You Speaka My Language!!

I've often wondered about the spread of a single global language. What the results would be, the implications, the dangers of such a unifying force. It was said that the only reason The United States of America are the united states is because a man in California could read the same newspaper as a man in New York. The ability to communicate with understanding across geographic regions is an extremely powerful tool. It has affected the history of mankind, indeed shaped the our history itself. Today, we live in an age at the onset of truly comprehend-able global communication. Beginning with the British empire and spreading with the Capitalized empire and technology, the English language is the widely spoken in the history of man. Not since the first language has their been such a common form of verbal communication. With this “globalization” of language must come global ramifications. Does this threaten to homogenize cultural expression or streamline more efficient global communication systems and process?

Seem to me as if both are bound to happen, and why not. Would a globally rich culture be so bad? The eventual ability to be enriched by the traditions of Hindu, Islam, Buddha, and Christianity; holidays and festivities on a global scale. This could bring people's of the world closer together. The argument against is valid as well. The threat of lost forms of expressions is real, also the “watering down” or commercialization of traditional holidays is likely to occur as well. However, I'm not so sure that these out way the benefits of global freedom.

Ann Jones, author, photographer and global womens activist, is a great example of the benefits of the shrinking world. The spread of womens freedom and support has been greatly increased due to the spread of a common language and aided by technology. The empowerment of women can be seen in programs like “Gender Based Violence” (GEV) or just plain violence against women is a serious issue which Ann Jones has been active in progressing. She calls it the “Global Crescendo”, this empowering of womens voices in combat, or “ex-combat”, zones. War has been shown to proportionally stimulate and increase violence and rape against women. Domestic abuse has been shown to increase with the return of veterans to home life, especially in cultures that have not embraced womens equality.

As part of her program, Ann Jones passes out simple digital cameras to village women and has the document things that are problems for them and things the they enjoy. This contrast of positive and negative results in a grand array of cultural education. The presence of women with technology is also cultural revolutionary for societies where men own all forms of technology, even a bicycle. The culmination of the womens assignments is a presentation, by the women, to the chiefs and notables of the village. The goal is to provide these women with the experience of self-expression and a support network of empowerment. Of course this has been met with mixed results, but the important things is that change has been made and the boat has been rocked. These are occurrences that might have never occurred, after hundreds of years of tradition, had it not been of the spread of a common language.

It is easy to have fear of the future and of change. It is guaranteed that there will be a loss of individual cultural experiences, but it is also a guarantee that the further adoption of language and cultures will be enriching to the individuals world view. As long as there are people actively fighting for the spread of human rights trumpeting global relations there is hope.