Rick Santorum would see Puerto Rico adopt English as their primary language, and it may have cost him that U.S. territories primary. But is the logic behind his statement costing our society much more?

Remarks like these are responsible for Santorum’s popularity with some Americans. His hard-line views on Christianity’s role in government, strict immigration enforcement, outlawing pornography and abortion make him the “Americana” candidate. Santorum is the perfect match for those who long for the 50s and probably remember them too. But requiring Puerto Rico to adopt English for statehood reeks of something more than retro. There’s something more mephitic and lingering in that slice of Americana — an idea that denies the essential nature of people as social animals. I will elaborate with a story.

There’s a deaf gentleman who lives in my building, and I spent weeks not knowing he was deaf. We met the evening after I moved in when I was sitting on my couch and he startled me with rapid knocks on my door. Dan was standing outside, in the dark making a frantic “blinking” motion with his hands. I was stunned until I saw my car parked in the street with its lights on. He was motioning that I was about to wake up to a dead car battery, and as I thanked Dan, he smiled and walked inside. We never said a word, and this is how we met.

Dan and I have never spoken; we speak entirely different languages. He signs sometimes, and I smile and wave on my way to my room. I have no idea what he signs, or what it means. But that’s never been an issue because our familiarity isn’t based on spoken words. For me to become friends with Dan, I didn’t learn to sign, and he didn’t have to regain the ability to speak. When he comes back with groceries I get the door, and when I leave the lights on, he comes to my door. These actions are what make us friends. This is why Santorum’s insistence that language is the only medium people connect with bothers me. It’s a cursory view of humanity that assumes people need language to connect.

This archaic belief that language ensures unity has never been true. Abraham Lincoln declared war on the South in English, and Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum all speak the same language. This is why it has never bothered me to select a language on an ATM, or “dial one” for English. English didn’t make America, and languages are only words. Inclusion has always been responsible for America’s exceptionalism. The same inclusion that gave us the Bavarian who invented blue jeans, or the Scott who invented the telephone and the Mexican who invented the adjustable wrench now manufactured by Craftsman. If Rick would take us back to the 50s, it seems he would be better off reading further back in his history books.

In this case, Santorum is communicating with the language of politics, not people, and the two are not the same. Just ask Dan, he’ll tell you the same thing.