The Language Crisis

The concept of language is one of the last truly distinctive aspects of culture that ties modern day people from the world to their respective heritages. I acknowledge that their is definitely more to many cultures, both ancient and present, than we have currently found, but these ideas should be considered undiscovered. Languages, however, have continued to exist throughout time as available material for research. It is our society's latent sense of urgency toward the subject that seems to have left many cultural tongues in the dust of the past.
On the other hand, we cannot place the blame solely on the responsibility of linguistic anthropologists and cultural scientists. It seems that the inherent context of cultural evolution in a world driven by globalization is conformity. As referenced in the article, "Languages Die, but Not Their Last Words", major languages such as English, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese are encroaching upon surrounding cultures. Along with this comes the idea of how cultures are turning into melting pots. Often times, early generations seem to be more multilingual, but as generations proceed, there is an apparent loss of language. It seems inevitable that as time goes on in a globalized world, we will not be able to hold on to the strands of heritage such as language that we came from.
We should care about language because it is an important part of the world and its history. Language could be considered the most affluent aspect of cultural identity. By this time in the history of the world, I feel that we have the capabilities and resources to preserve dying languages. If not by teaching, then by recording them. Every time we lose a language, we lose a voice and a perspective of the world.