Last night in his defense of the English Only ballot initiative, CM Eric Crafton pointed to the irony of the fact that English is required language in many foreign countries and across international bodies, but it is not a requirement in America.
What is even more ironic to me is that so many countries respond to globalism by requiring English as a second language and that America does not require any second language, even as Spanish speaking immigrants increase in numbers. Don't Europeans have a competitive edge precisely because they engage and assimilate foreign languages rather than outlawing them? If we really want to follow the Europeans*, shouldn't learning a second language be compulsory in America?
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*Take CM Crafton's argument with a grain of salt; he tends to say contradictory things about following the international community.
Approximately 14% of all Puerto Ricans speak English as a first language, yet the Puerto Rican elections commission refuses to print the statehood initiative in English. To vote responsibility in this U.S. territory you must understand Spanish.
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