I don't see the point of keeping a language on life support. It's not like Belarus and Russia can't remain separate countries if both populations will speak only Russian (even though "us versus them" mentality is much easier to keep if you don't speak the same language I guess).
It's actually more important than you'd think. There are almost no instances of nations remaining separate in any meaningful way whilst speaking the exact same language. I know many countries speak French and English and so on, but even in cases like Australia, USA and the UK linguistic differences are there in the accents which are often badges of national pride. In some instances, such as in Wales, language goes far deeper than just a badge of national pride. You could argue that it "is" the nation.
I think it somewhat ridiculous to try and preserve Belorussian when the belorussians dont care for it...let it die.
A lot of things will die out if we have that attitude. What's the point in preserving wild cats in Scotland? There's no practical use to them, they just kill pheasants and grouse and make life harder for estate owners. They're a nuisance, a pest. They don't occupy any important role in the ecosystem because there's other predators. The only people that genuinely like them are tourists and lowlanders and idealists like me. Who cares there's only 13 purebreds left in the wild at the most? Just let them die out.
Some people like to suggest that languages are inherently about practicality and are therefore not subject to the same sort of moral reasoning as we apply to animal conservation. To some, languages are like tools or something, I don't know. If there's nobody to speak to, why bother learning the language? Languages aren't just practical though, otherwise we wouldn't be so attached to them.
Don't take that wrong UR but Ukraine has a Automotive Industry? a National one? Oo and i doubt BMW would try to get rid of them. Ukrainian Cars would be more of a niche product and no real competition for BMW with all due respect.
You are missing his point. He's making a joke at Guardian G.I's expense who expressed concerns that something along those lines would occur in Belarus. Their tractor factories would be under threat, no less.
I'm more with Owlbread in that I think every language and dialect should be preserved as a living language if possible. I don't think however you should force people to use a certain language if they don't seem to want to.
The new Ukrainian government has reverted a law that made Russian an official language. That's not a great thing when roughly 30% of Ukrainians have Russian as their first language. Besides that it's also angering Russia, which is not a smart move.
Now you see how important language politics is to the Ukraine. In some respects this isn't as big a derail as it may seem. Perhaps some Russophone Ukrainians would make the same arguments we have been making about national identities and language:
"Why is it such a problem that Ukraine should speak the same language as Russia?"
"Because then it would probably erode their national identity and lead to union with Russia."
"Why is it such a problem that Ukraine is united with Russia?"
And so on and so forth.
Also more hybris from the old elites private homes: the General Prosecutor as Cesar. 
It's almost like raiding Gaddafi's compound. In some respects that's a good indicator of just how screwed up a political establishment was. It's a shame you can only see it after the fall, like when you cut down a tree to see the rings so you can work out its age.
Author
Topic: UR's Post-USSR politics megathread (Read 311555 times)