'The Ways of Silencing' -- Jason Stanley today in the NYTimes

I love language.  I love what it does and what it can do, its vocation in human evocation; how it can stagnate and evolve and renew itself; how it can be used or appropriated by other languages (On English, June 11th blog and more to come); how there can be too many semi-colons.

Seriously, in today's online New York Times blog Opinionator, Jason Stanley, a philosopher of language discusses how language is used to manipulate political discourse.  It's the downside of the elasticity of language, the silencing of true political discussion, and hence an encroachment on the fundamental freedom of dialogue and exchange of ideas in society.  It's a must-read but I'll throw a few quotes here:

"Words are misappropriated and meanings twisted. I believe that these tactics are not really about making substantive claims, but rather play the role of silencing. They are, if you will, linguistic strategies for stealing the voices of others." 

"In silencing, one removes the ability of a target person or group to communicate."

 "What may begin as a temporary method to circumvent reasoned discussion and debate for the sake of a prized political goal may very well end up permanently undermining the trust required for its existence."


Check it out--this is our language and our political freedom at stake.


http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/the-ways-of-silencing/?ref=opinion