Re: If the Poles......you know the plumber Poles that you see on billboards.........were to start moving into Belgium en masse illegally, you would be cool when they propose to change the national language to Polish? You wouldn't object? Is that right?
In Europe, languages don't offset each other, they add up... For that matter, I don't think Latinos want to "change" the US official language, they merely want to keep Spanish in their day-to-day business --in addition to English.
Huh? They rewrote the American national anthem in Spanish. That suggests a desire to make other conversions into Spanish.
And again, you didn't answer the question other than to show how culturally savvy Europeans are. Poles moving into Belgium....want the official Belgian language to be Polish.........your reaction.
Re: And that's precisely my point: the EU is indeed made up of 25 different monocultures!
Yes, Europe is becoming more like the US.
Not so fast. As I once put it, Europe is a compartmentalized, firewalled complex where you can't spread hatred or any other ideological spin like wildfire --precisely because monocultures are like firewalls to each other.... Could you imagine, for instance, that, on the eve of the Iraq war, back in March 2003, some "blue states" had officially refused to send "their" troops to Iraq? Could it be possible for, say, Oregon to tell the US President, "No, we don't approve of your Iraqi crusade, no Oregonian will fight in Iraq!"? Remember: Italy, Britain, Spain, a.o., did send troops whereas France, Germany, Belgium didn't.
That's still in the becoming. In 50 or 100 years, I think Europe will be much like the US.....a republic. |
