Best Ex-Pat area for full time residency

RPreeb wrote:
I've never lived anywhere that required me to speak anything other than English. If I had, I'd have made whatever effort was necessary to learn the local lingo. We lived for 2 years in the Bahamas, where they do speak English. I've visited quite a few other countries, but no longer have any desire to live anywhere but the US. I took 3 years of high school French, and could probably pick it back up if I needed it, but I don't need it.

When I go into a store or restaurant and I can't understand the server because their English is marginal at best, it can be a problem. If it's someone who is a new immigrant, then it's excusable. If it's someone who has lived here for a long time, or even was born here and still can't speak decent English, then I take exception to it. Learning the native language is often the first step to really understanding a culture.

No matter what the liberal opinion is, English is the language in the US, and by lobbying for second (or multiple) language support, all that is accomplished is to encourage the racial and ethnic separation which leads to divisive racism. Cultural diversity is a good thing as long as it's understood that one's ethnic culture must be secondary to the culture of the nation or region where one is living.

I realize that there is far more to racism than just cultural diversity, but encouraging and promoting such separatism just adds fuel to the racist - or the so-called America First - doctrine. I don't condone or espouse their foolishly narrow-minded view of the world, but I also don't see any good reason to give them easy excuses to justify their philosophy.

I would remind you of your history. For much of this country's early history more people spoke French and Spanish than English. The French all along the Mississippi and westward. At the same time Spain held most of what is now Texas, New Mexico Arizona parts of Utah and California. Later Russian was the "official" language of much of coastal Alaska from the Aleutians down through South East Alaska.

And this is to say nothing of the hundreds of Native Languages that were here for thousands of years before those illegal immigrants, our European forefathers landed and took this land.

And during WWII it was one of those native languages Dina or Navaho that confounded the Japanese and helped us win the war. The Navaho Code Talkers.

Our Nation does NOT have an official language. English is NOT our official language.

This country was founded on and by people who spoke a variety of languages.

As I said previously, Humility, patience and understanding...and it wouldn't hurt to know some history to put it all in context.