Now that all the marches and strikes are over it might be a bit dated to talk about immigration. But there is a certain aspect of this immigration debate which I find especially intriguing. One charge that's often thrown against illegal immigrants is that they don't assimilate. Language is often cited as the prime example of this. I don't want to talk about the reasons why they don't pick up the English language (hint : it's not simply because they don't want to). I am more intrigued by the question. Why is it so important that people assimilate?
I do understand the practical benefits of everyone speaking the same language. Hell, I am from India. You have to grow up and live in different regions of India to really know how inconvenient it is to have people speak in a bewildering range of languages. But then is practicality a good enough reason? Can the same practicality argument not be made to push for uniformity in other fields as well? Won't the world be a better place if we just had one religion? Just as English is the predominant language of US isn't Christianity the predominant religion? Why isn't there a push for everyone to change to that predominant religion? Is it because of the degree of predominance? After all only 76.5% Americans identify themselves are Christians. While pretty much every (statistically speaking) American speaks English. In that case is it ok for countries like Saudi Arabia to outlaw the practice of any religion other than Islam because 99.5% of their population are Muslims? Or is it that religion and language are just not comparable. Religion is one of the intensely personal human right and people should have the right to practice any religion they want. But language is just a practical utility so the same rights argument cannot apply to it.
The bleeding heart liberal in me keeps urging me to take a stand against this push for uniformity. But then the pragmatist in me can clearly see the benefits of a uniform language. I just can't make up mind. Not that there's anything new about it :)
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3 comments:
Hi Laserlikefocus,
"But language is just a practical utility so the same rights argument cannot apply to it."
-- I think using the same language is definitely practical. Though languages have profound effects on a country's culture, I think what it really boils down to is the practicality of using the English language to communicate with most people and advance in ones' career.
Religion, however, is too personal a choice to be measured in practical ways.
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