English as the Officlal Language of USA

Almost 250 years (249 to be exact) have gone since USA declared independence. But until now there is no official language for the USA. Trump, with one Executive Order, made English as the official language of the USA. I do not like many things that Trump is doing but this one I have to give him credit. Plus, I do not see any “protest”. 

Members of Congress and Senators in the past (and present) were afraid to bring this subject. They don’t want to antagonize the voters. I have seen voting pamphlets and voting ballots are now issued in several languages depending on the population of that area. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are large number of Indians, voting materials are in several Indian languages including Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil. And, of course, Spanish and Arabic. 

There are street signs in English and Spanish. Also, in pharmacies and hospitals. 

After English, Spanish is the second largest language spoken in USA. The population of Spanish speaking people are growing leaps and bounds. 

Majority of the high school students take Spanish as their second language. 

Some politicians tried to make English as the official language. Notable among them was Late Republican Senator from California Mr. Hayakawa. He was a U.S. Senator from 1968 to 1973. He did not get enough support at that time. However, during the recently concluded elections (in November 2024), 30 States have voted to make English as their official language. 

I have been advocating to make English as the official language of the United States for a long time. I know the increase in the population and popularity of Spanish speaking people and I thought someday there would be an agitation to make Spanish as the official language of the USA. 

Epilogue. (Is this the right word to use? I don’t know. I never went to Harvard). I have seen and personally experienced the Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu when I was a student. Many people died. My thoughts are if Hindi OR English had been declared as the official language of India on August 15, 1947, then everything would have been OK in India.

Wasted Education

Recently there was a famous marriage in Bangalore. The bride has a B. Tech degree in Bioengineering but chose to become a professional Carnatic music singer. 

I have read about a few Tamil movie actresses have medical degrees but decided to be in the movies. 

I have also read many IIT graduates have qualified and became members of the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service. 

My thinking is why do not they have clear thinking about what career they want before joining these professional courses. These professional degrees are “wasted” when someone pursues another career path. These students acquire deep technical expertise in their respective field. But when they choose to have a career in a different field, their highly specific skills may go underutilized. 

It is difficult to get admission into these programs. If after graduating they choose a different career, it means they “took up” a space in the program that could have been offered to someone more committed to use the degree in its intended field. 

It is a waste that the valuable skills and knowledge acquired are not benefiting society.

Name Change

President Trump who is angry with Mexico due to border issues renamed Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America. 

Since Trump is making Canada angry, Canada decided to name their famous Americano coffee as Canadiano coffee. 

I support Trump and therefore want to give him some suggestions. 

Change the name of French fries to American fries. 

Since there is a problem of tariff with India, change the name of the Indian Ocean to American Ocean. 

If Germany does not listen to our ordering around, change the name of Hamburger to Pittsburger (since Pennsylvania State, a swing state, voted for Trump). 

If England does not listen to our advice, then change the name Yorkshire Pudding to New Yorkshire Pudding. 

Most famous pizza in USA, is Chicago style deep dish pizza. But Chicago mayor and Illinois Governor do not want to cooperate with the feds for crackdown on illegal immigrants. Change the Chicago style deep dish pizza to Mara-a-Lago style deep dish pizza. Mara-a-Lago is where Trump’s permanent residence. 

Most famous food item in Ukraine is Odessa-style borscht. It is a beet root-based soup. Because Zelensky and Trump had a mouth to mouth combat a few days ago, Trump should decide to rename it to Odisha-style borscht. Two birds with one stone. Anger Zelensky and at the same time make his friend Modi happy.

Can you give me some more ideas?  Please write it in the comments.  I will inform Mr. Trump.  I have his phone number.  I will certainly tell him you suggested this so you can get a MAGA hat.