my experience, the argument about facilitating trade through language acquisition is nonsense. I’ve exported show dogs to buyers in Denmark, Singapore, China, Brazil, and Quebec. The inquiries I’ve received over the past few years, and did not follow up on, have come from Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Spain, Italy, etc. Those who could not speak English used the services of a translator[1] – at their expense.
Which makes complete sense, when you think about it. When one’s market extends from Asia to Europe to South Africa on any given day, which language do you propose one learn? It’s much easier to find a translator and pay them to do the job.
[1] Footnote:
A typical call goes something like this…
Translator: Ms. Catherine, I have a call from Mr. David from Brasil. Can you hold on?
Me: Sure, no problem.
Translator: Blehdyblah deblahdeblah.
Mr. David: Blehdyblahdeblahdebla hblehdyblah Ms. Catherine deblahdeblah, blehdyblahdeblah deblahblehdyblahde blah deblah blehdyblahblahblahblah. Deblah dedede Sharky blah blahdeblahdeblah. Blehdyblahdeblahdeblah blehdyblah deblah blahdeblah blehdy. Blehdy blahdeblahdeblade blah blehdy deblah. Blehdyblahdeblahdebla hblehdyblah blahdeblahdeblah. Blehdyblahdeblahdebla hblehdyblahdeblah blahdeblah blahde blah blah blah deblah. Deblah blehdy blahblahblahblah. Deblah dedede Sharky blah blahdeblahdeblah. Blehdyblah deblahdebla hblehdyblahdeblah blahdeblah blehdy. Blehdy blahdeblahdeblade blah blehdy deblah. Blehdyblah deblahdeblah blehdyblah blahdeblahdeblah. Bleh dyblahdeblahdebla hblehdyblahdeblah blahdeblah Blahdeblah deblah deblah. Blahdeblah.
Translator: OK. Thank you. Ms. Catherine?
Me: Yes?
Translator: Mr. David wants to know – is your dog Sharky for sale?
I am ready to go to war to fight against that stupid idea.
Why not Latin? When’s the last time two Latin-speaking countries went to war?
Even better.
Certainement A Q S!
You guys have been scrapping for a fight since the 14th of September, 1759. And have been threatening to get down to it, when the time is right, etc..ever since.
I see AQS was quick to validate you hypothesis Kate! But then, if he could of maybe controlled his intemperate outburst he would remember that the french do not go to war – they just surrender as soon as war is declared!!! ;);)
I think it was around 1812.
Language is the means by which we mediate reality.
heh heh, puny little anti-Christian frog, if it ever came to that, and you know it would not, who do you suppose would win? huh? Ever hear of “intercontinental ballistic missile”? Does Queerbec have any? There would not be any frogs left on this earth, but millions of Enslgish speaking Americans would survive. Sacre bleu! uh, excuse me, YEEEEEHAAAAA!
We could help ASQ with his problem by the ROC having a referendum and vote quebec off the island. No fighting required.
Kathy asks, “how long has it been since two English speaking nations went to war?”
The Irish Free State and England concluded their war in 1922. Moreover, English-speaking Republicans and Unionists have been gleefully slaughtering each other in Northern Ireland up until last year.
“I am ready to go to war to fight against that stupid idea.”
Do not underestimate the detemination behind that threat. After all, think of the progress they’ve made with the separatist project….arf, arf.
Seriously, Kate, thanks for that link. That’s a fascinating site; although i guess that means I’m a fairly boring person.
Regarding Latin, are we talking small war or big war?
Brilliant!
I think you will find that, at the time of the formation of the Irish Free State (aka The Republic), Gaelic was the official language. By usage the English language became the de facto offical language.
One unifying world language….now who thought that up?
http://www.crystalinks.com/gaguidetablet.jpg
English is the only language that immediately raises the standard of living of anybody that can use it anywhere in the world, especially Quebec.
