You know that saying about pointing fingers at others who make mistakes? There are always three pointing right back at you. I almost lost my mind today. The pattern of Saturday's news feeds in Facebook were a steady chorus of "If you can't speak the language leave." Spoken in written form by people who speak like they write.
They didn't saw nothing.
They ain't seen what's standing right in front of them.
And for some, Hers seen everything but ain't telling. Hers is a real winner when it comes to watching your friend's back isn't her?
Some of the loudest, most vitriolic voices against immigrants of any kind: 1. came from immigrant familys and get put out when the non Poles go to Polish fest and hog the floor, or drink with the Irish on St. Patty's Day: 2. Can not blame short code texting for the lack of proper English skills, they've been misspelling There/They're/Their for nigh onto 40 years. Never bothered with the proper tense of any verb but for some reason hold a special hatred for the conjugation of the verb to see. 3. Insisted that no one needed to learn anything past the 6th grade and had already given up by the fourth. These are the people, people who can not perform on a basic English test, who keep chanting "You're in America, speak English or leave."
Don't get me wrong. A lot of smart people with Masters degrees believe immigrants need to leave. They at least can articulate some valid concerns, outline alternatives and don't seem ready to mount machine guns to the hoods of their vehicles to make a point. The smart people are really good at debate and manipulating language against us. But at least they speak it.The lowest common denominator has found a hero to idolize. And they do it with rabid fever pitches.
It is sickening.
I'm not a genius. And the only prejudice I have is against the uneducated. My bias is right there. You can not help your gender, skin tone, orientation, economic class you were born into. Those are facts of life that aren't going to change. Your level of education, however is completely up to you. Refusing to learn is your choice. And your choice has consequences. Unfortunately the worst consequence for the uneducated is that they get to drag down the rest of us in the voting booth.
I also hate hypocrisy. Like the Olympian who called the Swedes cowards when her team lost. Right there is a basic fundamental misunderstanding of the English language. Winners aren't cowards. People who name call in any circumstance are cowards. Not only is it un-sportsman like, it is just plain egoism. People who can't lose gracefully name call. People who can not articulate their arguments of logic name call. And at the point of name calling you reveal a character trait about yourself more than the people you attack. And I can not feel sorry for them. Low self esteem comes from and is encouraged and nurtured by jerks when growing up. But if a person is 20+ and still acting like a kindergartener that is their fault. Choosing to live in ignorance makes no sense to me. I don't understand how people can chose not to learn: like half of the Congressional leaders who don't understand how wind works, or that the Sun's energy can not be depleted through solar collecting thus exploding the sun. I don't understand how the same people born and raised here who can not speak or write English very well at all have cause to yell at someone who speaks two languages. Older immigrants without the elasticity of brain function to be able to learn get a pass, just like the disabled kids do. Anyone who wants to talk about a jackass without the jackass knowing and does so in a native language other than English has my blessing. If my German was better I sure as hell would use that for code against the eavesdroppers who stick their nose into every conversation you're trying to have with your dinner mates.
It's one thing to have an opinion based on your own research and quite another to consume a steady diet of sound bites and expect you have all the information.
God help us, this is going to be a rough decade.
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