Since we are not living in a libertarian world and we are not making decions based on libertarian thought you cannot make that assumption.

We are not making decisions on libertarian thought, yet, but it is the duty of the Libertarian Party to come up with answers to these questions and put them forth to the citizens. Since we are discussing the matter of English as an official language in the context of a Federal Senate election, I would agree with Walter. Let the Congress pass it but leave final decision to the States. The American people so far have been quite clear on this issue (ask a few yourself) and I feel that any elected official should reflect the will of his constituents. Personally I think the ACLU would eat an official language law alive. By a strict reading of the Constitution, the 1st, 10th, and 14th Amendments could all be used as a potential argument against naming an official language.

I am an American living in Germany.

This question of an official language is an annoying one. What do you mean by an "official language"? Is this for government things or for everyone? The counter point to this is why would you only want English only signs? What is the profit?
Here in Germany, all signs must be in German. This even in stores. In America, restaurants with menus in only one language, other than English, are consider authentic. Ex. French or Chinese restaurants. And why would you buy at a store in which you could not read the signs.
New York and California are two great examples of multi-language places over the years. America is an immigrant land. These places cater to people who are coming over here. You want to end all those small businesses.
Many places have signs in other languages. Even here in Germany there are bilingual places that have signs in more than one language.(This second language is only spoken by a few thousand people)
People don't want forms and brochures in a second language. Really, sometimes the people who need the service the most need help in another language. You mean you only want to help women who are batter if they speak only English.
You don't want the 40+ hour a week legal worker to get his taxes back. Are people exempt from laws if they do not speak English? It can take year to truly understand a language. Do you not want that person to participate in your society until they can learn your language?

Yikes! Some bonehead at national LP has criticized Biden for voting against expanding the role of the fed by making an official language. God damn the neo-libertarians in the national party!

From the blog Classically Liberal

QUOTE:
Some bureaucrat at the Libertarian Party office has put out an email attacking Obama's vice presidential choice, Joe Biden. Of course, Biden is a politician and an advocate of big government, most the time, so there is much to criticize.

What is interesting is that apparently this LP functionary thinks that one reason to attack Biden is that he "voted against making English the official language of the United States." Since when did the LP demand that government impose an "official" language? Is this part of the rebranding of the LP so it can appeal to racists and bigots in the Minutemen? I know the party is rapidly becoming conservative, and throwing out libertarian principles as fast as they can, but this was a new one to me.

Instead of asking government to stay out of people's affairs this is asking them to come into it. There is no need to have the state involved in language at all. Here is what I find hilarious. Half the morons pushing English as the official language are barely literate in it themselves. Go to one of the Right-wing rallies of "good ol' boys" and you will hear them mangling the language in the worst way. These are the types who love words that don't exist -- like "ain't". And they don't use it for effect, they use it all the time. Or they indulge in double negatives such as: "We aint' got to let no Mexicans take our jobs."

If they actually picked up a pen, or a keyboard, their written English would even be worse. But then they don't pick up pens. And the only time they use keyboards is looking up sports results and porn. But apparently this ignorant mass of nationalistic bigots is part of the LP's new target audience. Pity liberty if the Libertarians ever gain power.

A friend has said to me: "Power corrupts. And the Libertarian Party today proves that even the mere whiff of power corrupts."

I just don't fit in the Libertarian Party anymore. See, I'm still a libertarian, though the way the movement is going, I'm not sure why I bother. And I still prefer to sleep on my sheets instead of wearing them.

Now, if English is the "official" language, does this mean we will have a government agency approving words? My take on "official" languages is that they often reflect a nation in decline. The French are particularly rabid about having French as their "official" language. Of course, once that is done then you have to police language along the way lest non-official words start to creep into the culture. The French do that. They ban English words that are adopted or prevent shops from posting signs in any language but French.

Once the language is "official" then the camel's nose pushes further into the tent. So they start making demands on policing language in order to make sure that English is protected. This is the way other countries have gone when they embraced language nationalism.

I just never thought I would see this sort of nonsense proposed by the Libertarian Party. But then the LP has surprised me quite a bit lately. I just wish they'd abolish their dishonest slogan about being "the party of principle." They are the party of second-rate and third-rate politicians who think abandoning principle will give them power. But for what purpose do they seek office? It sure as hell isn't to promote liberty anymore.

I know they protest loudly that they are still advocating freedom. But when pushed they merely compare themselves to the authoritarians they oppose. In the end they think that because they aren't as authoritarian as Obama or McCain they are doing just fine. They still talk about loving liberty all the time. But talk is cheap. And it was Oscar Wilde who warned:

Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword! Some kill their love when they are young, And some when they are old; Some strangle with the hands of Lust, Some with the hands of Gold: The kindest use a knife, because The dead so soon grow cold.

This does bring up a few things I hadn't considered. Making English the official language would no doubt set precedent for the government to begin to police how we speak. Very very bad. I think we should come up with a plank in our platform addressing something like this to give future candidates some direction with this issue since it is brought up alot. You would think the 1st Amendment would be enough to convince citizens where to be on this subject, but it seems too many people are willing to disregard the Constitution when it suits them. I never thought I'd say it, but I agree with Biden on this one. I think we need a counter movement to these neo-libertarians. It's time we try to get some more ex-Democrats on our side.