Books

George Orwell Tag

27 May

Posted at 06:00h in Uncategorized

Upside down, backwards, sideways. No wonder we feel dizzy and nauseated much of the time. Legislators discuss ”consensual rape,” presidential spokespeople insist there are ”alternate facts,” and lies become beyond brazen since there are written, photographic, video, audible, publicly witnessed records and testimonies exposing the lies. Crowd size, for example. What was said in an un-doctored videotaped interview or speech. What crime was boldly committed and baldly denied. When enough of these accumulate—and they come in an avalanche daily—they leave tiny pits, then dents, in a citizen's self confidence about recognizing reality, until the blizzard of pebbles becomes a pelting of stones and finally a hillside of boulders roaring down to bury the self, the truth, the real. This happens through language and action both, via short-term tactics and long-term strategies. It’s so blatant it bewilders the rational mind. It’s so continual it exhausts attempts to select one discrete example and...

15 Jan

Posted at 06:00h in Uncategorized

The misuse of language induces evil in the soul. That's a statement attributed to Socrates, and you may have heard or read me quoting it before. It bears repeating. The etymology of the English word "language" tells quite a story. It stems from the Old French langage: "speech, words, oratory; a tribe, people, nation"; from the Latin vulgate linguaticum, from Latin lingua: "tongue," also "speech, language," from the pre-Indo-European root dnghu- "tongue." Interesting how closely related it is to "tribe" or "people," isn't it? You are what you say. The ultra-right’s assault on language has escalated to a linguistic battle–now being waged even across official Washington—in an attempt to shift public perception of key policies by changing the way the federal government talks and writes about climate change, scientific evidence, disadvantaged communities, and other issues. Surely we remember George Orwell’s chilling novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which the totalitarian state’s mottos were “War...