In the latest bizarre language news from the Iberian peninsula, the parliament of Aragon has passed a new law declaring that the languages spoken in the eastern and northern parts of the region will henceforth be called Lapao (Lengua Aragonesa Propia del Aragón Oriental) and Lapapyp (Lengua Aragonesa Propia de las Áreas Pirenaica y Prepirenaica).

These names officially replace the names given to these languages by linguists: Catalan and Aragonese.

You might think that in a country with 25% unemployment (much higher for young people), there would be more pressing matters to bring before the regional lawmakers. Nope. Lapao and Lapapyp.

Out of curiosity, I did a quick search for any case of English speakers lobbying to change the name of the English language. I didn’t find any. (Can anyone help me out?)

I can’t imagine that Lapao and Lapapyp will last, but for now they are a novel and telling illustration of the precarious nature of group identity in Spain.

Today’s politicians can draw important lessons from the genius and the flaws of Thomas Jefferson. Here’s a clip from Jon Meacham’s interview this week with Jon Stewart (though it’s well worth watching the entire interview [starts around 0:15:00]):

Resonating lines for me:

“Jefferson was afraid of Britain militarily and culturally, but also that we would have a populace that would not be guided by data, that would not be guided by fact, that would be guided by authority – priestly or monarchical or aristocratic…the experiment in self-government meant you had focus on the self, you had to work on the life of the mind…”

“From the beginning of Jefferson’s life to the hour of his death, slaves were there to make his life possible…The tragic, unbridgeable gap between what he said about liberty and what he did about it in his own life and his own economic world is the great tragedy of his life. It is also the great tragedy of American life.”

It is frustrating that someone who advocated so strongly for reason and freedom from inherited authority constructs could give up on trying to change the one aspect of American society that negated both of those ideas.

I hope today’s politicians on both side of the Atlantic draw some lessons from the life of Jefferson and strive for enlightened thinking while fighting for change, even when it seems too difficult.

El president de la Societat Americana de Barcelona, el Sr. Víctor Horcasitas, explica els fonaments de l’anomenat ‘Tea Party’ en una entrevista a TV3. Encara que la seva perspectiva de republicà moderat reflecteixi en les seves paraules, aplaudeixo el seu coratge per sortir a la televisió nacional i donar una entrevista de vint minuts, en català, per explicar un dels fenòmens més estranys i inquietants en l’història recent dels Estats Units.

The president of the American Society in Barcelona, Mr. Víctor Horcasitas, explains the basics of Tea Party madness in an interview on Catalan television’s TV3. Although some of his explanation is colored by his own moderate Republican political views, I applaud his courage to go on national television and give a twenty-minute interview, in Catalan, to explain one of the most bizarre and troubling phenomena in recent United States history.

Watch video on TV3