Hmm...
I was following this truck home from the holyoke mall. at the light before the interstate drive intersection, i spied one awesome bumper sticker. it went along the lines of "if you can read this, thank a teacher. if you can read this in ENGLISH, thank a soldier."
this brings me to a prevalent myth in american society. the myth that americans today would be speaking a different language if it weren't for military intervention in foreign wars of the past. i read a recent newsweek article questioning the legitimacy of World War II as an unavoidable conflict. i think it was. isolationism really wouldn't work in that era, especially following WWI and the rise of european fascism in hitler and mussolini. however, there is no fucking way germany, japan, or any axis allies could successfully invade and control the united states. it would take a lot of firepower and help from the soviet union. even then, the united states had the manhattan project and the subsequent nukes to tell everybody to STFU and GTFO our country. this country is too large to patrol without civilian insurrection. great empires always grow too large to control (case in point the decline of the british empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries). so really, there is no fucking way we'd be speaking German or Japanese right now simply because of our technological prowess (and the Soviet Union's help in cockblocking Germany's eastward march). of course, the US had not experienced its postwar baby boom yet but the sheer size of the country along with the resources and troops needed to maintain order would be staggering. liberals and conservatives would both agree on KTFOing any invaders. thus, people who press on the fact that we'd be speaking a different language if it weren't for military intervention in foreign wars of the past are full of shit. things are different nowadays with missile and nuclear capabilities of many countries. then there won't be any of us left to even speak German/Japanese/Klingon. but if we never intervened in WWII, all of our troops would have stayed home. they would be drafted and trained to resist invading forces. besides, where the fuck are these invaders entering from? pearl harbor and hawaii make for great bases but the air travel for planes to the main continent is still lengthy. so canada and mexico are most suited (thanks to many rounds of Risk). with no soviet alliance, this is pretty hard to accomplish. so basically it comes down to mexico, cuba, and areas like greenland/iceland.
hmm, I wonder what language would be commonplace if the British won in 1812.
this brings me to a prevalent myth in american society. the myth that americans today would be speaking a different language if it weren't for military intervention in foreign wars of the past. i read a recent newsweek article questioning the legitimacy of World War II as an unavoidable conflict. i think it was. isolationism really wouldn't work in that era, especially following WWI and the rise of european fascism in hitler and mussolini. however, there is no fucking way germany, japan, or any axis allies could successfully invade and control the united states. it would take a lot of firepower and help from the soviet union. even then, the united states had the manhattan project and the subsequent nukes to tell everybody to STFU and GTFO our country. this country is too large to patrol without civilian insurrection. great empires always grow too large to control (case in point the decline of the british empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries). so really, there is no fucking way we'd be speaking German or Japanese right now simply because of our technological prowess (and the Soviet Union's help in cockblocking Germany's eastward march). of course, the US had not experienced its postwar baby boom yet but the sheer size of the country along with the resources and troops needed to maintain order would be staggering. liberals and conservatives would both agree on KTFOing any invaders. thus, people who press on the fact that we'd be speaking a different language if it weren't for military intervention in foreign wars of the past are full of shit. things are different nowadays with missile and nuclear capabilities of many countries. then there won't be any of us left to even speak German/Japanese/Klingon. but if we never intervened in WWII, all of our troops would have stayed home. they would be drafted and trained to resist invading forces. besides, where the fuck are these invaders entering from? pearl harbor and hawaii make for great bases but the air travel for planes to the main continent is still lengthy. so canada and mexico are most suited (thanks to many rounds of Risk). with no soviet alliance, this is pretty hard to accomplish. so basically it comes down to mexico, cuba, and areas like greenland/iceland.
hmm, I wonder what language would be commonplace if the British won in 1812.