Something that has been on my mind for a while

Isn’t it funny how a chain of events can make you start to thinking, reflecting on past events, and before you know it, you are philosophizing about something. The other day I heard another fellow American complaining about the Latino-Americans speaking Spanish, and I started thinking, reflecting, and ended up writing this.

I don’t know how many times I have heard these stupid, racist comments, and wondered how to combat such stupidity. In Switzerland they speak 4 major languages, and do not have a problem. There are 68 linguistic groups in Mexico. Why do Americans feel a second language is such a threat? Every country has it’s share of people who like to comment about the habits of foreigners. But, I have not observed any in the western world, which seem to feel so threatened by what they do not understand, as the United States. On the other hand no country likes to get involved in conflicts they do not understand as much as the United States. Usually, under the pretense of helping. The unfortunate truth is, were America gets involved, the problems escalate to unfathomed proportions.

When I was a child growing up, one of my neighbors and friends was a Mexican-American. After school we would stop by his house, or he would stop by our house, and we would have a snack and play. The only difference between our two families was that his mother made churros and mine made cookies. His mother spoke broken English, but it was just something that belonged to her. His mom was a loving mother, like my mom. His father had a good job. Really I did not at the time realize there was any difference between our two families. Although I could not understand what his mother was telling him at the time. I did however realize it was more than likely the same sort of thing my mother would tell me: Put on a jacket, do your homework, be home by six.

Later, after we moved to the farm, I had a lot of contact with Mexican migrant workers who worked at the same farm I worked for. It was always amazing to me how hard and fast they worked. It became a contest with me to try and keep up with them. But, it was nearly impossible. I did not realize it at the time, but they were working for survival. We, on the other hand, were working to earn a little money. They were always friendly and often a friendship would evolve between the Mexican's and I. Work binds, and we all worked very hard in those days. We shared lunch boxes, cold drinks, and jokes. I look back to my youth, and how hard we worked, with pride. Pride, because I could almost keep up with the Mexicans, and I believe they respected me because I worked so hard. I know I had a lot of respect for them.

Maybe it is because of my youth and my experiences on the farm, that I have always observed how the Latinos in the US live and work. There close family ties, diligent work ethics, and friendliness always made me a little envious of them. So, today when someone makes a comment about them and there language, I often reply: Are you afraid because you can’t understand them? Don’t you know, Spanish was spoken here long before English. And anyway, the only people I see working are Latinos.

I have now lived in a foreign country most of my life. When I arrived in Germany, the first thing I attempted was to learn the language. Not typical for an American I learned to speak German quite quickly. Foreign languages do not come easy to native English speakers. And I have observed that the French have there problems learning English. While trying to learn German, I often misinterpreted phrases, misunderstood what people were saying, and was surprised later when I found out what was truly being said. I noticed later many of people are often suspicious about what is being said in a foreign language they do not understand, thinking they might be making fun of them. In 99,9 percent of the time, this is absolutely incorrect. On the contrary, most people are very conscious and try to help were they can. Maybe because of my experience I do not feel threatened by the unknown. I do know that the languages I now speak (English, German, Spanish, and some French) have opened new worlds for me. The insight into foreign cultures you gain when you speak the language is absolutely fascinating! And yet, other than the German and US cultures, I do not claim to fully, or even partly understand most other foreign cultures. Foreign to me as a US citizen, as in reality I am the foreigner visiting someone else's country. Countries where almost always, it’s population are just as proud of there heritage as we are of ours in the US.

Languages are always a part of the culture of the nations where they are spoken. If you can understand the language, it helps you understand the culture. It never fails to amaze me how naive Americans visiting a foreign country can be. America the beautiful, America the great. Nothing is better than America, the whole world should try and be like America. Everyone should speak English. God bless America! To tell you the truth, there are not a lot of things in America I am proud of anymore. We start wars in countries on a precedence of “combating terrorism”. We kill and murder behind organizations like the CIA. We ignore our own rules, laws and values while intervening in a foreign countries politics. And if we happen to be within our own jurisdiction, and there is a conflict in interest. We simply move our enemies to Guantanamo Bay were we can torture them at our own free will. Because, rules and regulations and American values only apply to God fearing Americans.

No, I can fully understand why Americans are disliked in many foreign countries. Puppet governments are supported by the US so that American companies can exploit the resources they have. The list is so long! Honduras, Panama, Vietnam, Togo, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Iraq .... It just goes on and on. Thousands and thousands of people have been murdered and there countries exploited under the influence of our Government. And yet, most Americans are blind to it.

And then there is the example of the indifferent, ignorant Americans who make absolutely no effort to understand or respect a foreign culture or country they are visiting. Americans walking around in shorts and T-shirts in countries where it is considered an affront to show your legs in public. Americans who haggle over 2 Quetzals in Guatemala, not realizing they are talking about 25 cent and possibly a meal for someone’s children who would otherwise go hungry. Taking pictures of the locals, even though they might not approve. Why ask, they will get over it. No, the picture Americans often leave is not a pretty one.

What is the problem with Americans? Other “western” countries seem to be more tolerant, and have less problems with foreign cultures, migrant workers, and the cultural differences they are confronted with. I really believe it is a governmental problem. A problem of educating the public. It is the responsibility of the government, to combat intolerance and ignorance, through education. It took a huge effort, and large amount of time, to combat the racism that existed (and still exists) in the US towards the black population.

Do Americans feel threatened because the Latino population is so large? Are economists worried that the economy could collapse if the illegal workers were forced to be paid an honest salary? Is the language issue just an affront, to hide other problems, which are much deeper than most Americans realize? Is it possibly more of an issue of greed than “American values”.

Why are we becoming more and more intolerant of the different. I really do not know. I just know that there is a lot of injustice in the US and caused by the US. Injustice and ignorance, unfitting for a nation that puts itself on such a high pedestal, proliferating itself as the rectifier of all wrong and unjust.

I think it is time the US population stopped for a few minutes to think. Is this the America we are all so proud of? I had no intention to denounce everything good about the United States. The US is still a great nation, and I really believe that most Americans have there heart in the right place. But, there is a form of ignorance which is growing out of control in America and needs to be combated. After all, we are a nation founded by peoples of a multitude of nationalities, heritages, and religious beliefs. Where has our tolerance gone? Or were we never really tolerant?

To be sure it is not only an American problem. The more globalization progresses, the more other countries are becoming “Americanized”. The Germany I moved to 37 years ago, has changed immensely, it has traded a lot of it’s culture and values for so called “American values”. It is very disturbing, because the values they are taking over, are not always the good ones.


So, I feel better now, that I got that off my chest. It has been bothering me for quite some time. One of the great things about America, is the freedom to express your opinion. Although, what with today's modern methods of influencing and manipulating peoples thoughts, it may well be more of a question as to how long we will have an opinion of our own. I believe modern media is much more powerful than most people realize.

It was not my intention to offend anyone, just to have a few people stop and think about what the US really is, a melting pot of so many different cultures. For sure, there are also a lot of great organization in the US which truly do help the less fortunate, and in no way do I wish to offend any of them. I have an enormous amount of respect for organizations such as the peace corp, world vision, care, etc. In my eyes, these organizations project the true America.

One last comment. I have just became a "great uncle" again. Her name is Pax (peace), what a great name to give a child. I hope she has peace and love in her heart throughout her life.