It Will Not Happen to Me! Guess What? It Wll !!!
Chapter 8
We as concerned citizens must rescue our governments from the privileged few or we will find ourselves as their slaves. Freedom of religion and Bilingualism: Please remember that these chapters are being written because the solutions written in Part One have not been implemented, or worse yet the world economies have collapsed. We are now in the 21st century and moving very fast as far as the standard of living has progressed. The problem is that we citizens must also change to survive. We must welcome change in order to improve on our freedoms. The shock of changing our life styles will be minor versus revisiting the dark ages. Even though those who are able are already dependent upon government assistance and suffer. Rebellion in various ways, individually and as motley groups, should be discouraged. The United States has been a good example of Freedom of Religion until the US Supreme Court banned the use of the word GOD and public prayer in schools. A better example is Turkey after WW II, which had as its First President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is now recognized as on the great men of the 20th century. Turkey has always allowed freedom of religion and many historical events and places are there. One of the main reasons Turkey is a noble and superb nation today is because of this man his freedoms. Just compare Turkey with its neighbors to the south. Another one of the major reasons for Turkey’s success as a nation is the separation of church and state. Arrafat’s statement “anyone wearing a fez tomorrow will lose their head.” The very next day one was wearing a fez. Religions that prophesy harmony and love should be respected. Ones that use force should not be. An individual has the right to choose one’s own beliefs. A Persian Rug made in Turkey has an “error” or mistake woven in it. They believe only God is perfect, so they purposely sew an error in it. If you cannot find an error, it probably was not made in Turkey. There is a lesson for the whole world to learn from Turkey. A nation must unite under one banner that allows freedom of expressions and feelings of the individual of his own rights. Bilingualism is another problem. Right now the United States is facing this problem. It had a similar problem with the South after the civil war and right into the 1930’s with the southern accent. Radio and television stopped that game. When a person came on national television and started speaking he became the butt of jokes. No one likes being laughed at and it soon changed to the normal language. A more serious problem is with the Spanish speaking population. Almost everything has become bi lingual. You make a telephone call to a business and the operator tells you to press one for Spanish. This slows a country’s growth down because a certain percentage of the population will refuse to learn the other’s language and barriers are built, both socially and economically. This is a self-defeatist attitude that can cause long-term problems. When I was a kid in the 1940’s and 50’s I had friends that were German, French, Greek, Italian, and Polish. When I was in their homes they would speak in their native tongue, especially when they were scolding my friend. I could tell by the look on his face or the tone of their voice. In public everyone spoke excellent English! A perfect example how bilingualism can slow down a nation is the Province of Quebec in Canada. It is a beautiful province with all kinds of natural resources. The Bank of Montreal was a major bank nationally. The Montreal Stock Exchange was a major exchange for the whole nation. The Quebec Hydro provided cheap power and they had people. In Canada people are important, for the farther north one goes the less people. The United States and Canadian border has to be the friendliest one in the world. Underneath all this prosperity the French citizens were simmering with anger. They felt they were probably being treated as second-class citizens. In some cases this was true because many of the schools were French only. In a major English speaking country this paved a road to poverty. If your education is not in the main stream of the nation that you live in then ones earning power becomes limited. Outside influences tend to be shunned and the power of wage earnings slips by. Exchange of ideas is of the uppermost importance for a thriving community. At first they wanted to secede and become a separate country. To make their point they started bombing mailboxes. The net result of this was that the wealthy middle and upper classes of society moved out of the province. The Bank of Montreal is just a regular bank and the Montreal exchange has been overpowered by the Toronto exchange. Statistically it rated 2nd behind the province of Ontario where the State Capital is located, but other provinces are growing faster. Who would want to locate a business in a province that spoke French when the rest of the nation is English speaking? A sad fact and tale was when Charles De Gaulle was president of France he saw an opportunity to come to Canada and promote France. He came to Montreal to speak and over a million Frenchman came to hear their legendary person. The problem was there was not a Frenchman around that understood a word he was saying. He was speaking proper French while over decades their slang French and become a language of its own. So Turkey is a positive example for nations to follow while Quebec is a sad example. Here is an example when one portion of society closes its cultural barriers to outsiders, or worse yet, refuses to blend in. If 10 percent speaks a foreign language in the nation it resides in, then it misses the opportunities that the 90 percent have or enjoy. Economically it is like swimming upstream just before the waterfall. The survivors that are able to grab a branch of freedom will soon meld into the “common good” of the nation. That majority that succumbs or tries to please the minority will find itself standing on a pile of cow manure. A nation should have a common language. Computers today can translate easily. A segment of a population that demands dual languages is hurting itself by not being able to exchange ideas freely. The free exchange of ideas is very important. While Adolf Hitler held book-burning celebrations in Nazi Germany, he could not kill the ideas gotten from those books. Even today in some parts of the world, the Bible has been memorized whereby services are held for worship. A STRONG NATION WILL LISTEN TO THE MINORITY, AND THE MINORITY WILL APPRECIATE THAT IT WAS HEARD, BUT THE MAJORITY MUST RULE FOR THE COMMON GOOD FOR ALL. This means that as in the case of the United States, it became the melting pot for all citizens to enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labor. This is what Senator Arthur Vandenberg did 1945 for the good of the country and the world. He backed the President of the United States on foreign policy while he was a member of the minority party. William O’Neil, ‘INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY’ Chairman and founder, wrote an article for the Paper on April 25, 2012 on page B5 on ‘How to Find & Own America’s Greatest Opportunities’. He is referring to stock investments, but his opening paragraphs are a superb summary for this chapter. “ We live in the greatest country in the world. How did it evolve? The U.S. system, that is how. It’s your freedom of speech, religion and the press. You are free to own property and keep arms. Every citizen over 18 is free to vote in elections every two and four years, and replace weak or failed leaders. You are free to work, learn, create, innovate and invent because of our way of life. We are a nation of innovators because of these freedoms. Our GDP per person is larger than any other country. That is why millions of people continue to come here to participate in our exceptional freedom and opportunity. Nothing can hold you back except your own attitude or level of determination.” Those three freedoms are most important. Freedom of speech, religion and the press go along way in building a healthy nation.