With advances in technology, the mastery of human beings over space and time will continue slowly to increase, so the necessity of a world government, also, will be profoundly felt. Gradually the people in one region of the world will have to interact more with the people in various other regions, and in the course of this interaction they will have to try to understand one another better.
The human race has numerous languages. Each language is our language, the language of all of us. In this context sentiments such as, "My language; your language" or, "Indigenous language; foreign language" are extremely defective.
Only this much can be said: that we have many languages, but I can express myself in one or more than one language among them.
Although all the languages of the world deserve equal respect, a common language for the convenient exchange of ideas among people of different regions of the world will have to be selected. The most widely spoken language in the world will have to be accepted with an open mind as the vishva bha's'a' [universal or world language].
As long as the world government is not vested with full administrative authority over the entire world, different states in various parts of the world may, at their convenience, accept the world language or any other local language as their official language. What- ever language may be accepted as the official language by any particular state, it will not be proper to allow any slackness in facilitating the study and teaching of the world language. Under no circumstances can we keep ourselves cut off from the rest of the world like frogs in a well. Or, staying away from our other brothers and sisters throughout the world in the name of nationalism, under no circumstances should we die, breaking our heads in darkness.
Although, at present, English is the world language, all languages are subject to birth and death. So it cannot be said that English will continue to enjoy the same status for eternity. The most widely spoken language in the world in any particular age will have to be acknowledged as the world language of that age.
Posted by proutist-universal on March 17, 2005 7:30 AM
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |