Wow, so much hate for a language that simply was intended as a bridge.
You obviously haven't read this thread carefully. Nobody expressed hatred for Esperanto.
I like the idea of it. There and no irregularities in it, not in spelling, not in structure. The fact that it isn't truly a living language has its advantages too. Why do you think so much of our scientific vocabulary is based in Latin? The meanings are fixed. Esperanto was never intended to replace living language.
Sure. But that's not going to prevent globalization, for all the reasons discussed in this thread already.
As far as those that think that english is so great for international communication they are all probably Americans (maybe a couple of Aussies thrown in).
Wrong. At least about 80% of the people who participated in this thread are not native English speakers.
I think there are some problems with English too, but more so in terms of how simple and vague it can sometimes be, thus becoming vulnerable to all kinds of ideologies that want to corrupt language&thought. E.g. the neutral pronoun debate. But it is what it is, it is today's vernacular, and there are many positive aspects to it, like how easy it is to learn for basic communication and understanding.
The spelling of English words is insanely difficult. We Americans often times do not spell correctly even with a college degree. Think about it. Our language is seriously messed up.
In that case, most other languages are "messed up", since that is often the rule rather than the exception. But I think that is focusing on details, and not on what this thread was about. Sounds/spelling are just one component of a language.
Also since it is not a living language the vowels are not constantly shifting. You get dialects with living languages, all Esperanto has to worry about is accents. I would argue that most languages are easier to learn than english. What is actually harder ... tonal languages? Yeah okay, I'll conceed that.
It depends. Some tonal languages are super simple in terms of grammar, but difficult for writing, pronunciation, etc. Other languages are way more difficult than English when it comes to sentence structure and grammar, but super easy regarding spelling/pronunciation. Do you speak any other languages?
I also think we should learn multiple languages anyway. It opens up more thought patterns. It is the mental equivalent of giving someone who is color blind the ability to see in what we call full color, or better yet bird vision (they use 5 pigments unlike our 3). Just saying.
I agree with that, but for those who have an inclination to do so, of course. Learning multiple languages is great, but other people can also get the "full color" through other activities, like being open and diligent to all kinds of research, for example.
Comparing Esperanto to a living language is just weird and misses the point of it. Cool there is literature in it and what not, but it was meant to be a bridge for communication.
But they say communication is at least 60% non-verbal (sometimes more). There is a lot more than words and phrase structures to language. Anyone who has learned a second language would probably tell you that it is only when they start thinking in that language, living it, experiencing it as closely a possible as native speakers, that they really
communicate well in it.