Brenda Originally posted on Medium.com on February 26, 2024
The world has declared war on words, and writers need to stand against it. Where does it stop? Will there even be any words left if we allow this “newspeak” to continue?
I have written about words in this story, and this one follows the concept. If we are all a lot of words, then words matter. The words we choose matter. But if the meaning of words changes, then how do we define anything?
This post might be controversial, but I’ve never been one to be afraid of speaking up. That is dangerous in these times of “cancel culture”, and that sentence alone scares the crap out of me. I thought we were living in an age of free speech and free expression. Apparently, now that is only available to a select few that fit in with the agenda. Does that sound familiar to you, history buffs? I’m not pointing to any specific time in history. I’m pointing to all of history. There is nothing new under the sun. Why was Orwell able to write about all of this so long ago? It’s because it’s nothing new, even though maybe we thought we were beyond all this.
Orwell called it “newspeak”. There was also the “thought police.” Does any of this sound familiar? There is an outright war on words, and who are going to be the victims? Not just writers but all of us. How can we properly and clearly communicate with each other if we can’t understand the meanings behind what we say and write? This is war at its deepest level.
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” ~George Orwell: 1984
Please hear me. I have no issue with people doing what they want to do in the privacy of their own homes or living it in their own lives. I have no issue with who a person wants to love. I believe most of us feel the same way. Why, then, are there so many saying they are a victim? Especially in our progressive, modern societies? Why are they such victims that they have to change the meanings of our words or redefine the fundamental beliefs so many of us hold? For a minority.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to talk about the politics behind this war, and words are merely the casualty, but where does this end? My entire life, I have been passionate about language, including foreign languages. I have been speaking sign language since I was eight when we found out that my little sister was hearing impaired. When I moved to Italy for a year, I learned to speak Italian. I am now learning Greek. Greek and Latin, the base for Italian, are ancient languages. The words have meanings that go back centuries. English got many of its words from these languages and many others, including French. The only way this happened was by preserving the languages.
Things change and adapt, yes. But they didn’t adapt by changing the meaning of the words. They adapted by adding new words from other languages, allowing us even freer expression. Now, words are beginning to lose all meaning. It’s not just the words, though, because words represent concepts.
When a culture, like in George Orwell’s book 1984, declares war on words, it means they are trying to control people. Why would they want to do that? Because they have an agenda. I believe I know what that is, but you have to decide for yourself what you believe and what you’re willing to accept.
A couple of years ago, I said to my daughter, “I taught you to think for yourself so that when things happen in the world, you don’t just accept what you’re told, but you take everything you know of history, everything you know of human psychology, and you make a rational decision based on common sense and free thinking.” The other thing I said was, “What government in the entire history of humanity has ever put the good of the common people above their agenda?”
I don’t think I need to spell out what I’m saying. If you get it, you get it. What I am spelling out, pun intended, is that we, as writers at least, need to stand against the theft and the appropriation of our words. You may not agree with me on a lot of points, but I hope you’ll agree that changing what words mean will cause more havoc than almost anything. Communication is what keeps humanity close and working together. Do you see what’s happening out there? Humanity has never been more fractured.
The people of Medium come from many walks of life and have varied beliefs. One thing unites us: the written word. If we can find only that in common, we can, together, work toward a better society, more kindness, and more love and understanding. If we can understand each other, we have a place to stand.
Let me ask you one more time. If we allow this war on words to continue, where will it stop?
When it is over, will there be only silence?
