The Cost of Multilingualism

In the world today, budgets are tight and tempers are high. So who can afford to think about languages? Who can afford to pay for them? In the UK, people are asked to choose between saving indigenous languages, or having a health service. In Greece, indigenous languages are seen as an anachronism of a poorer, and less developed past. In South Africa, a country where the entire constitution is based on multilingualism, people are asked to settle for speaking English. Increasingly, people are being divided into two categories: those with a command of a major colonial language, such as English, and those who can't. Why are are being asked to choose between our identities, and being able to eat? Who benefits from a world in which fewer languages are spoken? What would genuine multilingualism look like? And how much would it cost?