To hell with one world govt, I have always been for ONE WORLD LANGUAGE – English.
Yessiree, world domination and we’ll get it one of these days, cause we got Mo Stlong in China working on it.
It’s an interesting discussion. The specific issue of linguistics is a subset of the larger issue of “cultural diversity”. I hear touted frequently the advantages of cultural diversity, but rarely any concrete example of the supposed advantage beyond the “more pavillions at folkfest” boilerplate. While I can imagine off hand possible advantages of having linguistic diversity within Canada — facilitation of trade links with the Orient for instance, the numbers of individuals who would require such skills for the advantage to accrue to the larger population as a portion of that larger population is miniscule. Even the supposed necessity to preserve language for the preservation of cultural gems is dubious. For example, while the latin dance scene is alive and well in Calgary, tango in particular, very few of the participants speak more than a smattering of Spanish, and the leading instructor is Japanese. Since the aim of language is communication, efforts by government to artificially preserve languages which would otherwise disappear in the larger linguistic sea in which they exist are effectively efforts to thwart communication and preserve divisions which would otherwise be more likely to disappear. Unscrupulous politicians may exploit such divisions to gain political advantage, but this does not equal an overall gain for the population as a whole. While I do not advocate efforts to deliberately suppress linguistic diversity, neither do I see any reason for taxpayers to fund efforts to preserve linguistic diversity in the absence of any observable advantage for those taxpayers.
Due to circumstances many years ago I was an “immigrant” in Canada (i.e., unable to attend English school in Quebec).
The theory at that time was (I suppose) that I’d become a French-speaker if immersed enough. Didn’t happen, although I have a good understanding of the language now.
I wonder how many of my immigrant class (many of them Vietnamese “boat people” at the time) eventually decided to stay in Quebec.
Suzanne, atheist: Le jeu est fin. You are selfish francophones and now we anglophones are going to be selfish too.
French Canadians steal the jobs of better qualified anglo Canadians through what is essentially a make work project for francophones: bilingualism. Today it is you who are the opressors, heavily outnumbered opressors. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves for supporting such a selfish, fragmenting policy.
There is nothing more racist than a Quebecker; pure laine indeed!
How about starting with Toronto first.
Access Toronto Language services
Toronto is proud to be one of the most multicultural cities in the world where 100 languages are spoken every day…..
…Access Toronto offers information in more than 140 languages, using interpreters provided through Language Line Services. If you have difficulty speaking English, or know someone who does, call Access Toronto at 416-338-0338 for assistance in whichever language you speak…
http://www.toronto.ca/accesstoronto/language_services.htm
Off topic but I thought you Hosers might like to know. The British government is planning to get rid of the UK ancestry visa for Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis etc. Another shafting by the socialist scum. Doubtless this is inspired by our “friends” the EU. It baffles me how we in Britain can be allied to Europe. They have never done anything for us. At the same time we stick up two fingers to our real friends who have shed blood alongside us time after time. Sickening.
Language belongs to the people, to the people who use it, hear it and change it. Language is, in this sense, alive; people change meanings, add words, abandon words.
Governments have no role or right in this dynamic. It is an error to assume, as some do, that cognition is dependent on there being a word existing in which to express the thought. That if there is ‘no word’, we will be unable to think!
Of course, this is nonsense.
If we come across a situation, we can readily symbolize it within one new word, or several old words…therefore, when we, the people, no longer need a particular language, there is no loss to the world if that language disappears.
atheist quebecois separatiste – it is arrogant of you to assume that you have any right to dictate to others what language they should speak. Oh, I forgot..Quebec does just that. It is unilingual. And Trudeau’s govt insisted that Canadians should be bilingual, even though, in actual fact – in the shops, the street, the workplace – we are not and never will be, bilingual.
Result of this authoritarian control over What Language You May Speak (besides billions of wasted dollars)? It’s one generation later. Only 20% of the entire population are bilingual and the majority of these are from Quebec whose members MUST be bilingual due to economic reality. Only 10% of anglophones who make up 80% of the population, are bilingual. Result?
