Many countries around the world are attempting to embrace the politically correct concept of multiculturalism which advocates a cultural and linguistic surrender. Nothing should be more offensive or repugnant to the people who are natives of a country than this concept. Language, culture and history are the very essence of who a people are as a nation. The three elements of nationhood are the following: land, government and a people who share a common culture and language. Without these three things, you do not have a country. Land and government alone do not a country make. It takes people committed to the same goals with the same vision, and language to build a country and a nation, secure within its own borders.

All over the world, in country after country, there must be a national effort on the part of the people of each nation to preserve their culture and language at all cost. To surrender to globalisation and allow the native culture and language to be viewed on an equal level with someone else’s culture and language is national suicide for any country. There is room in every land for only one flag, one culture and one language. Nothing should ever be introduced that jeopardizes this in any way, no matter how many cultures and languages co-exist in the same country.

Multiculturalism is the scourge of the earth at the moment. The world trembles daily because of ethic and cultural unrest and much of it is due to societies trying to balance the opposing cultures and languages that have arisen inside their own borders. Bi-lingual and bi-cultural nations cannot exist in reality and any effort to have many languages and cultures in a country always spells waste and trouble. Every country must put its native language at the top of the learning curve for everyone, native born or immigrant. To seek to embrace multiculturalism in order to make it easy for those who refuse to assimilate or learn the language, spells disaster for the host country.

Where there is a national policy of embracing multiculturalism there must be a bi-lingual educational system in order to accommodate it. Bi-lingual education is wasteful for the government and the education system. It is linguistic bondage for most of the children from these families because it keeps them locked in the world of their immigrant parents who for one reason or another will not learn the language and embrace the culture. Bi-lingual education says to those coming to live in a country, “It’s alright if you aren’t interested in learning our language, we understand that you are here just for what we have to offer you.”

In Bulgaria, it is essential that the language, history and culture of this nation be fully embraced by everyone. At the same time, Bulgarians should be encouraged at the highest levels of government leadership to learn other languages and study other cultures. This as a means of acquiring communication skills and not as a substitute for their own language and culture. School children in Bulgaria should be proficient in their own language and history before they are given the opportunity to study other languages at the State’s expense. Only those who receive good marks should be afforded the opportunity to study a foreign language at a public school. Studying a foreign language in a Bulgarian school should be a serious affair and offered to those who are willing to make the effort to learn. To attempt to teach children foreign languages who do not perform well in their own language and other school subjects is unreasonable and a waste of State funds. If a child cares little for the language and history of his own country and descendants, those who have worked and endured hardships to give him opportunities, then he will care little for a foreign language.

Hopefully in Bulgaria in the future there will be no government sanctioned policy of multiculturalism. It is imperative that everyone, native and immigrant, embrace the Bulgarian language and culture as much as it is in their capacity to do so. Instead of multiculturalism, Bulgaria needs cross-culturalism which is a different concept all together. Cross-culturalism allows those immigrating here to add their unique experiences and expertise to the culture that is already in place. Like a bee that visits a beautiful garden, immigrants coming to Bulgaria need to come with the intention of cross pollinating the flowers already growing in this garden. The bee doesn’t come to take over the garden or insist that the flowers speak to him in his language or embrace his culture as an equal to their own. The bee simply shares what he has gathered throughout his life’s journey with each and every flower that he encounters. In this way, the bee serves the flowers and makes it possible for the flowers to flourish. This approach, rather than multiculturalism, should be the means of achieving harmony and peace among people everywhere.

It’s essential for people that immigrate to another land to cherish their own language and history that they left behind in their motherland. However, when a person leaves the motherland their new home should be a new start for them in every way. This means embracing the language and the culture of the people that they are among and putting their own aside to a certain degree. To insure that all see the necessity of this, every government should adopt their own language as the official language of the nation. This will send a message to people coming from other places that they need to learn the language and culture. There can only be one language, one flag and one culture if a nation and a people are to survive.

USA education level required to read this post: 11th grade

Questions for Group and Pair Discussion

• What dangers, if any, do you see in multiculturalism for Bulgaria?

• In your opinion, are there any other elements that make a nation other than land, government and a common language?

• How important of an issue is multiculturalism and do you think it affects people and nations positively or negatively?

• Do you agree or disagree that only students who do well in their own language and history studies should be given the opportunity by public schools to learn a foreign language?