United We WOULD Stand, Divided, we ARE Falling

So I was sitting down speaking to a friend about the last two posts on this site. As the conversation evolved so did the topic. and i want to sahre with you the jist of that conversation.

Here is something interesing for you. When I voted in the last election my ballot was in English and Spanish. There was also an oppertunity to request the ballot in Vietnamaise. This is something that i do not understand. In order to vote a person must be an American citizen. If you are born an American you are a citizen, if not you must apply for citizenship. Part of the application is that you be able to speak a certain level of English. Some people take classes to get up to that level of English on the citizenship exam. In this way both types of Americans(immigrants and those born here)both speak english.

So that goes back to my previous question: why are the ballots in languages other then English? If we are saying that it is a requirement to know English why are we printing the ballot in other languages? Printing extra ballots costs money. Coding ballot machines in multiple languages also costs money. We should force all offical governmental and other important matters conducted in English only.

This is an example of something that DIVIDES Americans as a whole. I have always thought that one of our primary problems is that we spend too much time trying to define ourselves in exclusionary ways. We refer to ourselves as this type of an American or that type of an American. What we should be doing is refering to oursleves as Americans. By hypenating the type of American you are does nothing, NOTHING but further divide us as a people. However, that which makes us unique as a people is that which divides us as a people. Most other countries in the world are not made up the way we are. Most countries in the world have a majority of people seeing themselves in a certain way, and then perhaps a small minority that sees themselves in another. Here in the US, there is no real majority, only lots of little minorities. That is why we should have something that unites all of us. I propose that it should be the thing that all Americans are supposed to know: English.

And I would expand this English requirement to all public domains. All street signs would only be in English, all mailing addresses would be in English only, and all governmental facilities would be conducted only in English.

Now, some people claim that another language is part of their cultural heritage and they do not want to give it up. My response to that is: wonderful! I agree with you, you should not give up parts of your cultural heritage at all. You may speak whatever language you wish in your home and within a private institution. However in public areas, I think it is more important for everyone to speak English and English alone.

And furthermore I would not have bilingual public schools. Kids need to be able to speak english to function in society and thus bilingual education is reinforcing that it is ok if you don't speak english. That would save a lot of money which I would then put into an area of school that is lacking nationwide: Science Programs. It is pathetic to see Graduate schools having to fill lots of spaces in their classes with Non-Americans becuase Americans are not interested. By spending money on science early will get kids interested at an earlier age and thus will create more good American Scientists. We have a duty to spend on this very important and very neglected area of our education system.

I have said a lot of things here, and I am sure there are people out there that do not agree with me. If you do not, please voice your opinion in the comments section, I would love to sit down and discuss whatever it is you want to talk about. If you agree wit what I have said, I would also love to hear your opinions.

Big Tex wants to hear from ALL of yall, so get typing!