Our governance has passed into the control of a mandarin class, The Bilinguals of Montreal-Ottawa. The majority of the population are excluded from high office because they are not members of the club. Ahh, democracy.
But, on another point, AQS, might I suggest that you stop your endless threats. Of fighting to prevent the spread of English, of threats to leave Canada if… Why not simply go and fight? Why not simply LEAVE? As noted, quite a few, if not the majority of Canadians, ie, the ROC, would not stop Quebec’s separation. We support you!
Why do you keep threatening? Go for it! Oh..you mean that most Quebecers, who know where the money comes from for their soft lifestyle, don’t want to separate? Well, it’s up to you and yours, AQS, to work hard to change their minds. That would mean taking your hand(s) out of the federal till, and funding your programs yourself. That would mean increasing your university tuition fees and even, reducing the number of universities in Quebec (which has a smaller population and more universities than Ontario).
That would mean rather than insisting that Wal-Mart put up a store so your people can work there, that you become entrepreneurial and start up your own businesses. That would mean no more subsidies to Bombardier. No more special deals for Quebec dairy farmers….It would mean economic maturity..That might lead to political maturity. Go for it, AQS! We, in the ROC, need our money for us!!
And besides, if a people really wants something, it’s their decision. Go for it!
“I am ready to go to war to fight against that stupid idea.” he clearly stated in the dominant unifying language of the world, thereby driving the point home, that nobody pays any attention to dead language jibberish.
French go to war , Ahhhhahahahah, May We!
ET: you really have some serious mental problems.
This thread wasn’t about Quebec. Yet you go on with an avalanche of hostile comments against Quebec out of nowhere.
Anyway, in the real life, governments have a immense role to play about the language.
Take the case of Hebrew. 100 years ago Hebrew was almost dead language with a few thousands speakers and almost 0 as a mother tongue.
Today Hebrew is spoken by millions of people in Israel. Why? because the government of Israel decided to make Hebrew the official language of Israel and hence forcing it on millions of immigrants via mandatory school and government jobs.
My point is that the fact that Hebrew is spoken by millions (while Yiddish is dying) is the result of the decision of a few people at the top (Governments) who indirectly forced on people.
Language diversity is good.
Imagine the opposite: the whole world as a giant USA. NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!
Why do you hate the USA?
Is China, Russia or a nuclear controlled Middle East a better alternative?
Don’t tell me France is your utopia, the template for the world either.
AQS – “Language diversity is good.”
No – Language diversity is divisive. And that is exactly the point. I know precisely where the world would go under a common language…
Jeff : Why do you hate the USA?
I don’t hate the USA. The USA is made of many components many of them I hate, a few of them I like.
I hate Bush.
I hate the USA military.
I hate the religious rights.
I hate USA’s foreign policy.
I like Michael Moore.
I’m convinced AQS isn’t a real person. He’s a cartoon, no?
How many English-speaking countries border other English-speaking countries? Two: the U.K. borders the Irish Republic, and Canada borders the U.S. Both frontiers have seen war, and let’s not forget the U.S. Civil War with its 600,000 dead.
AQS- You brought up the instance of Quebec and fighting against English. Why would you want to fight against English, except that you are a Quebec separatiste and want to ‘fight’ (heh) for separation? So, don’t tell me that the topic is not relevant.
I repeat, no-one is asking you to fight; most of us in the ROC would be more than happy to see Quebec separate. We are tired of funding it, tired of catering to its political and economic demands. The problem is, Quebecers don’t want to leave! They prefer milking the ROC for money and power.
Now, there is no inherent reason for a language to exist – except within its active function for communication. No reason. Therefore, your outline of Hebrew ‘disappearing’ except for the Israeli govt, is incorrect. You don’t get it; there is NO reason for a language to exist other than for its active function in communication.
