Livius mentions English only ballots. The need in recent years for multi-language ballots (that, and the Motor Voter law) is one of the reasons we in Arizona proposed and passed Propostion 200.
Posted on 12/28/2004 9:43:11 AM PST by JustAnotherSavage
"Push one for English, push two for Spanish and Three for Arabic" a benign voice offers you over the phone when you call businesses.
Before long, you’ll hear, "Press one for Russian, two for Vietnamese, three for Korean, four for Hmong, five for Swahili, six for Moroccan and seven for Eskimo."
Before you push the button for your language, you probably wonder whose idea was it to change English the language of America into different languages? How long can we maintain a cohesive, united and viable country without the ability to talk among ourselves?
In his brilliant piece in the Rocky Mountain News, former Colorado Governor Lamm said, "A nation is much more…It is a state of mind, a shared vision, a recognition that we are all in this together. A nation needs a common language as it needs a common language as it needs a common l currency."
With competing languages, no nation on earth enjoys peace within itself. The scholar Seymour Lipset said, "The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate re histories of turmoil, tension and tragedy. Canada, Belgium Malaysia, Lebanon—all face crises of national existence which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. France faces severe difficulties with hits Islamic immigrants now numbering five million who are not assimilating.
Some say Switzerland is an example of a peaceful nation with three languages, but a closer examination shows a divided geography of French, German an Italian.
In America’s California, you already have seen the cracks breaking apart a once solid educational system in that state.
"The common people ú the poor, the dirty, the lice ridden, the cockroaches are advancing on the United States. "A country that needs to speak Spanish because it has 33 million Mexicans who are imposing their culture," declared the Mexican novelist Elena Poniatowska. "Mexico is recovering the territories yielded to the United States by means of migratory tactics." From "Abolishing Our Borders" by William Grigg in The New American, October 8, 2001.
In his article, "The Long Count", FrontPageMagazine.com of February 24, 2003, Allan Wall writes, "In the past, Hispanic immigrants sought to assimilate … But that is more and more difficult for immigrants who arrive today, recipients of affirmative action and government services in Spanish. Allan Wall asks, "What’s to be done?"
"Designate English as the official language of the country. Scrap bilingual education, bilingual ballots. The president should revoke Executive Order 131665, which guarantees foreign language service to anyone who demands it. All government business should be conducted in English."
"English is under assault everywhere in the country. We have heard of the ESL programs. Why do we promote English as a Second Language in this country? Implicit in the title is the idea that the immigrant should keep the language of the country he came from as his FIRST language. Today the threat is from the Spanish language. Tomorrow it could be Arabic or Chinese. If immigrants who speak Spanish do not want to learn English, they should immigrate to Spain."
A sad example of the confusion of our immigration and language policies was reported in The Denver Post on Tuesday, July 6, 2004. The article is entitled, "Espanol on patrol." "…a quarter of residents speak little or no English," in the Aurora neighborhood called Little Mexico.
"It creates almost a philosophical problem," said Todd McCart, a District 1 patrol officer. "Do we have a responsibility to learn enough Spanish to communicate with them? Or, because they’ve chosen to come to an English-speaking city in America, do they have the responsibility to learn English to communicate with us?" There should not be a problem: if you came to live in America, learn English; if you go to live in Mexico, learn Spanish. Aurora is trying to solve the language difficulties by allowing volunteers to ride with the police as translators. But because immigrants no longer think they have to learn English in an English-speaking country, we encounter this sad example, a small woman in an oversized gray sweatshirt was complaining that officers trying to arrest her 16-year-old son had pushed her.
"I tried to tell them, ‘Speak Spanish, speak Spanish.’ But no, only English, I don’t speak English. I speak Spanish," the woman complained through Martinez. Miguel Martinez was an interpreter.
"Notice the attitude of this lady," the police said. "She complains because we do not speak her language. She’s in this country, why doesn’t she learn English? In a medium sized town in the East a similar incident occurred in the workplace where immigrants from the former Yugoslavia were told after a year of employment that they had to learn some English.
The next day they went to the supervisor and gave her a bilingual dictionary so she could learn their language. This anti-English attitude is prevalent: the English speaking American citizen should accommodate the immigrant who does not speak our language."
I can easily produce a thousand examples. I just list those above as an introduction.
