Having just read an excellent article by Quinn Hillyer over at The National Review Online, the aptly titled
Left Offended, it got me thinking about the leftist technique of redefining language to suit their own purposes, and why it must ultimately fail.
Fail? Really? They seem to be having some success in doing so now, with us being well on the way to newspeak and doublethink. Orwell wrote better than he knew when he crafted an instruction manual for totalitarian despots.
Yet I stand by my assertion, it will fail. It is inevitable. Let's try a small experiment.
Take the word polyp. It's an innocent little word. Has a very definite meaning. Say it to yourself, out loud. Repeat that 20 times, keeping the same inflection each time. About the 15th time you say it it stops making sense, going from a word to a meaningless noise. The sound becomes dissociated from the meaning, as your brain simply shuts down through boredom at the repetition. It is one of the basics of both meditation technique and political crowd control. You didn't think the chants of "Yes we can" or "U.S.A" were fortuitous accidents, did you?
But that is constant repetition. Unlikely to happen in the day to day world.
What about one of the left's favored dog whistles - racist. 20 years ago, calling someone racist was apt to get you a quick trip to the dentist, at the very least, in most areas in the Western world. If you were not racist, you hated being called one, if you were racist, you hated being called on it. Now - you sort of shrug and assume whoever calls you that has nothing else to say. You feel more pity than anything else. By over using the word, it has lost the power it once had.
The left is aware of this, hence their dropping of the term Liberal in favor of Progressive. That too is wearing out, so look for them to seek another descriptor by 2020. Language, by it's very nature, is not susceptible to being controlled. Something the left detests.
Copyright given in full to the briefing room.
