It was recently reported by the Spy network that Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Dave Olds has introduced an ordinance making English the official language of the county.
After reviewing the legislation and speaking to several of the county commissioners, I can only come to one conclusion – it’s a poorly thought out piece of legislation and will only have ill effects.
As a rule, I am generally opposed to English-only mandates. They reek of cultural resentment, by their very nature are intrusive nanny statism at work, and they’re aimed at stopping a largely imaginary threat. They are an utter rejection of all that the Republican Party, and America itself, are meant to stand for.
In a limited government society, language is simply not a concern of government. Just as we reject a government that picks winners and losers when it comes to cars or energy, it’s equally important that we not have a government that picks winners or losers in the marketplace of ideas.
A free society demands that the individuals that comprise it be free to choose and part of that choice is language. That’s why we didn’t set a national language in the Constitution and why we as a nation have resisted calls to do so since then.
However, even if English-Only mandates weren’t an assault on individual liberty, they still would be ultimately unnecessary given basic economic realities.
English is the language of trade and finance. It is the language of some of the world’s most popular films, books, and music. It is even the language of diplomacy, given its status as one of the few official languages used at the UN.
That is why English is the global common tongue. Within the developed world it is either the first language or a near universally known second language, and even in less advanced countries there are still many people who speak English.
There is simply no plausible threat to the market imposed global dominance of English.
Which brings us to the ordinance in question. As I stated, I’ve read through the proposed bill and spoken with several of the commissioners. In both my analysis of the bill and theirs, the conclusion is the same; seemingly nothing is changed by this ordinance.
The scope of the bill is limited to Queen Anne’s County government, so businesses are not impacted by the mandate, and there are so many exemptions and they are so broad, that effectively all functions of county government are also unaffected by the law.
That means there is no meaningful fiscal savings to the county from passing the bill. Indeed, there can only be one plausible purpose to its passage to send a message.
Sadly, that is an ugly message, not one in keeping with the values that I always thought we in this county pride ourselves on.
It’ is a message that reinforces the message sent all too often over the past few years Queen Anne’s County is closed for business, with the key addition that now foreigners need not apply.
Commissioners, please stand up for individual liberty and common sense by voting against this ordinance. It is a bad bill, responding to a non-existent threat, that sends the wrong message about our county.
gerald.maynes says
Hi, It is a great idea. English is the common language that binds the country. I will never forget my 80 year old Grand mother who in the late 70!s living in West New York New Jersyey, had to learn to speak Spanish to deal with the local merchants in her neighborhood, yhat she had lived in her entire life. Luckily for her my Grandma spoke fluent english as well as Itailian a language that is based on Latin. The merchants as well as many of the homeowners held jobs worked hard but did not take the time to learn English.
This she and my Grand Pa could not understand. you see Carmine Montemarano got off the boat from Ellis Island as a little boy he went to School with his brother Gesjuale. The teacher told my my Grand Pa that his name was Tom and his brothers name was Joe. They live3d their whole lives with their new first names. But they did leartn to speak English. They built rich lives held positions of authority in Buisness and named their first born Tom and Joe’.
Thier kids went on to be Americans, not Itailan Americans but proud Americans. Today we have vast populations that are not insimulating into American society. This is wrong and is bad for the country. Yes we are a country of imigrants, it is what has made us great. But remember it is a common languaghe that binds us together.
Kevin Waterman says
Thanks for the response. I didn’t bring it up here in the article but did mention it in my testimony before the County Commissioners (this was a guide for the testimony I gave and I believe the Spy may be posting footage of that later on), it’s a widely held misconception that current Latino immigrants are not assimilating the way previous generations of immigrants did.
As was noted by George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen in a Washington Times op-ed piece, only 7% of the children of Latino immigrants have Spanish as a first language, and barely any of their children do, with only 2.5% of the American population speaking Spanish but not English. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100922.html)
And I would disagree with the idea that it is a common language that binds our country together. Ultimately language is incidental, what truly binds our nation together are the ideals of limited government and individual liberty – and those are just as true in English as they are in Spanish or Armenian or Old High French.
gerald.maynes says
Hi, forgive me that should have been assimilation. Gosh, maybe I should learn to speak English too!
Steve Payne says
Well said Kevin!
Opportunity and justice are what builds America and holds it together. These “Fluff” bills are for those that feel others won’t assimilate into their narrowly defined version of America.
gerald.maynes says
I don!t agree with you. The Declaration of Independence is what Lincoln, felt binded the country and its new citizens togethere. But if every group speaks its own language, what do youy have? Americans or transplanted Arabs, Afrigans, Cubans, Ethipians, Frenchmen, Chinamen, Israleis, Mexicans,Dutchmen and Germans Etc Etc Etc. Common Language,common customs ,leads to common neighborhods and assimilateded Americans.
I do not b elieve in Bilingual any thing Yes of course learn your ancestors tounge but make you language English.
Kevin Waterman says
And yet assimilation happened just fine with previous waves of immigration without any national language or government meddling. Market forces are what drive the dominance of English and they are just as much in effect today as they were in the past, a point clearly evidenced by the fact that Hispanic immigrants today assimilate at pretty much the same rate as immigrants of years past.
Gren Whitman says
Afrigans? Ethipians? Israleis? Ancestors tounge? Make you language English?
Sounds as if this guy should be first in line for ESL classes, or at least learn how to spell!