English-only is elitist, in the EU more so than in the US. Is this site elitist? Some people seem to think not. I disagree.
Migeru, I recall your once self-revealing in a comment somewhere a number of months ago (and I'm paraphrasing), that you "have a history of being argumentative, which has often resulted in your being disliked by those you argue with". I may not be being entirely accurate in my recalling your comment, but I'm certain you recall what you said. Anyway, for some reason your comment struck me at the time as curious, and has always stuck with me. In all seriousness, I acknowledge this Migeru: your high intelligence is obvious (and you are not shy about your own intelligence)...but, and now I hope you will forgive me for my bluntness, but you often come across to me as quite elitist yourself. My point being, and in all due respect, I don't know where to go with your comments... "Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
The thrust of your arguments on this diary is basically "why can't Europeans just agree on one language to speak? It would make everyone's life so much easier".
As you know, the ISO country code for Switzerland is CH from the latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The Swiss know a tad more about multilingualism, democracy and getting along with others than just about anyone else in Europe, and they chose a friggin' dead language to draw a common identifier from.
Mandarin Chinese stands a better choice of becoming the single language of Europe than any autoctonous language.
It has taken a lot of pain to school ourselves in the idea that the linguistic diversity of Europe is not a hindrance but a treasure, and some people still don't get it.
Was it really so offensive that there was one diary and thread where people joyfully celebrated their multilingual heritage, one-upmanship and all? guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
You again insist on misunderstanding what I said, and I have alreasy explain what I thought I meant by what I said and what I thought you meant with what I quoted and that my one-liner was a reply to.
I disagree that issues settling is recommended. Cooling off is recommended and reflecting on what one said and the others said is recommended. But dwelling on the issues until they are settled is bad policy: it doesn't allow cooling off and it just adds to the pile of I-said-yuo-said that needs to be reflected on, plus it may expose other issues. guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
