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Modern Wordplay: As Old As Time And Not A Game
“You’re in Good Hands.”
“The Ultimate Driving Machine.”
“Where’s the Beef?”
“Just do it.”
If you’re an American born in the latter half of the twentieth century, you know these slogans well. Millions of dollars have been invested to make sure of it. Why? Because the most sophisticated consumer marketing companies in the world understand the power of a well-worded turn of phrase. Today, we’re increasingly witnessing the manipulation of words for ends more consequential—and nefarious. We live in a dangerous moment.
The proverb says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Words change the world because they change how we think. They are, in fact, how we think. We reason in words, and there can be no inner dialogue, no internal debate, without them. That’s why freedom of speech is so vital; curtail the words we use, and you curtail the very thoughts on which expression is based.
Yet those of us who ascribe to what might be called a traditional Western worldview assume we’re all using the same lexicon. Like fish who have no awareness that their world is made of water, we have been far too unaware that the language we use is being transmuted. There was a time when the slogans “Big Brother” drummed into the populace in George Orwell’s “1984” seemed incredulous: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” But similar reversals of meaning are happening today, right before our eyes.
The most egregious current example is that we’re being told to ignore what the meanings of “man” and “woman” have been throughout human history. Consider all the children and teenagers (not to mention adults) who are getting life-altering surgeries based on the belief that they were born into the wrong body. Or the manipulated women seeking abortions because they’ve been conditioned to think of the developing child within them as “just a clump of cells.” And there are plenty of other examples. Marriage. Justice. Sanctuary. Genocide. Occupation. Recession. Racism. Rights. We can no longer assume these words mean what they have always meant.
In 1966, former communist and editor of London’s Daily Worker, Douglas Hyde wrote a book called “Dedication and Leadership.” Hyde had left the Communist Party and turned to Catholicism, and his objective with the book was to explain the party’s tactics to the church. “It’s all very basic but immensely important,” he said of Communists’ use of language:
Terms are defined at every point. But the definitions given to ordinary terms are the Communist’s own, not those normally accepted by others. Henceforth, as a consequence, the instructed Communist has his own private language. When he does his propaganda, he uses words with which his hearers are already familiar. But as he utters them, or writes them, they mean one thing to him and something quite different to the non-Communists who receive them.
Today’s Progressives have mastered this ability to flip the script. They’ve taken us from the redefinition of family to the redefinition of marriage to today’s attempt to redefine male and female, and efforts are now underway to redefine pedophilia and even what it means to be human. Next on the list — as unthinkable as it sounds — will be to reposition suicide as a good thing.
And there’s plenty more to come. The unfolding push by the World Economic Forum for “degrowth”— itself an Orwellian twisting of language — will necessarily involve the redefinition of scarcity, wealth, abundance, productivity, and other terms that we take for granted as good things. The effort has already begun, and prosperity itself will become a byword if they have their way.
If we are to resist, we must recognize, first, that everything begins with words. Great and glorious movements begin with words. Evil and disastrous developments begin with words. To refute a worldview, you must first comprehend it. If we attempt to argue with people without first agreeing upon the lexicon, they will always have a leg up on us. That’s especially challenging with those whose main tactic is to confuse comprehension.
Here’s a simple rule of thumb: whenever you hear a word or phrase that doesn’t quite add up, consider that the source may be, intentionally or otherwise, redefining terms. Question them about it. Ask them what they mean. Press them on their answers if they don’t make sense.
For instance, when someone drops the word “systemic” on you, ask whether the injustice they seek to counteract is truly systemic (that is, built into the system) or better understood as endemic to human nature and better addressed through virtue, not power.
When the concept of equity arises, don’t assume it refers to political equality and equal economic opportunity. Forcing equal outcomes, like hyphenated justice, inexorably involves injustice.
And when someone refers to “their” pronouns, refuse to play the game. Pronouns are not yours or mine, they’re ours. We use them to achieve, rather than obscure, understanding. Our common language is not your truth or my truth, it’s our truth.
To be sure, language evolves over time. But evolution is not revolution, and deceit is diabolical. Given that we think in words, it’s vital that we first understand the ideas others are really attempting to convey (or obscure) with the words they use. If we are to preserve Western civilization, each of us must carefully choose our words, use our words, and reject efforts to confuse our words. Because those who abuse our words never rest.
* * *
Steve McKee is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and contributor to The Daily Signal. He is a branding expert and the author of three books: “When Growth Stalls,” “Power Branding,” and “TURNS: Where Business Is Won and Lost.” Find him at SteveMcKee.com.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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