Why All The Aggression Against Esperanto?
od uživatele Lynchie ze dne 3. srpna 2010
Příspěvky: 13
Jazyk: English
Lynchie (Ukázat profil) 3. srpna 2010 14:56:31
Uvi (Ukázat profil) 3. srpna 2010 15:12:25
Lynchie:Why is there so much hostility and aggression toward Esperanto in the world? I know others have commented on this but we are learning a very valuable language, no less valuable that French, German, Spanish or any other language, and the hostility I have encountered makes me so sad!We live in a very practical world, where professional advancement and financial wealth are valued above other things (like good health or emotional stimulation) which, sometimes unconsciously, are thrown aside.
According to this logic, the skills that we acquire should be geared towards professional advancement and financial wealth. Which is why languages useful in business, such as English, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese have more value to many people than languages considered not as useful in business like say, Hungarian, Finnish or Esperanto.
In this regard, when us Esperantists share our common passion with others, one of the first questions in their minds sounds something like "Why on Earth would he choose to learn Esperanto? He should learn Spanish or English if he wants to get ahead in life.".
However, most people tend to forget why we are all alive: to live. We weren't born to work, much less to work in restrictive environments conducive to an unhappy life. Another thing that most people forget (or simply don't know, for never having experienced it), is that, the happiest you are, the better you are bound to do in life...the better you perform at work, the more likely you are to find work that is satisfying to you, and the more likely you are to use your talents to generate your own financial wealth.
My advise to you is: don't waste your energy feeling sad for those who don't understand your appreciation of Esperanto.
Esperanto, like any other language, is an art, and not everyone appreciates art (whether it be music, painting, theater, dance, etc) in the same manner...some people don't appreciate art at all. And that's perfectly fine, so long as you don't let their dissatisfaction infect you.
Lynchie (Ukázat profil) 3. srpna 2010 18:10:09
Thank you, I certainly won't take notice of those who feel it necessary to put down my aspirations to learn Esperanto 
KetchupSoldier (Ukázat profil) 3. srpna 2010 23:29:23
(Don't worry, it's in English, unlike most of his stuff. But even in French he writes on a level that even I, having studied French for only three years, can understand it.)
Acobjum (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 6:06:48
ceigered (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 6:50:42
Uvi:Which is why languages useful in business, such as English, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese have more value to many people than languages considered not as useful in business like say, Hungarian, Finnish or Esperanto.This saddens me the most - I mean, logically, if a language is spoken by more people, there's probably more to get out of it, which is fine, except where people don't even think about for one second those other languages
I mean, Swedish is spoken by like 10 million, and yet most people don't really care about it because "it's only 10 million". I'd understand if they had a particular focus, but it's sad when that's the decision maker/breaker when it's someone who won't even seek out the speakers or their culture/knowledge/artifacts/etc even if they numbered in the billions 
custinne (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 6:56:23
KetchupSoldier:M. Claude Piron, a French psychologist, wrote a very interesting article on the reactions of people who are opposed to Esperanto. I suggest you read it.I didn't know this article. Thanks for the link.
Claude Piron is always interesting.
Those who never watched it will probably like this one:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHALnLV9XU
(Ho, by the way, he wasn't French. Born in Belgium, he lived and died in Switzerland. Some sources say he was Swiss, others that he was Belgian. Maybe he had both nationalities - I don't know - but he wasn't French).
sudanglo (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 12:56:20
Davo1962 (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 18:48:22
Uvi:Uvi, I think that you hit the issue squarely on the head! This is a glaring omission in the Claude Piron article. Closely related is that we tend to give value to everything by either how much money it can make us or how much money we paid for it.
We live in a very practical world, where professional advancement and financial wealth are valued above other things (like good health or emotional stimulation) which, sometimes unconsciously, are thrown aside.
However, most people tend to forget why we are all alive: to live.
And your answer is even more enlightening. Thanks, I needed to be reminded of that.
Davo
Mustelvulpo (Ukázat profil) 16. listopadu 2010 19:07:00
For a lot of people, things that don't interest them personally are regarded as utterly worthless and anyone who is interested in them is a fool. I'm sure we all know a lot of people who, when they don't like a certain kind of food, can't stop at simply saying "I don't care for that particular food." Instead they must embellish their dislike to the point of "That food is garbage and there must be something wrong with you if you like it."If they don't share your taste in music they can't simply say, "That music isn't my cup of tea, I prefer other types." Instead it's: "That music sucks and anyone who listens to it is an idiot."
I read the Piron article given by the link in Custinne's post and I sensed a lot of that kind of thinking in the criticisms he cited. I've found that Esperantists tend to more often be the "live and let live, to each his own" type, which is another thing that makes the study of the language all the more appealing.