There should be a tax break for perfect attendance at the voting polls. Unlike the law in Australia, which forces you to vote, this would just award those citizens who are consistent participants in our democracy, kind of like a bribe.

It is common knowledge that in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, no unified, national language existed before the advent of European colonialism; as far as colonial interests were concerned, the disparate array of tribal and regional dialects was too inefficient and disruptive, so particular languages were plucked and enforced as national tongues. In Indonesia, for example, the language that became “Indonesian” was a very basic, limited language primarily used for market transactions, and thus known across tribes and regions. Someone should write a novel from the perspective of a parent watching his or her child, or grandchild, being brought up with a mother tongue previously spoken exclusively for its utility in regional commerce. Presumably, linguists and anthropologists have studied how these “market” languages have changed in the generations since early colonialism, but it would...