I'm in the Basque city of Durango. It's clear to me it's a huge place. The Basque language is alive. English is second while all versions of Spanish rank third.
Loyalty is a disruptive force. The sins of Franco have ruined Spain's chance of making amends. The Basque people contain slightly more fervent numbers than the Scots do. While the republicans in Scotland probably sway between 25-35% of the population the identity of the Basque feels stronger. Is this why the language of the tribe is so important?
I've no idea. I'm asking myself why does Attenborough matter keeping the language of chimps alive when it's all about an alpha male.
On the streets of permanent division I keep wondering why our survivalist natures leave us to go it, relatively, alone. We are so easily picked off without the tribe. Check the history of the average victim of the puma, lion, tiger....etc.
The history is not good. They are extinct. There's an argument to say their species survives due to faster breeding than bleeding.
Can you choose between a species or a language. Can you choose between one set of a species. Can you bin all the aspiring alpha males at birth to watch how society changes. Can we watch how the matriarch runs things. So many questions from the animal kingdom and yet so few real parallels.
Every day's a school day for me and I love trying to learn a new language so let's go and smile.....
Eskerrik Asko
As a post script I like to think about which Zoo I'm living in. Am I in the tourist zoo, a curious species that wanders into your town and looks at you or the visitor to a zoo. Am I wandering into the wild to see how the locals live. Or am I just a humble bum who limps from town to town gauping, grasping and looking grateful.
Breakfast was superb for only €3.40
So the decline of a language or a culture is ok if breakfast is cheap. Hmmm, now that's a thought. The evolution or should I just say evolution is everything. It may not be everything good, it just is evolution.
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