The trend in language is against English proficiency. Why do immigrants no longer need to learn English? In a nutshell: diversity and multiculturalism. The government promotes the equality of foreign languages with English in its support of bi-lingual education, government publications for use inside the US printed in foreign languages, voting ballots in languages other than English.
The language issue is part of the immigration issue. Everyday we are confronted with articles in the news related to immigration, legal and illegal. Everyday various views presented, various problems examined, various hardships related with appeals for understanding and sympathy.
For most of us, if you are like me, we read the latest article on immigration, become angry and frustrated and wonder why the government does nothing.
Surely if we write to the politicians they will listen to reason. But then don’t they already know of these immigration issues? Of course they do, but they too are distracted by the continual flow of news and the attempt to keep up with it all.
Our enemies are not distracted. They are focused on their goals of open borders, unlimited immigration, a multi-lingual society and culture; in short their goal is the demise of the English-speaking culture of the United States of America.
He has written hundreds of articles (regularly) for 17 national and 2 international magazines. He has had hundreds of editorials published in top national newspapers including the Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post, Albany Herald and Christian Science Monitor.
His first book, "HANDBOOK FOR TOURING BICYCLISTS" by Falcon Press is available nationwide. His second book "STRIKE THREE! TAKE YOUR BASE" by the Brookfield Reader published in January 2002. His bicycle books include "BICYCLING AROUND THE WORLD."
His latest book. ‘IMMIGRATION’S UNARMED INVASION—DEADLY CONSEQUENCES.’
Frosty Wooldridge has guest lectured at Cornell University, teaching creative writing workshops, magazine writing at Michigan State University, and has presented environmental science lectures at the University of Colorado, University of Denver and Regis University. He also lectures on "Religion and Ethics" at Front Range College in Colorado.
This article was forwarded to me with the Author's permission and is not yet on his website because it is too new.
ping
You have expressed interest in this subject in the past, please let me know if you want on or of this illegal immigration ping list. Thanks!
Scary. We need to push now before we have the mess like up in Canada.
BTTT
You have expressed interest in this subject in the past, please let me know if you want on or of this illegal immigration ping list. Thanks!
________
Illegal Immigrants' Cost to Government Studied
By Mary Fitzgerald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 26, 2004; Page A21
A report that found that illegal immigrants in the United States cost the federal government more than $10 billion a year -- a sum it estimated would almost triple if they were given amnesty -- has drawn criticism from immigration advocacy groups.
For its report, the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that advocates tougher immigration policies, used Census Bureau figures to compare the revenue that illegal immigrants contribute through taxes with the cost of government services they use. --snip--
A report that found that illegal immigrants in the United States cost the federal government more than $10 billion a year...
=====
No, it costs the U.S. WORKING TAX PAYER $10B per year -- IT COSTS THE GOVERNMENT NOTHING BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PRODUCE THE MONEY! That puts the insanity of this issue into perspective, and also shows WHY we still have the problem that the government REFUSES TO FIX.
Actually, I'm in favor of the guest worker plan, but I think one of the requirements of it should be a certain level of English proficiency - or proof of enrollment in English language classes. I don't see why we can't take advantage of this moment to get these people learning English. Some of them barely speak Spanish, btw, because they come from remote parts of Mexico where Indian languages are still spoken. So if they learned a bit of English, they'd definitely be ahead of the game, and it would certainly make things easier for people who had to deal with them.
I also think they should have mandatory (but short) courses on American history and traditions, even for guest workers who are not going to be permanent residents. Once upon a time, those things were taught in the public schools, and helped convert lot of immigrants from allegiance to their former country to allegiance to America. But I guess the left wouldn't want that, would they.
Here is a snip from part two:
The Washington politicians including the President are isolated and insulated from the average person’s experience with immigration and language. They are not affected by the illegal immigration invasion destroying the national parks or Indian reservations along the border with Mexico. They do not live next to the poor. They are protected now and in their retirement. They do not have to fear losing their job to an illegal immigrant.
Why focus on the language when there are so many other immigration issues? The reason is that if we can get English as the only official national language we can thus force the immigrant to learn English if he wants to deal with the government at any level. For example, any school district offering bi-lingual education would lose all federal funds. The federal government would not be permitted to fund any English language course except total immersion in English. If an immigrant wants a document written in his language, he has to pay for the translation, just as in Mexico. No more driver’s licenses in languages other than English. We must become stalwart when confronting the politicians. We have been reasoning with them for years. What have they done for us? Nothing! The borders remain open, the language is under assault, and the culture is being depreciated as we are told that all cultures are equal.
