Control the Language (Part Two)

This is the second in a series about words we use daily.  As George Orwell said:

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.  A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation even among people who should and do know better.”

America’s language is just as divided as its politics.  Words that once had “clear meaning”, now mean totally different things to different people.  It depends what their source of information is, who they listen to, and what they believe.  There have already been essays on “Our America” dealing with some of these “language” differences in the past (see the list below).  But it’s time to write an “index” of terms, what meanings they have, and how they divide us.

Cancel

All sides of America’s current political life feel that “they” are being cancelled.  That term was originally used to describe what happened to minorities and women in public settings.  White men spoke and were taken seriously, but when women or minorities spoke, they were ignored (or cancelled).  But the use of the term has evolved into a more direct societal action.  

Today when someone commits a “sin”, then they are “cancelled” from society.  That simplest example is two-time Oscar Award winning actor, Kevin Spacey.   Spacey is accused of more than fifteen acts of sexual misconduct, including assaulting a fourteen year old boy.   He continues to have legal issues, and his actions have deleted him from films and television, even in re-runs.  From the top of his profession – he was (rightfully) cancelled.  Bill Cosby has suffered much the same fate.  Thirty years ago, when Michael Jackson was accused of similar behavior – the “sins” were swept away, and we still listen and dance to his music.

In the pejorative sense, right-wing politicians claimed they have been “cancelled” by the “woke” (see yesterday’s essay) media because of their political stands.  They are “victims” of “cancel” culture – but their actions show they are trying to “cancel” their opponents.  From Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law, to Ohio’s pending Education Act to emasculate the State Board of Education, the right, claiming cancellation “victimhood”, are actually the master cancellers.

Labels

When did China become “the Chinese Communist Party”?  From Tik-Tok to the manmade islands of the Sea of China, what used to be a “China” issue, are now issues of the “Chinese Communist Party”.  And it’s an ecumenical term, with both Democrats and Republicans using it.  

We aren’t stupid.  We know that China is run by the Chinese Communist Party, and has been since Mao Zedong in 1949.  And we know that the nation of Taiwan (we don’t call them Nationalist China anymore) are Chinese too.  So why the emphasis on the Communist Party label?  Does it somehow make a difference what you call the second biggest national economy in the world? 

The United States made it an unspoken national goal to “conquer the world”, not with force of arms, but through capitalism.  Our products are ubiquitous, from IPhones to Big Macs. US companies; Apple, Ford, General Motors, Gap, Starbucks, Coke and Pepsi are all heavily invested in China.  The American dollar is the world’s standard currency; the benchmark of financial commonality.  The fact that the biggest names in capitalism, from Apple to GM, are in a nation run by the Communist Party, should be a source of US pride. Communism needs our capital, and our capitalism.  Marx, Lenin, and Mao are spinning in their graves; “Corporations of the world Unite!!”.

But we don’t need the conceit of calling out that Communists run China all the time; in fact, it makes us look stupid.   We know it, and so does the rest of the world.

Democrat

And speaking of labels; it’s amazing to hear all those Ivy League educated right-wing leaders, from Cruz to DeSantis to Hawley and Hailey; calling their opposition party the “Democrat” Party.  They sound uneducated – like they somehow missed the day in Senior government when they talked about the Democratic and Republican Parties.  It’s a not-so-subtle insult:  somehow “Democrat” sounds meaner and crueler and stupider than Democratic. 

Just to be clear, I am a Democrat, and that makes me a member of the Democratic Party.  They are Republicans, and that makes them members of the Republican Party.  Using insulting terms,  just sounds silly:  sticks and stones, fifth graders down the hallway kind of silly. And if their goal is to irritate Democrats, sure, that does work. But frankly, their threats to our rights are so great, this seems petty.  There’s plenty of real insults to democracy, and the Constitution to deal with.

It’s a matter of false empowerment.  Years ago, my track team from Watkins High School ran against a neighboring school.  The coach there refused to call our team and school “Watkins” on the public address system, instead using the name of our school district, “Southwest Licking”.  He was trying to alter the result by “getting in our heads”. His team could never beat Watkins, but maybe they could beat Southwest Licking.  It didn’t work, and it gave me more “ammunition” to fire up my Watkins team.  We won, and here forty years later, it still fires me up.  

So call my party the “Democrat Party” if you have to.  It makes you sound stupid, and it gives me one more reason to work (or write) harder!

Essays on Language

• Control the Language – Part Two
• Control the Language – Part One
• I am Pro Life
• Off My Chest
• Message to a Friend