I have plumbed the depths of anger, only to discover its base is always beyond reach. Anger refused to be the tool I dreamed it could be. Rage, too, fell short of my expectations. There must be something else that smothers gasoline-drenched embers.
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The total number of speakers of most—but probably not all—languages is much larger than native speakers of the language. For example, the most-spoken language is English, with 1.5 billion speakers, but only 380 million of them are native speakers. The language with the greatest number of native speakers is Mandarin Chinese, with 941 million native speakers; its total number of speakers is 1.1 billion. At the other end of the spectrum are:
- Ongota (Ethiopia) – Estimated <10 speakers (likely extinct);
- Taushiro (Peru) – 1 speaker;
- Tanema (Solomon Islands) – 1 speaker;
- Lemerig (Vanuatu) – 2 speakers; and
- Njerep (Nigeria) – Possibly extinct
Access to people who share political philosophies and who are fluent across a wide range of languages may prove crucial to the success of governments. Equally as important, though, is access to people who combine the following:
- shared philosophies of governing;
- fluency in various languages; and
- expertise in a broad array of disciplines;
In other words, people who seek (or seek to retain) political power must assemble strong supporters who “speak the language” necessary to exercise political control. Extensive linguistic skills—coupled with comprehensive knowledge of complex engineering, scientific, and managerial disciplines—are required to seize and preserve power.
What must the opposition do to foil attempts to establish such control? The very same thing, I suspect…just more aggressively and through any means necessary.
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