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Every once in a while this topic comes up and hits the mainstream. With the coming election and the importance of the illegal immigration issue, I believe it is necessary to give this topic a detailed discussion.

Should the United States adopt English as its official language? I believe it should for a number of reasons. But before I get to those reasons, let me first explain exactly what I mean by an "official language." An official language is essentially the default language of the nation. This has repercussions in three major sectors of society: education, business, and government. It has no influence in the private homes of citizens, though. If an individual wants to speak Russian in the privacy of his or her home, or in everyday street talk, then we have no business telling them they cannot. My concerns are restricted entirely to the public sector.

First, in education there should be a focus on English in literature, such that students being taught in American schools should be taught English as their primary language. There are two reasons for this: 1) Schools are meant to prepare students for the "real world" where they can get a job and support themselves utilizing the skills they were taught in school. If schools are turning out graduates who don't have a thorough grasp of the English language they are setting those graduates on the path to destitution. 2) Any society, if it is to function as a whole, must have a single common language that permits such functioning. More than one language will lead to the continuing fracturing of said society and will ultimately lead to chaos. Diversity is nice, but not when it comes to the common language of the land. One should take pains to realize that this is not about being ethnocentric. This is about the fact that any society must have a common language to keep it together. If one is uncomfortable using English for fear that we would be playing favorites, then perhaps we should resurrect a dead language like Latin and use that. Even the people of ancient times understood the need for a common language. The biblical story of the Tower of Babel describes the likely outcome of a society trying to incorporate too many languages.

In business, there is a little bit more leeway. Some positions in a business will require English-speaking ability, others may not. For example, workers in a warehouse might get away with speaking Spanish with no ill effects, but someone in retail would not. There are numerous other examples.

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