how frail our opinions are, because for the most part, they aren't based on any kind of reality, or even our experience, it is simply our perception of what we see, filtered through our belief system built on just as flimsy assumptions and repetitive and conditioned thoughts, practiced over and over without evidence.

This is so very well stated! So many assumptions and conditions lead to our opinions which are carefully controlled by mainstream & social media around us. Creepy how little original thought there is these days.

Integration into a country is about being a functional member of society, which actually has very little to do with language.

I tried to have this argument with my mom, who for over 30 years as a nurse and then school nurse in the USA is of the opinion that if you come to the USA then you should learn English. This was especially problematic when she was a school nurse and she would be close with fsmilies for years and witness the parents make no effort to learn English.

Of course she went nuts about the Super Bowl halftime show being in Spanish. "This is one of US biggest events, so it should be in our native language, end of story," was her opinion. And we all know it is an awful take, but you know what they say about opinions...