Being and Appearance (Part XV)

A Wayward World in Which Appearance Commands Being

Having established my German heritage of which I am most proud I have decided to translate the title of this series into English, for I am of the opinion that the English language is, indeed, the primary language of the United States of America, and that in order to become an American citizen you should be required to learn the language of your homeland.

Now, if you can agree that “America is a philosophy of governance with a history”, then an important part of that history is the language that has prevailed throughout the development of the American state and the nation of Americans who gave rise to its founding.

Although I have retained the German spelling of my father’s stepfather’s name, my father’s step-father, whom I never knew — my grandmother married three times in order to insure that each of her three children had a father —, insisted that my father learn English as quickly as possible.

My father was seven when he emigrated to the United States with my grandmother, and by the time I was born his English was indistinguishable from that of any native American, born and raised in the United States of America. Indeed, I never learned a word of German from either my father or my mother, who was half German and half Dutch, but was herself born and raised in these United States. My first acquired German words came from my grandmother who died with a German accent. She left an indelible impression on me. I still bake her Streusselkuchen once a year whose recipe was passed from her to my mother, and then to me after my grandmother passed away, and I was about to part more permanently from the family hearth.

There are those who argue that language and culture can be separated, but having learned four languages well, and bits and piece — both large and small — of several others, I heartily disagree. Words (a special kind of symbol) do not arise in a vacuum — not even those that are abstracted from other words.

Yes, there is something called a lingua franca — a language that is learned by diplomats, scientists, doctors, and businessmen to conduct diplomacy, science, medicine, and business across national (state written small) and cultural borders, but each of these uses is limited greatly in its scope and utility. Like any language lingua franca are spoken with a wide variety of accents and grammatical and morphological nuances, but none of the them carry the weight of a language learned in a home and a particular geographical location as a child. Language is always acquired in context, and the meaningfulness of words to those who wield them is strongly influenced by the context in which they are acquired and utilized.

All of us learn a spoken language, if we are not somehow physically impaired from doing so. It is part of what it means to be human. And, many spoken languages have written forms that are visual representations of what we speak. Important to understand is that the written forms are visual symbols of their audio counterparts. We learn to listen, to speak, and to count long before we learn to read and write. This is not coincidence, for along the evolutionary chain, sound arose before vision. Sound is more primitive, more basic to the être humain who we are all struggling to be.

In a similar, but different light, the American philosophy of governance, that I believe is at the heart of what it means to be American, demands that the American taxpayer not have to pay for the translation of government statements and documents on behalf of those struggling to become American! Learning the language of your own government — especially the government of the American state, is the responsibility of every desirous foreign nation desirous of becoming American.

Then too, Americans have always been known for their friendliness and hospitality — unless, of course, you live in Seattle where that hospitality is forced upon you by the state. No, I applaud those who volunteer to help new residents wishing to learn the American language and culture. Still, it is one thing to extend a voluntary hand; it is quite another for any American governmental body to demand that American citizens pay for the linguistic and cultural upbringing of foreign residents.

America is not Japan. To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as permanent (eternal) guest status (永住権）offered to aliens — of the friendly or not so friendly type — living in the United States. You are either a legally accepted guest who is seeking to become an American citizen, or your visa expires, if you ever had one, and you return home — either voluntarily or by force.

Learn the English language, if you wish to become and preserve America!

In liberty,

Roddy A. Stegemann, First Hill, Seattle 98104
Author of Mount Cambitas - The Story of Real Money, “A Call for the Restoration of Monetary Order” (Parts I and II), the Substack series “Let’s End the Money Racket”.