Liberal Isolationist?

Even though I am considered a liberal by some, on this point I have to agree with FarEastCynic. My dad was stationed in France, I learned French (since forgotten) in order to go to school, I lived in Germany and I spoke German for 14 months (also now forgotten) while I lived on the economy. My mother is German and learned to speak English in England (she was 26) in the 50's. She has spoken only English since then and barely understands German anymore. When shopping on base she has been known to walk up to people in the Base Exchange and tell them "Speak English, this is American soil and you are shopping on gov't property!" Most people think she is from the South, they never guess German.

There are plenty of other examples that show the lunacy is not just confined to Britain. Quite simply this is accommodation run amok. Were I the king of the world, immigrants would hear the following speech upon arrival in Britain:

" Ok folks, here is the deal . Because the United Kingdom is an enlightened nation, because we believe in opportunity, we are allowing you to enter the heart of what was formerly the seat of the greatest Empire that ever strode the earth. The English language, English measurement, English scientific method, British systems of justice, social justice, and law have become the gold standard by which the rest of the world is judged. Because of the prowess of our explorers and discipline of a great Army and Fleet that we built, we stole a march on humanity of over 200 years , that only now are the pitiful countries you emigrated from starting to even begin to walk towards.

So! If you want to come here and receive the benefits of being in a modern Western society which is far superior to the one of your birth, then, by God, you better understand a few things:

1) You can worship as you wish. However I too can worship as I wish and there are more of me than there are of you.

2) You cannot just choose to live apart. Assimilate into this great culture, Goddamn it! You want to hold on to the tired old values of the old country? Fine, but keep them at home. This is and will remain a Western country with Western values. Assimilation into this society, wearing real clothes and interaction with real people will serve you a hell of a lot better than wearing stupid caps and growing beards.

Don't like it? You know where Heathrow is.

3) English is the language of this country. LEARN IT! USE IT! Its not wrong to expect residents of England to learn English, anymore than it is unreasonable to expect residents of Japan to learn Japanese. We are through accomdating you, its you that need to accommodate us. Impossible you say? Well, the experience of 150 years of European, Indian and Chinese immigration proves you wrong.

4) Don't like it? Get over it.

This would be good advice for the INS to give people applying for green cards too.

Yes, at heart I am and always have been, an isolationist. I was 26 before I had spent half my life in the continental US and as such I understand how special this country really is and how close we are to losing all that our forefathers gave their lives for.

When you go to another country it is a sign of respect to "do as the Romans do". In California our ballots are printed in 28 languages. If you can't read the newpapers and understand the majority of tv stations then you can't understand the issues and shouldn't be voting on them! As Americans if we emigrate to another country the don't always let us own property or vote in their elections. We don't want to give up US citizenship and assimilate into their society, they don't let us determine the direction of their country. We need to circle our wagons, restrict our borders for a while and figure out where we are going as a nation and how to fix the problems we have on the inside before we try to export democracy to a country that isn't interested.

My dad always said I was going to be a Republican, and I was for a while, but I can't reconcile the rest of the platform with ethics, principles and love for the common man.