Flooding the politicians with letters in support of one program or another will be met with various arguments and positions to remedy one problem or another. We have to focus on one issue that is English. Getting bogged down in problems related to English usage is irrelevant. There will always be another language problem that the Spanish lobby can present as to why bi-lingualism is necessary. We don’t care about the problems individuals who come here have with our language. They came here willingly, let them learn English or leave. They have a responsibility to learn our language.
Most Americans still support English. Most Americans would agree that English should be the only national language. How long can we wait for the politicians to make English the national language? 10 percent or more of the population already speaks Spanish. In a few years that percentage could reach 20 percent. Do you think that as the number of Spanish-speaking people increases in America the politicians will listen to quiet conversations about why English should be made the national language?
Time is running against us. If we do not focus on the language we will lose the language as the Spanish invasion continues. Let us first establish English as the official national language and then go after closing the borders. We must focus on this issue and its implications for preserving the nation. Learning the English language is the first step in assimilation into the American culture. Remember this: if we lose our single language, it creates confusion, conflict, separation and finally, violence.
If immigrants are allowed to keep a foreign language they will keep a foreign culture. We have to force the school system to teach English as the national language. We cannot continue to permit schools to teach bi-lingual courses. If the immigrant knows that English and only English will be used in the schools (foreign language courses are exceptions), the immigrant will not expect to live in America without learning English.
So how do we get the Congress and the President to vote for, pass and sign English into law as the official language of the United States? Be forceful! No compromise! No discussion! No sympathy! This is America. We speak English—not Russian, Portuguese, Chinese or the other 300 languages out there. We respect those languages in their countries, but we expect English to be learned and spoken by immigrants in our country. We do not want to become a polyglot, bickering nation that can’t understand itself. We must all speak and pull in the same direction. It’s the only way this Republic will flouish.
If English is not made the official language of this country we promise to vote against every elected official from dogcatcher to president. We will vote against everyone who holds any office in any village, town, county, state, as well as any national office including the President, himself.
The mayor has nothing to do with the language issue in Washington. So what. If the mayor is threatened to lose his job because of the English issue, he will put pressure on the national politicians to pass the English bill.
The national organizations that support English as a national language need to get together in a conference to plan a national campaign so people will understand what is at stake and why they should vote against all incumbents. They have to print the lists of incumbents so the people will know whom to vote against. Work with the League of Women Voters. Publish the lists on the Internet so that everyone can print the local list and give it to others.
As Immanuel Kant once said, "Language and religion are the dividers." If we allow multiple languages into the United States of America, we shall create the Divided States of America. No one wins and we all lose.
"America has been successful because we have become one people," Governor Lamm said. "There is a social glue of a common language, a shared history, uniting symbols that tie us together. We live under a common flag, which we honor and salute. We enjoy a common currency, laws, rules, weights, measures and all things that maintain our union."
One thing they forget about some of the things such as this is that many of these language options exist because businesses want to reach foreign tourists.
Of course, there's simply no need to publish election ballots in any language other than English since everyone using a ballot should be a citizen with a working knowledge of the language.
Livius mentions English only ballots. The need in recent years for multi-language ballots (that, and the Motor Voter law) is one of the reasons we in Arizona proposed and passed Propostion 200.
"Of course, there's simply no need to publish election ballots in any language other than English since everyone using a ballot should be a citizen with a working knowledge of the language."
Your logic seems correct to me. One has to assume that when these ballots (and voter's pamphlets) are published in other languages that they may be intended for illegals.
Are you actually a "Teen". If so, you are an inspiration to all us ol' geezers! Thanks.
Sorry, I attributed your comment to Livius in the previous post.
I think it is more that business's have to do this multi language thing just to keep up with the invasion. It is their choice, not mandated, that I know of and some business's refuse to do so.
A relative of mine had State Farm Insurance, in a small NW city for 30 years. Her agent retired and she was switched to another agent. The lady was pleasant on the phone, but had such broken English that no one could understand her. When she politely asked for an English speaking representative she was informed she was racist. She now has another company.
English only ~ Bump!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.