The fact that Israel ‘chose’ a common language of Hebrew, rather than another ‘common’ language of Yiddish, had far more to do with the use in Israel of Hebrew by the current inhabitants, while Yiddish was specifically a Western and Eastern European phenomenon. Since Israel’s agenda was to absorb Jews from all over the world, it required a common language. Therefore, it chose the older regional rather than the newer non-regional language. Get it?
AQS- your list of ‘hates’ versus one ‘like’ is informative. It tells me that you are uninformed, uneducated in history and theory, and uncritical; you are highly susceptible to manipulation and progaganda.
Hey Kate…under your new forced-language policy, do my parents still get to speak Polish at home, or is this a total, blanket policy? And when would the re-education camps get phases in? Before or after the mandatory language classes? Or would they simply get deported for breaking your English-only law, since I’m sure you wouldn’t want to invest public funds?
I know the idea of wearing safety equipment and working in a properly ventilated environment reeks of socialist nanny-state-ism, but seriously, give it some thought: I think those paint fumes are getting to you.
At any rate, I don’t know where people get the whole Conservative Part hidden agenda thing from. I mean, it’s not like you’re the biggest Canadian conservative blogger out there or anything….
There would be nowhere to deport anyone to. They’d all speak English. That’s the beauty of it.
C’mon, Ringo – work with me here. This is exactly the kind of big-picture solution that originated with the left! Mao, Stalin, Douglas, Suzuki…. I’d have thought someone like you would have been the first to endorse?
And the trolls just keep on giving.
Dear A Q S
I really shoulden’t feed a troll but here I see someone who would kneel before the “fat bas****” Michel Moore and slag a country, the U. S. that set France free from having to learn the german language, at a cost of 60,000 war dead, this at a time when most of your Quebecers did not want to serve overseas,the exception being the Van Doos I think you better read a little of the history of the second world war. The U.S. is the only country in the history of the planet to win unconditional surender from two nations,Germany and Japan, rebuilt them, with the Marshall plan, and left them with functional demoracys. America perfect ? hell no but we are the luckiest people on earth to have them for neighbors.
the WORLD is fortunate the U.S.A. exists.
John Begley and Bubba Brown – I fully agree; the world is fortunate the USA exists and we, Canada, are fortunate that we are neighbours.
ADQ – you say you’d fight to prevent English becoming the (only) international language. You also assert that you hate US foreign policy, you hate the US military.
As pointed out, France has a history of refusing to fight for the rights of its citizens, eg, it took seven days for its WWII surrender and a matter of hours before it moved fully into collaboration with the Nazi agenda against minority groups and Jews.
It was the US military and US foreign policy that saved France from being German speakers. I suppose since it was German rather than English..you wouldn’t fight?
I’ll be you aren’t even aware of WWII history, and how Quebecers were adamantly opposed to themselves going to help out their fellows in France!
Chris Burd – the US civil war wasn’t between two nations but between two economic and political modes. Compare the English civil war – the same thing.
At any rate, English happens to have moved into a status as the international language. Not by governmental intervention, not by authoritarian design, but by the way all language operates – which is by its use by people, ordinary people, in their everyday lives of commerce and interaction. Just the way it is.
Thanks for the laugh. Made my morning.
Bubba Brown says it all!
Well done.
I do wish you’d stop it with the frog taunts. It’s bad form.
A friend asked me, “Why do English speaking people call French people frogs?” It didn’t make sense. I told him it’s odd, a few French speakers can take the loveliest of languages and us it to positively croak. He frowned incredulously. It was the best I could do.
Later, I heard French ambassador to the UN, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, speaking about, um, some crap, don’t recall because I was so taken in by his halted English which sounded exactly, and I mean EXACTLY like a frog. A bullfrog, actually. It was the way he vocalized, “uuuuh” in low vibrato between every other word that did it.
