Your responses to our question, “Why do you love Esperanto?” were incredible. Dankon!
I particularly ‘liked’ one by our fans Jordan and Darryl. Here is Mr. Darryl Spivey‘s comment:
“…As Jordan said previously, I too love the thought of Esperanto. The idea that we can retain our own individualism, culture, and language when using Esperanto. Many people have told me that there is “no need” for Esperanto due to the fact that English is quickly becoming the “world’s language”. The problem with English is that it has a way of changing peoples culture and ideals. I am an American who has American values, and tastes.. who speaks English… and with Esperanto, I can communicate with a Russian who has Russian values in tastes. I don’t have to particularly adapt my tastes to understand his language, and he doesn’t have to adapt his to understand my language. Esperanto is our middle ground.”
I had never really thought about it in this way but these are true words. Esperanto is truly unique for all of these aforementioned reasons. If you want to make sure that cultures are preserved, a common language that is easy to pick up would symbolize the ideal path to reach that desired destination.
This has gotten me thinking about other issues with regards to language and culture in general. Let’s take English for example. English is becoming a common language for business enterprises, world travelers, and ethnically mixed neighborhoods and families. But are such linguistic preferences eroding the seminal cultures that were compelled to speak it in the first place? Many argue that it has. The deeper question is: Why? How can Esperanto have the power to act as a common language — like English — but happen to have a far smaller impact on cultural influence? How come Esperanto is “our middle ground”, as Darryl points out, but more popular and mainstream languages like English are not?
These are hard aspects to quantify, but in today’s day and age, such issues are quite relevant in the international arena. Should politicians speak Esperanto instead of English? Should local schools teach Esperanto so that immigrant families and local communities can better communicate and still retain the cultural fabric that has woven them into who they really are? Should the world pledge allegiance to the Esperanto flag?
Share your comments here and on Facebook. I’m interested on what you have to say!