Very well, I take it back, go on then with the taunts.
“I am ready to go to war to fight against that stupid idea.”
Yes, but how will you fight that war if Alberta refuses to bankroll you? It’s not like your province could survive more than a week on its own before the funding for daycare ran out and you’d be responsible for babysitting your illegitimate spawn again.
et. good stuff. if adq really wants a war i’ll be happy to give him a personal one. it won’t get him a separate country but it would help me get rid of some rage.
et. good stuff. if adq really wants a war i’ll be happy to give him a personal one. it won’t get him a separate country but it would help me get rid of some rage. just need more beer, calm down.
Veni, vidi, vici.
(OT)
Dear Bubba Brown:
The Soviets were the ones who forced unconditional surrender from the Nazis. The US just likes to take credit.
Love,
Joe
Quebec separatist, what do you know about war? Have you ever seen someone killed? Have you ever had a buddy standing in one spot one minute, then gone in the next from artillary? Have you ever seen someone lose his legs or balls from a trip wire? How about a so called atheist who loses his rifle in a fire fight, then screams like a baby for God to save him.
You know nothing about war. You just yap yap yap. Be careful what you wish for athiest, you just may get it.
::shrug:: That’s the way it’s going, anyway, with or without Government intervention.
English has the lowest bar of any language for effective communication. Learning English well is hard — most of us native speakers never accomplish it 🙂 But learning enough English to exchange ideas and conduct business is easy enough. No genders, no arcane syntax, and no matter what language you speak originally you can find at least a few words in English that come directly from it.
So if a Pole meets a Chinese and an Irani in Paris to discuss mining in Mauretania, the conversation will take place in the English language, however fractured. That’s just the way it is, and linguistic Canutes can get stuffed.
Regards,
Ric
We’ll send you some history books on tape for the next drive, Kathy. Don’t worry, they’ll be short!
One of the bloodiest wars in human history.
The civil war.
Boneheads.
People… rereading kate post. she said “make everyone speak english and *only* english” her intend is that everyone on earth speak only english. This is not about english as an international language. This about no more spanish, no more russian, no more japanese language. Gone.
She is advocating cultural genocide and turning the whole planet into a big giant USA.
language == culture
There are over 6000 languages (culture) alive today on earth.
no more japanese culture and language.
no more italian.
no more ….
that’s cultural genocide.
Endangered culture and language must be protected like endangered species.
Yoo hoo, AQS – you need to know something important. Language does not equal culture; they are not the same thing. Yoo hoo, AQS – knowledge coming your way! Language and culture are not the same!
Did you know that Americans and Brits and Australians and Canadians and Jamaicans and Kenyans and Zimbabweans and so on..speak English? Is their culture the same?
Rubbish – ‘endangered culture and language must be protected like endangered species’.
Kindly stop playing God, and allow a species to become extinct, if it is no longer viable in its environment, and kindly allow a new species to emerge. YOU have no role in this.
And what utter social engineering arrogance! Insisting that a ‘culture’, ie, a form of belief and behaviour’, that is no longer believable or behaviourable..must be maintained! Hey – ADQ, why don’t you regress to hunting furs and living in the bush? Are you going to insist that the Unuit can’t do anything other than hunt? Can’t become doctors and engineers? Or better yet, what do you think of regressing back to the days of the cultural era of smallpox and scurvy and diptheria!
Sheesh- you keep providing more and more evidence that you are uneducated and above all, someone who is highly susceptible to manipulation and progaganda. You don’t critically THINK!
Language = culture?
If that was the case, languages wouldn’t evolve.
Languages aren’t species, they are fluids. They move and form to fit their required usages. Communication is forever changing, and forcing people to use an outdated and underutilized language for the language’s sake is cultural suicide… not the inverse.
I speak almost the exact same language as those who live in Australia, AQS. My culture looks nothing like theirs. That alone blows your point to smithereens.